Many companies reply on software to run their businesses, and there's no lack of choices to meet just about any need – everything from financial and operations to human resources and sales.
But what happens if a company is not able to find software that fits its specific needs? This is particularly applicable to smaller firms that may not have the budgets to pay for enterprise software that includes everything but the kitchen sink.
While it is certainly not standard operating procedure, an alternative for some companies is developing their own software, or do-it-yourself (DIY) software. The option provides a company with the freedom to create software that meets its needs even if it means making a significant investment upfront to get it done.
Mark Graham, the founder and CEO of Toronto-based Right Sleeve Marketing, a promotional design agency, embraced the DIY model after finally realizing the customer relationship management and accounting software it needed to efficiently operate and grow was not available off-the-shelf.
Armed with a wish list, Right Sleeve decided to build the software internally by partnering with a developer who had built the company's original Web site and database. The developer hired the programmers, and it used Right Sleeve's creative resources to design the software. Mr. Graham served as project manager, while providing the overall strategic direction.
An interesting part of the project is that it hasn't been completed yet. Mr. Graham believes it may never be completely “finished” because the software continues to evolve to meet the company's growing needs.
“To give you a sense of the main timeline, it took six months from the time I created the initial spec to the time we released the first major version of the program,” he says. “After the first release, we continued developing as we knew we were onto something that would allow us to differentiate within the market.”
At the end of the day, Mr. Graham said the DIY project was the right move even though it took longer than expected to build, and there were some employees who balked because they liked the old system better. “This software has allowed us to significantly increase productivity and profitability, scale production, reduce turnover, make the company more attractive from a recruiting perspective, and promote transparency,” he says. “The promotional business is very transaction-oriented with multiple balls to juggle, so having a robust system to keep all vendors, customers and employees on the same page is critical, especially as we scale.”
As important, Mr. Graham says the homegrown software has given Right Sleeve a competitive edge because it has been able to work with several customers to build projects such as private merchandise portals to manage all of their branded merchandise.
Mr. Graham says another benefit is that Right Sleeve plans to commercialize its back-end software by selling it as a procurement solution for customers who need a better way to manage their promotional programs.
“The fact we developed this ourselves means we have enormous flexibility to market this in any way we want - a luxury we would not have had if we outsourced it to an outside provider like Salesforce.com,” he says.
Special to the Globe and Mail
Mark Evans is a principal with ME Consulting , a content and social media strategic and tactical consultancy that creates and delivers ‘stories' for companies looking to capture the attention of customers, bloggers, the media, business partners, employees and investors. Mark has worked with three start-ups – Blanketware, b5Media and PlanetEye – so he understands how they operate and what they need to do to be successful. He was a technology reporter for more than a decade with The Globe and Mail, Bloomberg News and the Financial Post. Mark is also one of the co-organizers of the mesh, meshUniversity and meshmarketing conferences .
