A lot of software gets built for the problem somebody called about instead of the one they actually had. It works fine. It just doesn't help.
Before you pay anyone to build anything, us included, answer three questions.
1. Is the problem the product, or the process around it?
If customers don't want what you sell, software won't fix it. We say so on our own site: that's one of the times we'd tell you not to hire us.
Software earns its keep on the process: the estimate that takes you an evening, the invoice only one person can build, the follow-up that falls between two steps. If you can point at a specific, repeated thing that stands between you and the work you're good at, keep going.
2. Does the answer depend on something only you know?
This is the question that separates build from buy.
If the job is generic, moving data from one tool to another or sending a reminder, somebody already sells that, and it's cheaper than anything you'll commission. Zapier or custom software? goes into that one.
If the job depends on something only you know, off-the-shelf tools can't learn it. Paul's prices lived in his head; RVDesk learned them from twenty-four months of his own invoices. Don Sherman's capture method lived in his head and his binders; RevWin encodes it. Nobody sells either of those, because nobody else has them.
3. Can you say what it's worth?
Every tool worth building does one of three things: saves time, increases capacity, or makes money. Name which one, and roughly how much.
Paul gets about two hours a day back in peak season. Parentz@Work's monthly billing went from twenty hours to two. RevWin doubles what one business-development pro or seller-doer can carry. Those are the numbers that justify a build. If you can't find yours, you're not ready to buy anything yet, from anyone.
If you answered yes, yes, and a number
Then it's worth a conversation. What custom software costs covers what moves the price. And if we get into it and the honest answer is "buy", we'll tell you that too.