Buy or build: a decision framework for small companies
Custom software is not always the answer, and neither is another subscription. Four questions that settle it.
We build software for a living, so you might expect us to always recommend building. We do not. Roughly half of the companies that come to us for a custom application leave with a configured off-the-shelf tool and an integration.
Is this your core process?
If the workflow is what makes your company different, build. If it is accounting, payroll or email, buy.
Does a tool already fit eighty percent?
Eighty percent fit with an automation for the rest is almost always cheaper than custom. Below sixty, custom usually wins within two years.
Who will maintain it?
Custom software needs an owner. If nobody in the company will take responsibility for it, buy and integrate.
What does it cost to be wrong?
Subscriptions can be cancelled. Custom builds cannot. Start with the reversible choice when the problem is still fuzzy.