groovecoder

Custom Software and Economies of Scale

I saw this thought recently:

For years, businesses were forced to adapt to large, one-size-fits-all software systems.

Expensive. Rigid. Never quite how work actually happens.

That’s starting to change. It’s now practical to build small, purpose-built software that fits how a business actually works.

Less bloat. Less disruption. More fit.

I’m seeing more value in short, fixed-scope projects that solve one real problem well.

Listening first. Building only what’s needed.

I had a similar thought the other day.

I’m drafting a survey to learn about potential software customers. I like these to discover what features or aspects of the software will be most helpful to the most people. We tend to like to build software that helps “most people” because one-size-fits-most software gives us economies of scale. I.e., you design and build it once for a big fixed cost, then you sell it thousands or millions of times for (comparatively) no marginal cost.

Is that changing now that we can make more software faster? Maybe. Is that a good thing? Maybe.

Think back to when each business had a small, purpose-built website. It was a great time to be someone who knew how to write HTML and CSS files and FTP them up to a web server. But each business paid the full cost for every feature: contact forms, image galleries, etc. For every security vulnerability (if we even cared at the time), we had to update every company’s individual server. To add something like e-commerce, we copy-pasted e-commerce code from some other site and tweaked it. We shared knowledge and abilities across scattered forums, personal sites, and in-person groups and meetups.

Then one-size-fits-most frameworks like WordPress came out.

With WordPress, we could update the framework and millions of websites would get bug fixes and security patches. We could add contact form, image gallery, or WooCommerce plugins in minutes. We built our knowledge into a massive ecosystem of themes and plugins. Companies could hire people who already knew WordPress.

I don’t want to go back to small, purpose-built software for every single business.

I do like the idea of short, fixed-scope projects that solve one real problem well.

I think that looks like large, one-size-fits-most frameworks/platforms AND they can be extended with short, fixed-scope plugins/add-ons that solve one real problem well.