Buy a ready-made product when one already fits how you work, because it is cheaper, quicker and already tested by thousands. Build when the way you work is what earns your money and no product follows it, when licences per user have grown past the cost of a build, or when the product cannot work under your conditions. Between the two is a third option: keep what you bought and add a small tool or connection for the part that is missing.
Five questions that decide it
- Is this how every business like yours works? Payroll, bookkeeping and email are the same everywhere. Buy those. Never build an accounting package.
- Is the misfit in the part that makes you different? If the product cannot follow the very thing customers choose you for, that part is worth building.
- What do the licences cost over three years? Multiply the monthly price by your users, by 36. Compare that with a build plus its running costs.
- Does it work under your conditions? Your network, your phones, your language, the payment methods your customers use.
- Can you get your data out? If not, the low price is the cost of being locked in.
The arithmetic, with an example
The licence price here is invented to show the method: a product at US$15 per user per month, for 12 users. The build is a real estimate from our estimator: a business system for 6 to 20 people at N$27,499.99, with hosting of about N$750 a month and the Keep care plan at N$1,249.99.
| After | Buying | Building |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | N$35,940 | N$51,500 |
| 2 years | N$71,880 | N$75,500 |
| 3 years | N$107,820 | N$99,500 |
In this example buying is cheaper for the first two years, and building is cheaper from year 3. Change the licence price or the number of users and the answer changes, which is the point: do the sum with your own figures. With three users instead of twelve, buying wins easily. And cost is only one reason. Building also wins when a product simply cannot do what your work needs.
What the arithmetic leaves out
- For buying: price rises you do not control, features you pay for and never use, the time staff spend working around the misfit.
- For building: your own time during the build, the risk that the first version needs changing, the need for someone to maintain it.
The third option: buy, then add
Often a product does 80% of the job. Instead of replacing it, add what is missing:
- A small tool beside it for the one thing it cannot record.
- A connection that moves information between it and your other tools.
- A dashboard that reads from it and shows the figures your way.
These cost from N$2,499.99 to N$5,499.99 rather than tens of thousands. See integrations and automation.
When to buy
- The job is standard: accounts, payroll, email, video calls, a simple shop till.
- A product for your industry exists and people like you recommend it.
- You need it working this month.
When to build
- You have tried products and staff still keep a spreadsheet on the side.
- Your process is your advantage and no product follows it.
- Licence costs are growing with every new user.
- Nothing available works with your network, language or way of taking payment.