Build, buy or connect
Buying is faster and cheaper to start. Connecting two tools you already pay for is often enough. Building makes sense when the tool is central to how you serve customers, when you need something no product does, or when the monthly cost of workarounds keeps growing.
- Does a product already do most of this? Buy it.
- Do two tools just need to share data? Connect them.
- Is this how you win customers, and nothing matches it? Consider building.
Scope it before you pay for a build
A scoping sprint of a couple of weeks should end with three things: a written description of what the tool does, screens you can react to and a fixed price for the build. If a supplier will not scope first, the price you hear is a guess.
- Who will use it, and what do they do today?
- What must it connect to?
- What would make you stop the project?
What you should own at the end
You should own the code, the data and the accounts it runs on. Ask where it is hosted, who can change it and what happens if the supplier stops working with you. Plan some support: software needs updates, and a small monthly cost is normal.
Test your idea in an hour
Write your answers on one page before you speak to any supplier.
- Describe in two sentences what the tool does and who uses it.
- List what you do today instead, and what that costs you in time each month.
- Search for products that do most of it. Note what they miss.
- Write the three things the tool must do on day one. Everything else can wait for version two.