Bespoke software is a computer system designed and written specifically for a function within your business. Bespoke software follows your existing processes and allows you to monitor what is important to you. As your business grows, you can make changes to your bespoke software so that it continually develops and benefits your team.

Bespoke software is designed specifically for your business, so you do not have to alter your existing processes.  Bespoke software enables you to have multiple users and to provide permissions to those users, which improves accountability and protects you from accidental deletions and data theft.

The software is an asset of your business and can attract better offers when you come to sell. You also own the data and are free to use it how you wish without restrictions.

Bespoke software is used by all types of businesses, from one-person training companies to major investment banks. Most small businesses operate a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to keep track of their prospects and customers. When a business first starts, prospects and customers are stored in Microsoft Word documents, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or Microsoft Access databases. All of these solutions work until you either have too many customers or start taking on staff.

Bespoke software is charged by project, by the hour, or a combination of the two. At Mustard, we start with a project price, and this is the cost to get you to a usable product that meets the majority of your requirements. The next stage can then be charged as another project or hourly depending on the features required. At Mustard, our starting price is £1000+vat. For this amount, you could have your own bespoke Customer Relationship Manager that stores the data you need, categorises people and enables you to store files (invoices, quotes etc.) against each entry.

Bespoke software is a long-term commitment as a computer system takes time to build and develop. You are often dependant on the software development company, and it can be challenging to transfer to a new provider. At Mustard, we understand this concern and will provide access to the backend database and a backup of the source code so that you are free to change provider. Bespoke software is also more expensive as the developer only has you as the customer for your bespokse system.

Off the shelf software is designed to fit as many companies as possible, this means that there are usually more features than your business requires, which creates a steeper learning curve for you and your staff. Usually, you can get up and running very quickly, and there are often trial periods so that you can see if the software will work with your business. The cost of off-the-shelf software is usually low and is ordinarily payable as a monthly subscription. However, you do not own the data you enter, and the provider often provides data exports that are little or no use, which prevents you from moving to another product.

Spreadsheets, including Microsoft Excel, are what brought computers into the business arena. For calculations, pivot tables and charts, they cannot be beaten. However, spreadsheets have no audit trail, and only one person can edit a spreadsheet at a time. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet can be accidentally deleted or stolen by one of your staff members.

Microsoft Access is a brilliant database and ideal for a one-person business. However, as your business grows, Microsoft Access starts to show it’s weaknesses including the biggest of which is that the entire database can be ‘accidentally’ deleted or stolen by one of your staff members.

Bespoke software data-driven, e.g. bespoke software uses information specific to you and your business. At Mustard, we don’t expect a detailed requirements specification. To get started, we only need to know what you want at the end of the software. That could be a report, an invoice, statistics or a graph. A great starting point is your existing system, e.g. a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or a Microsoft Access database.

Bespoke software is very project dependent and can range from a week to several months. At Mustard, we have been creating bespoke software for many years and have a library of components ready to be adapted to your business. For a bespoke Customer Relationship Manager (CRM), you could be up and running within 5 days. A more complicated system like stock control, freight management or recruitment could take a couple of months.