If you’ve been searching high and low for a single product that solves all your problems, but you keep coming up empty, you might already be facing the biggest sign that custom software is what you’re looking for.
In many cases, existing solutions either lack key features or force you to settle for awkward workarounds. If you and your team find yourself layering on hack after hack, adding complexity and manual steps just to get a semi-decent outcome, it’s a red flag that your team is wasting time on tasks that should be automated. It’s one thing to adapt your process slightly to fit a tool; it’s another to feel like you’re twisting your entire workflow into knots.
When do you actually need custom software?
The decision to go custom isn’t just based on immediate frustrations – it’s also about gaining a competitive edge. When your business model or workflow is so specific that standard tools fall short, there might be an opportunity to excel if you build something from scratch. A niche process can become a strength once it’s supported by software designed to cater to your exact needs—especially if your industry is full of companies settling for “almost good enough.”
And if data security or privacy is a major concern, you might simply not have the option of trusting a third-party SaaS platform with sensitive information, making an in-house build even more necessary.
Another common sign is when you’re juggling multiple off-the-shelf solutions and trying to stitch them together into one cohesive workflow. At first, this approach can feel like an easy fix—just link these two apps together, add a little script here, and it works! But the more those clunky manual steps pile up, the more you realize your process is spread across too many tools, and it’s often just one or two people from your team who can maintain these steps.
Sometimes you don’t even notice it until it’s too late. If you’re managing far too many disjointed Excel files or jumping in and out of multiple subscriptions, it’s probably time for a change. That’s when it becomes clear that a centralized, custom platform could save a ton of time and headaches.
Test things out with a PoC
If any of this is hitting close to home, it might be time to test the waters by doing a Proof of Concept. Start small by outlining your workflow on paper—figure out exactly what you want to achieve, then try replicating parts of the process with existing tools. You might discover that a little manual effort here or there is enough, but if you keep hitting the same limitations, you’ll know the gap is real and not just a passing frustration.
Looking into what your competitors are using can also provide clues. If you find that none of them have gone custom, maybe they haven’t recognized the same opportunity you see—or maybe they tried and failed, which is valuable intel for you. It might even be beneficial to join forces and come up with a mutual custom solution that will push the whole industry forward.
Throughout these early stages, it’s important to stay focused on the issue you want to solve, not on the quirks of the tools you currently have. Let yourself imagine a perfect scenario where your workflow is as smooth as can be, and ask:
If I could design the software from scratch, how would it work?
This mindset helps you look beyond the limitations of your existing processes and zero in on the features that truly matter. It also pays to keep an open mind: sometimes the best ideas emerge when developers or your own team propose new approaches that you hadn’t even considered.
Research makes it perfect!
Remember to research what your users or team members actually need—understanding their pain points and priorities will guide you toward a product that genuinely solves problems rather than creating new ones. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of building something new, especially when you’ve already identified the flaws in your current workflow or spotted a gap in the market. But if you skip the step of thoroughly understanding your users, you risk ending up with software that might technically “work” yet fails to address real-world problems in a meaningful way.
It’s also worth investing time upfront to conduct surveys, hold informal chats, or set up quick focus groups. This doesn’t have to be overly formal or expensive, either. Sometimes, simply asking the right questions and listening closely to the answers can reveal pain points you never knew existed.
Be prepared for the possibility that your original idea may shift during development, especially if your team stumbles on a more elegant approach or identifies a big feature that should be added or rethought.
In-house vs. Agencies vs. Freelancers
Once you’re ready to move forward, you’ll need to decide whether to hire freelancers, build an in-house team, or collaborate with an agency. Each option comes with pros and cons, so it’s worth reading up on the nuances—especially if you’ve never embarked on a custom software project before. We’ve compared these choices in our “Why hire agencies instead of Freelancers?” blog post, and there’s another piece on how to prepare your custom software project that digs into budget planning, gathering requirements, and aligning stakeholder expectations called “How to prepare your custom software project”.
It’s all about knowing what you’re getting into, so you don’t get caught off guard by the scope or timeline.
Keep in mind that a custom build is a long-term commitment. It’s not just a band-aid to address one short-term issue; it’s an investment in a scalable, evolving solution. If done right, custom software becomes a foundational piece of your business strategy, enhancing speed and efficiency.
Additionally, a custom software solution offers the significant advantage of capturing and leveraging data in ways off-the-shelf tools can’t match. By designing data collection and analytics capabilities that are tailored to your unique workflows, you open the door to deeper insights and more accurate forecasting.
Over time, this creates a cycle of data-driven decision-making, helping you refine processes, anticipate trends, and gain a competitive edge in your market.
Adjust your expectations!
All in all, you have to be realistic about what belongs in your custom solution and what doesn’t. There’s a reason huge software products like Photoshop or Word remain separate from each other: each has its own area of expertise.
Your custom software doesn’t have to replace ALL of the tools you’ve been using!
Focus on the features that bring real value to your company—the ones no existing software can deliver—then let other proven tools handle the rest. Having a custom solution doesn’t mean creating a behemoth that does it all, it means that you can seamlessly integrate those proven tools into your new application and its workflow without the need of Excel sheets, written notes, and manual steps.
By focusing on the areas that make the biggest difference, you’ll end up with a solution made specifically for your workflow, and will eventually set you up for future business growth.
