One of the great aspects of starting up is that you can save yourself a lot of money and time by doing things yourself – a phenomenon known as ‘sweat equity’
However, there are limits, and I would particularly point out the follies of developing all your software, databases and other systems from scratch.
It feels great to program your own software, and for basics such as website layout, simple databases, etc. this is fine.
However, when it comes to more complicated systems like customer relationship management renting a commercial system will likely end up being better than just cost effective when you look at the costs of renting your own server and paying for IT support.
Also, if you are stitching together a great website if you use supplied products then not only will it speed up the time you have to focus on your core business, but it also means that you can get updates in the future as the company that makes it is paid a subscription by many thousands of users worldwide.
Examples include the ecommerce capabilities you can rent from Amazon, Crystal Reports to provide users with reports from your databases, and so on.
If you are providing a new service and you are worried your competitors will simply copy you, all I can say is do better and do it faster. If you don’t speed things up by using existing systems you are damaging your business.
Focus your sweat equity where it counts – providing a good product and finding your customers.
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