Running a business in this day and age means you need streamlined ways to conduct business, monitor employee workflows, and store customer data and information securely. While there are many software options available for these tasks, sometimes they just don’t offer all of the options you need. That’s where custom software comes in. A custom software developer with several years of experience is able to listen to your needs and wants and create something that will help your business run as effectively and efficiently as possible. From a marketing agency to a neurologist’s office, any business can benefit from this type of software. Learn about four reasons why you should invest in custom software development services.
Give your input during the development process.
When you opt to work with a custom software developer for your business, that means you will be able to give your input throughout the project development process. You’ll also have the chance to determine whether or not your business needs a mobile application for customers or clients to use. For example, if you are a softgel manufacturer who sells softgels of fish oil or capsules of dietary supplements and wants to create a mobile app where you can easily sell them to your customers, then your software developer can work with you to make an app that is best for you and your company’s needs. They can even develop push notifications so that you can tell your app users about new softgel products or new flavors that you debut.
A software developer can also build in programs that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to collect data, and provide you and the other C-suite executives with the information they need to make data-driven decisions across the company, as well as implement any best practices that could help increase productivity.
Custom software can help manage workflows across departments and increase security.
Depending on what type of business you have, then you may have several departments that need to have eyes on a process. For example, an invoice may need to come through accounts payable but then go to a manager in a different department for approval. It’s easy for those types of documents to fall through the cracks, especially when people get busy. A customized document management software can help your employees track each document along its path to final approval, and can even alert them to an issue. Workflows can be set up to trigger a reminder for someone to pass the document to the next person and to remind your accounting staff to pay invoices on time.
Your business may also need to meet certain rules of compliance, depending on the type of clients you serve. Custom software can come equipped with security measures in place to protect your company data, customer data, and employee data. Overall, you’ll have a better user experience (UX) with this type of custom formulation that you would not get with larger software companies.
You can manage social media posts and engagement as well.
If you run an agency that serves multiple clients, or even if you just want to track social media performance across your own accounts, then you can add social media management to your custom software as well. The developer can put in custom fields that relate to your business and ensure that all parts of your social media accounts are tracked. They can also use existing APIs to integrate with other software. For example, they may be able to build something that integrates with your customer relationship management (CRM) software and sends any information on leads generated through social media directly to your CRM system. That means you can track how often you change your YouTube channel banner with free YouTube banner templates or measure engagement rates on a promoted LinkedIn post, all from one area. This visibility into social media processes can also help determine the best ways to continue managing social media platforms for your business.
Custom software has scalability and can increase profitability.
Probably the biggest and most important reason to consider using custom software is that this type of software will have scalability—meaning it will grow with your business and support that growth. That saves you from having to spend money later on buying more licenses or subscriptions or shelling out fees for more features that you’ll need. With custom software, it’s all already there and you can choose to use the modules, templates, and functions you need at the times you need them, keeping your software spending down.
Additionally, you’ll be able to be more productive with a custom software developer. With larger software companies, if you need a new feature added, it may be quite a while before they can get to your request, leaving you floundering without it. A software developer can take your request and create a software solution for you much more quickly. That productivity then turns more profits for you and your business.
