Signs it’s time
- Someone spends hours every week copying information from one tool into another.
- You pay for four or five subscriptions that each do part of the job.
- The same questions come in by phone every day: where’s my order, what’s my balance, when’s my appointment.
- A spreadsheet runs the business, and only one person understands it.
- The way you work is what sets you apart, and no product supports it.
When it isn’t worth it
- An off-the-shelf tool does 90% of what you need and the other 10% is a preference.
- You haven’t settled how the process should work. Software locks in a process; settle it on paper first.
- There’s no budget for keeping it running after launch.
What we’ve built
We build and run our own software products as well as client work: VYVE, a live event platform venues run every night, and Cue, a business platform and apps for wedding DJs. The same approach applies to a client project: start with the job that costs the most, ship it to real users, then grow it.
Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.