Why choose custom software development for your business [Part 1]

by Terezija Tomašić, September 26, 2022

Custom Software Development and its benefits


Welcome to the series  “Why choose custom software development for your business” where we will break down and explain how custom software development works, what are the benefits and why….. As a result, in this series, we will talk about custom software development and its benefits, why it’s best to hire a software development company, what to look for in a software development company, what should be a main differentiator factor when deciding and common mistakes made when hiring a company, and why Thespian is a great choice for your custom built software project. 

Custom Software Development.jpg 138 KB
We will break down this into three blog posts: 
 - In the first blog post we will talk about custom software development and its benefits. 
 - Second blog post will be a guide about how to successfully choose a Software Development Company
 -The third blog post will talk about why choose Thespian for your custom built software project 

Let’s start from the beginning. Some might expect this blog post series to be just one of many IT industry blog posts filled with a bunch of unknown terms and difficult to understand technologies where we talk about programming languages, codes, and frameworks.

NO, not this one.

Programming language.jpg 116 KB
 Clients who come to us are not expected to have technical background and knowledge of the custom software development processes because they are not software engineers. On the other hand, many clients who we work with have technical backgrounds and they have a full understanding of our processes, terminology and software architecture. Oftentimes software engineers can get side tracked and forget that all clients don’t have the same level of expertise and that communication needs to be adjusted. 
Let’s take me as an example - before I started my marketing career in IT, my industry knowledge was basic. If someone wanted to talk to me about anything software development related my ear would not be the one to land that information on.  Even if I had the best business idea ever and unlimited funds to put my idea on the market I would be a difficult client to work with as my industry knowledge was non-existent. Now, when I look at the content custom software development companies put out there, in many cases that information has some meaning only to people who have a deeper understanding of terminology and processes. 
The difference I would like to make by writing this blog series is to put some light on what we do and make it understandable to people who do not put much thought into the IT industry (but still need it to run their businesses). 

Custom software can be built for small, medium and large businesses, start-ups or well established businesses. Let’s be honest - it is not always the best solution for everyone but if you think it might be a good idea for your business we advise you to speak to our professional  who will advise you whether it can be benefiting your business. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipblagojevic/)

Customized software development is the process of developing applications and web solutions that are adjusted to the specific needs of a particular company or individual. Whether you need digitalization for inside operations (for your employees to use) or for your customers (or both), custom software development will ensure your business needs are met and optimized.

 In contrast to commercial *off-the-shelf software solutions (COTS), custom software products are designed to meet the demands of a specific client and fulfill their individual business needs and requirements in the long run. Another important difference between off-the-shelf and custom software is that you do not own off-the-shelf software, you only rent it for a limited time. With custom software you are a lifetime owner of source code developed for you are welcome to do anything you want with it, it’s your intellectual property.

Many entrepreneurs and startups believe that they can only outsource their software development processes if they have a large, long-term project. They also believe that outsourcing is extremely costly. Well, it turns out that investing the time, money and energy into developing custom software for your business actually provides a better return on investment (*ROI) and fosters long-term business growth. Mainly, because one size rarely fits all (commercial off-the-shelf software).

Benefits of Custom Software Development.jpg 236 KB

Benefits of Custom Built Software


Custom developed software offer business owners a bunch of benefits: they are designed to cater to the specific needs of a particular business, offer better data security, and have endless possibilities for updates. There isn’t a single off-the-shelf software solution that would be able to keep up with an app designed specifically to meet the needs of your business by an experienced team of developers.

Designed to meet your specific needs - In contrast to a commercial off-the-shelf software (*COTS), custom software development aims at a narrowly defined set of requirements for your business.

Secure - custom software development companies provide softwares that address security needs at every level of design and build. This is not an optional feature, this is a must and non-negotiable and is considered as a standard practice for custom software development companies. 

Scalable and Flexible - It can be designed and developed to meet your immediate needs, help you achieve objectives but also position you for future growth and ideas. Custom built software is not static and it’s much more flexible for whatever changes the future brings.

Easier Integrations with other softwares - with custom software the chance of integration issues are very low and they can easily fit within any business software ecosystem. *COTS software may lead to errors and other difficulties which results with a loss in productivity.

Independance - With custom software, you can use it as long as you like and the way you like. It is your intellectual property. Of course, there are some maintenance costs to consider but overall, you’ll have far less to worry about.

Cost effective in the long run - typically has higher upfront costs vs its off-the-shelf counterpart but it’s important to remember how much better your *ROI will be down the road with the help of customized software.

Core Benefits Of Custom Software Development.jpg 131 KB

Commercial off-the-shelf software solutions (COTS) - software that already exists and by one-time purchase or monthly subscription you are granted access to use it.

ROI (return on investment) -  Your investments are the resources you put into improving your company ( time and money). The return is the profit you make as a result of your investments.


To sum up: as explained above, if custom software development is a right choice for your business, rest assured investing in it will bring higher ROI and efficiency in the long run.

Now that we have more knowledge about what is a custom software development and why it is better then COTS, in the next blog post we will be talking about what to look for in a software development company, what should be a main differentiator factor when deciding and common mistakes made when hiring a company. Stay tuned!



About the author:
Author avatar
Terezija Tomašić
General Marketing Operations
From implementing and managing marketing campaigns, and internal marketing workflow to overall brand identity, Terezija is our go-to person for anything Marketing. She closely collaborates with our sales team to help create a cohesive customer experience.