Can you build it with no-code tools, or do you need custom software?
No-code and low-code tools let someone build forms, simple workflows and internal lists by arranging pieces on a screen, with little or no code. They often suit a first version or a task with few users and standard rules. They can strain with many users, unusual rules, connections to other tools and data you must keep. Before you start, check that you can export your data, that the account is in your name, what the limits are and how the price grows with users.
What they do well
These strengths are usually clearest when few people use the tool and the rules are standard.
- Forms that send answers to a list or a person.
- Simple steps, such as an approval, or a reminder when something changes.
- Internal lists and trackers that a few staff keep.
- A quick first version to see whether people use the idea, in line with the related answer on a minimum viable product.
- Changes made by you or a staff member without waiting for a developer.
Where they can strain
Someone has to maintain whatever gets built. If the one person who understands it is away or leaves, the business can be stuck.
- Many users, or different views and sign-in rules for staff, customers and managers.
- Rules with many exceptions, which can grow into a tangle of steps only the builder understands.
- Connections to tools the platform does not support, or that its plan leaves out.
- Data you must keep safe or move, such as customer, payment or health details.
- A polished customer-facing app that must behave the same on every phone.
Checks before you start
| Check | What to find out |
|---|---|
| Data export | Can you take out everything, including history and files, in a form another tool can open? Try an export in the first week, and see the related answer on switching business software for checking one. |
| Whose account | Is it opened with a business email in the business's name and with more than one administrator, not on one person's own login? Who else can see the data? |
| Limits | What the plan caps (records, users, automatic runs, storage) and what happens at the cap: does work stop, slow down or cost more? |
| Price as you grow | How the price changes as users or runs are added, and what the next plan up includes. Work from your use a year from now, not today. |
| Changes by the vendor | Ask how much notice customers get, and keep the export current. |
| Connections | Which of your other tools it links to, who fixes a link that breaks and what the link can see. |
When to move on
Moving on does not mean the first build was wasted. Its screens, rules and real examples are a good start for a developer's brief; the related answer on what to have ready before hiring a developer lists what to write down. The related answer on custom or off-the-shelf software helps compare buying a product with having one built. Some jobs may never need to move. Ascent Vision builds custom software, so read this with that in mind.
- You spend more effort working around the tool than using it.
- Staff keep a second spreadsheet because the tool cannot hold something.
- The price rises faster than the value as users are added.
- A rule you need cannot be expressed, or mistakes reach customers or money.
Related answers
- What is an MVP, and should a small business start with one?
- How do you switch business software without losing your data?
- What should you have ready before hiring a software developer?
- Should you buy off-the-shelf software or have something built?
Custom software and apps
Off-the-shelf tools get you most of the way. When the last stretch is where the time goes, we build the part that fits: the dashboard, the portal, the internal tool or the app.