A practical guide for founder-led businesses considering bespoke software
The Moment You Start Asking the Question
Most small-to-medium businesses don’t wake up thinking about custom software.
They wake up thinking about the quoting process that’s taking too long. The onboarding workflow that keeps breaking. The reporting that requires three people and a spreadsheet nobody trusts.
At some point, the workarounds stop working. And someone asks: “Should we just build something?”
This guide is for that moment.
What “Custom Software” Actually Means for SMBs
Let’s clear up a misconception: custom software isn’t just for enterprises with million-dollar IT budgets.
For SMBs, custom software typically means:
- Internal tools that replace fragile manual processes
- Workflow automation that connects the systems you already use
- Data visibility so decisions aren’t based on gut feel
- AI-assisted workflows that handle repetitive cognitive tasks
It’s not about building the next Salesforce. It’s about building your system — the one that fits how your business actually works.
When Custom Software Makes Sense
Custom software isn’t always the answer. Here’s when it usually is:
You’ve outgrown off-the-shelf tools
The SaaS product that worked at 10 people now requires workarounds, manual steps, or expensive add-ons. You’re paying for features you don’t use and missing the ones you need.
Your process is your competitive advantage
If how you do something is part of what makes you different, a generic tool will never quite fit. Custom software can encode your way of working.
Integration is the problem
You have five systems that don’t talk to each other. Data gets re-entered. Things fall through cracks. A custom layer can connect what you already have.
The manual process is breaking
What worked when you were smaller — spreadsheets, email chains, tribal knowledge — is now creating errors, delays, and frustration.
What It Actually Costs
Let’s talk numbers, because vague “it depends” answers aren’t helpful.
For a focused internal tool in Australia — the kind that solves one core workflow problem — you’re typically looking at:
$30K – $80K AUD for a well-scoped, single-purpose tool.
That range depends on:
- Complexity of the workflow
- Number of integrations required
- Whether AI/automation is involved
- How much discovery is needed upfront
Smaller discovery engagements (to validate the approach before committing to a full build) often start at $5K – $15K.
The ROI question: A tool that saves 20 hours a week often pays for itself within 12 months. But the real value is usually in reliability, visibility, and freeing up your best people to do higher-value work.
What the Process Looks Like
A good development partner won’t jump straight into building. Here’s what a healthy process looks like:
1. Discovery (1–2 weeks)
Understand the problem properly. Map the current workflow. Identify what success looks like. This often surfaces assumptions that would have caused problems later.
2. Design + Build (iterative, 4–12 weeks)
Build in small increments. Show progress early. Adjust based on feedback. You should see working software within weeks, not months.
3. Launch + Support
Deploy, train, and support. A good partner stays involved after launch — because the first version is rarely the final version.
How to Evaluate a Development Partner
Not all software consultancies are the same. Here’s what to look for:
Do they understand your business — or just the tech?
The best partners ask more questions about your operations than your tech stack. They’re solving a business problem, not just writing code.
Are they a partner or a vendor?
A vendor delivers what you ask for. A partner challenges assumptions, flags risks, and helps you make better decisions. Look for someone who’ll grow with you.
Will they be there after launch?
Software isn’t “done” when it ships. You need someone who’ll maintain, improve, and adapt the system as your business evolves.
Who actually does the work?
Some consultancies sell senior expertise and deliver junior execution. Ask who’ll be working on your project — and whether they’ll be available throughout.
If a consultancy won’t tell you who’s actually building your software, that’s a red flag.
Are they local?
For SMBs, having a partner in the same timezone (and ideally the same country) matters. Communication is faster, context is shared, and there’s no offshore handoff to navigate.
Questions to Ask Before You Start
Before engaging any development partner, get clear on:
- What’s the problem we’re solving? (Not “we need an app” — the actual business problem.)
- What does success look like in 6 months?
- Who internally will own this? (You need a decision-maker involved, not just a project manager.)
- What’s our appetite for change? (Custom software often surfaces process improvements. Are you ready for that?)
A Note on AI
AI is everywhere right now. Some of it is hype. Some of it is genuinely useful.
For SMBs, practical AI usually means:
- Automating repetitive cognitive tasks (classification, summarisation, data extraction)
- Adding intelligence to existing workflows (not replacing them)
- Making better use of data you already have
The key is pragmatism. AI should solve a real problem — not be a checkbox on a pitch deck.
We’ve seen teams spend six figures on the wrong tool when a simpler internal system would have solved the problem faster.
The Bottom Line
Custom software isn’t about technology. It’s about building systems that fit your business — not forcing your business to fit someone else’s system.
If your operations are held together by old, manual, fragile processes — and you’ve outgrown the tools that got you here — it might be time to build something better.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to invest in better systems.
It’s whether you can afford not to.
Encubed Solutions builds bespoke software and AI workflows for SMB owners in Australia. We don’t offshore. We don’t oversell. And we’ll tell you if custom software isn’t the right answer.
Written by Liam Elliott, founder of Encubed Solutions. If this resonated and you'd like to talk about what's actually going on in your business, book a discovery call.