Custom or off-the-shelf software: how should an SME choose?

When off-the-shelf is enough

If your business follows a common process, a standard solution is often the right choice: accounting, payroll or simple appointment booking. You pay a subscription, start quickly, and the vendor handles updates.

When custom software pays off

Custom work makes sense when your rules don't fit a standard tool. A few clear signs:

• you enter the same information in several files or tools;
• your team juggles Excel, paper and email;
• you pay for several subscriptions that don't talk to each other;
• you adapt the way you work to the tool, not the other way round;
• your field team doesn't have the right information at the right time.

Compare the real costs

A subscription at CHF 50 per user per month looks cheap. Over five years and ten users it adds up to CHF 30,000, and the tool never belongs to you. Custom software costs more up front, but the code and data stay yours, and you only pay for hosting and the improvements you need.

The calculation should also include time saved: one less data entry, invoices sent sooner, fewer mistakes.

The most common answer: connect the two

You don't have to replace everything. Keep off-the-shelf software for what it does well, like accounting, and build the part that is specific to your trade: scheduling, stock, jobs, quotes. The two exchange data, and each piece of information is entered only once.

Where to start

• List the tasks that cost you time every week.
• Map who does what and which information moves around.
• Start with the module that saves the most time, then add the rest step by step.

At Edelmesh, custom software is priced on quote, after a free first conversation.