Every growing company eventually reaches the same point: spreadsheets and disconnected apps stop keeping up. The next step is usually presented as a simple choice: buy an ERP or SaaS product, or have custom software built. In practice, the right answer is often both, each in the right place.
(An ERP is software that manages a company’s core operations, such as sales, stock, purchasing and accounting. SaaS means software you rent online by subscription.)
The question behind the question
The real question is not “build or buy” but: where does your business need to work differently from others?
- Processes that are the same in every company, such as accounting, payroll, email or basic customer management, are standard. Buy them.
- Processes that give you an edge over your competitors, such as how you set prices, plan, deliver or serve customers, are where forcing yourself into someone else’s software costs you the most.
When ready-made software wins
- Your processes follow industry standards and you are happy to adopt the tool’s way of working.
- You need to be up and running in weeks, not months.
- The vendor is well established, with a clear roadmap, data export options and an API.
- Licence costs stay reasonable as you add users and locations.
When custom software pays off
- Your way of working is a real competitive advantage, and the tool would force you to give it up.
- You pay for large software suites while using a fraction of their features, with workarounds on top.
- You need systems that do not talk to each other to share data closely.
- You need something the local market does not offer well, such as offline use, Arabic and French interfaces, local payment methods or local compliance rules.
Compare the total cost, not the price tag
Build a simple five-year comparison:
| Cost item | Ready-made software | Custom software |
|---|---|---|
| Licences and subscriptions | per user, per year | none (hosting only) |
| Setup and configuration | moderate | included in the build |
| Customisation and workarounds | often underestimated | low |
| Connections to other tools | depends on the vendor’s API | designed in |
| Maintenance and new features | the vendor’s roadmap | your roadmap, your budget |
| Cost of leaving | data export, retraining | low if you own the code |
The line that surprises most companies is workarounds: the hours staff spend adapting the process to the tool, every day, for years.
The mix that usually works best
Most successful setups combine:
- Standard SaaS for accounting, email and collaboration.
- A custom core for the work that sets you apart: operations, planning, field work, pricing.
- Connections that keep data consistent between the two, so nobody types anything twice.
This puts licences and custom code where each brings the most value.
Questions to ask before deciding
- Which three processes, if they ran perfectly, would improve our results the most?
- How much time does the team spend today on workarounds and double entry?
- Can we export all our data from the tool we are considering, in a usable format?
- Who will own the system and decide its future in two years’ time?
If you are weighing this decision, an independent architecture review can help. We are just as happy to recommend a SaaS product when it is the better answer.