Custom SaaS vs Generic Software: What Businesses Don't Know

The generic software trap

Most businesses start with tools like Monday, Trello, HubSpot or Salesforce. These tools are powerful, but they have one thing in common: they were designed for everyone, and therefore for no one in particular.

Result: you adapt your processes to the tool, instead of the tool adapting to your processes.

The 4 problems with generic SaaS software

• Growing cost: Salesforce charges an average of €150 per user per month. For a team of 10, that's €18,000/year, and the price increases every year.
• Superfluous features: you pay for hundreds of features you only use 20% of.
• Vendor lock-in: if the publisher raises prices, changes its policy or goes bankrupt, you're stuck.
• Difficult integration: connecting multiple tools (CRM + billing + project management) is often a nightmare.

When custom SaaS becomes the solution

A custom business tool is relevant when:

• You're spending more than €500/month on software licenses
• Your team spends time working around the limitations of existing tools
• You have specific business processes that no market tool covers correctly
• You need to integrate multiple data sources into a unified interface

What custom SaaS can do for you

• Custom CRM: manage your clients, quotes, invoices and follow-ups in one dashboard
• Field service management platform: scheduling, field tracking, automatic reports
• Automated billing tool: automatic invoice generation based on your business rules
• Client portal: your clients access their orders, documents and history in real time

Return on investment

A custom tool generally costs €3,000 to €20,000 depending on complexity. But if it saves you €500/month in licenses and 2 hours of work per day for your team, it pays for itself in less than a year.

Conclusion

Custom SaaS isn't reserved for large companies. For a well-organized SME, it's often the most profitable investment of the year, and the best way to stay ahead of the competition.