When it comes to developing custom software, it can seem like an incredibly intimidating process — where do you even start? Won't it cost a fortune?

Well, you're right in saying that. Custom software development — especially on a large scale — isn't an inexpensive process. But speaking from experience, it's an investment worth making as long as you work in the right direction.

We recently talked about why you should consider building custom software — no matter what size you are. But the thing is, you don't have to go all-in at once. You can take plenty of baby steps to improve the tiniest of processes that can make a huge impact. Thanks to the low-code/no-code movement, there are also ways you can dabble in custom software development yourself.

Because custom software development doesn't have to start with a huge project and overhauling everything you've ever done in your business — we can start small. In this insight, we're going to cover the first baby steps you can take towards custom software development.

Figure out where your bottleneck lies

One of the major mistakes we see companies making when it comes to their technology is diving in too quickly. ‘Our competitor has an online platform; we gotta hop on that bandwagon too.' And without taking a step back and thinking it through, from start to finish, and what implications this may have for your company — this might end up hindering your business rather than empowering it.

One of our signature services is our discovery phase, which looks at the big picture of the business and constructs a customized software development plan to support your entrepreneurial endeavors.

But something also worth delving into is a mini discovery phase. This is where we take a look at just one process or action step (depending on the size of your business) where you're experiencing problems or hiccups. We'll then figure out how custom software development could solve that problem — or not. One example could be your client onboarding process.

Free up some of your time with automation and application integration

We often find that you're already using a particular tech stack. For example, you're using Google G-Suite to create and process documents; you're using Slack for Team communication and a tool like notion.so to manage your projects.

Often the problem with all of these tools is that they don't talk to each other. With a bit of help, we can get these applications talking to each other and feeding information back and forth automatically. All of a sudden, you've automated specific processes that you (or your team) used to do manually, and you're saving a ton of time while getting rid of a bottleneck.

If you want to give automation and/or application a try yourself, you can start with a tool like Zapier or make.com.

For more complex connecting of systems, check out our signature application integration service: TRIGO.connect.

Start using a No-Code/Low-Code tool

There's a lot happening in tech right now. Things you used to have coding skills for can now be developed with ingenius low-code/no-code tools. To ‘build,' all you need to do is learn how to master the tool or even use simple drag and drop functionality.

You can find out more about why No-Code/Low-Code will change custom software development forever — and how you can benefit from it right here. We've also included examples of platforms you can use to try building a tool of your own. We've found that it's best to get the relevant training and expertise when it comes to choosing a tool and mastering it — it really makes sense. There's a lot out there, and we could help you navigate through it.

That's it. Our take on the first baby steps you can take for custom software development. Want to chat more? Book a first free consultation with our CEO, Christian, right here — the easiest baby step you can take yet.