You’re paying for six different SaaS tools. None of them talk to each other properly. You’re copying data between them manually. Half the features you’re paying for, you’ll never use. The one thing you actually need? Not available.
Sound familiar? This is the reality for most small businesses I speak to. And the worst part is, most of them think this is just how it has to be.
The subscription trap
Here’s how it usually starts. You need to manage your customers, so you sign up for a CRM. Then you need invoicing, so that’s another tool. Scheduling? Another one. Project tracking? Another. Email marketing? You get the picture.
Before long, you’re paying hundreds of pounds a month across five or six platforms. Each one does about 60% of what you need. The other 40% is either missing entirely or buried behind an upgrade you can’t justify. And none of them share data properly, so you’re the glue holding it all together - copying names into spreadsheets, re-typing job details, chasing information that should already be in one place.
That’s not efficiency. That’s expensive busywork.
The real cost of “making do”
The subscription fees are only part of the problem. The bigger cost is the time you lose every single day working around tools that don’t quite fit.
Think about it. How much time do you spend each week copying data from one system to another? How often do things slip through the cracks because information lives in three different places? How many times have you thought “there must be a better way to do this” and then carried on anyway because you didn’t have time to find one?
That time adds up. For a lot of small businesses, it’s hours every week - hours that could be spent on actual work, winning new customers, or just going home on time.
What’s changed about custom software
Custom software used to be something only big companies could afford. We’re talking tens of thousands of pounds, months of development, and a result that was often overbuilt and hard to change. For a small business, it just wasn’t realistic.
That’s genuinely changed. AI-accelerated development means I can build things faster and more efficiently than ever before. What used to take weeks can now take days. The cost has come down dramatically - not because the quality is lower, but because the tools I use to build software have got significantly better.
This means custom software is now a realistic option for small businesses. Not enterprise-grade platforms with a hundred features you don’t need. Just simple, focused tools that fit the way you actually work.
What custom software looks like for a small business
When I say custom software, I’m not talking about anything complicated. I’m talking about a tool that does exactly what your business needs - nothing more, nothing less.
Here are a few real-world examples of what that looks like in practice.
A trades business that was managing jobs across WhatsApp messages, a shared spreadsheet, and a paper diary. Now they have one system where jobs come in, get assigned, get tracked, and get invoiced. Everyone on the team can see what’s happening from their phone.
A hair salon that was using a booking platform that charged per appointment and didn’t handle their cancellation policy properly. Now they have their own booking system that works exactly how they want it to, integrated with their website and sending the right reminders at the right time.
A letting agent juggling tenant details, maintenance requests, and property inspections across multiple spreadsheets and email threads. Now they have a single dashboard that keeps everything in one place, with automated reminders for inspections and certificates that are about to expire.
None of these are complex enterprise systems. They’re straightforward tools built around how each business actually operates.
When custom software makes sense - and when it doesn’t
I’m not going to pretend custom software is always the answer. Sometimes off-the-shelf tools are exactly right.
If you need basic email marketing, Mailchimp is probably fine. If you need simple invoicing and you’re a one-person operation, FreeAgent or Xero will do the job. If a tool exists that does what you need, does it well, and the price is fair - use it.
Custom software starts to make sense when:
- You’re paying for multiple tools and stitching them together manually
- Your workflow doesn’t fit neatly into any existing product
- You’re spending significant time on workarounds and data entry
- You need something specific to your industry or your way of doing things
- You’ve outgrown spreadsheets but the “proper” software options are overkill or overpriced
Basically, if the off-the-shelf tools are causing you more problems than they solve, it’s worth having a conversation about building something that actually fits.
How Forgd makes it accessible
I work with small businesses across the UK to build software that fits their workflow. Not bloated platforms with features you’ll never touch - just clean, focused tools that do what you need.
I keep the process simple. I have a conversation with you about what’s not working. I figure out what would help. I build it, you test it, I refine it until it’s right. And then I look after it for you - hosting, backups, updates, the lot - so you don’t have to think about the technical side.
No long contracts. No big upfront investment. Just software that works for your business.
If you’re tired of paying for tools that don’t quite fit, get in touch and let’s talk about what would.