Most businesses should buy software for most things. The interesting question is where buying stops working, and how to recognise that point before the workarounds pile up.
Start with how specific the process is
Payroll, email and basic accounting are not where you differentiate. Packaged software has been refined by thousands of users, and building your own rarely makes sense.
Custom software earns its place when the process itself is part of how you win: an unusual way of quoting, scheduling or fulfilling work that no package models well.
Count the cost of the workarounds
A package that fits most of the process leaves a gap, and people fill that gap with spreadsheets, manual re-entry and messages. That cost is real but rarely measured.
Before comparing prices, write down every workaround the package would need and who performs it. Then compare the total, not the licence fee.
- How many people copy data between tools each week?
- Which decisions wait on someone assembling a report by hand?
- What breaks when the one person who understands the spreadsheet is away?
Consider ownership and change
Packages change on the vendor's schedule, including pricing. Custom software changes on yours, but you take on maintenance.
A middle route is often best: buy the commodity parts, build the part that is specific to you, and connect them through APIs.
This topic is part of our Custom Software Development work.