{"id":3345,"date":"2026-10-08T11:14:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T03:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/?p=3345"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:14:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T03:14:57","slug":"are-there-any-disadvantages-of-by-application-407b-195b63","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/08\/are-there-any-disadvantages-of-by-application-407b-195b63\/","title":{"rendered":"Are there any disadvantages of ‘By Application’?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s cut to the chase: I\u2019m the founder of a \u201cBy Application\u201d software vendor, and for 7 years, I\u2019ve watched this model blow up\u2014mostly for the better. Back when we started, everyone just bought generic, one-size-fits-all tools, right? You picked a marketing CRM, plugged in your deets, and hoped it stuck. But now? No one wants that. They want software tailored exactly to their niche: a vet clinic doesn\u2019t need the same appointment scheduling as a construction firm, a SaaS startup\u2019s onboarding workflow is nothing like a grocery chain\u2019s inventory tracking. By Application (or \u201cBA\u201d for short) is the fix for that, it\u2019s the whole \u201cbuild once, adapt for every use case\u201d thing, where we customize our core platform for your<\/em> needs, not the other way around. But here\u2019s the tea\u2014this model isn\u2019t all rainbows and custom integrations. I\u2019ve spent late nights on support calls, fielding panicked emails from clients who picked us for the flexibility and now are stuck yelling at their screens because they didn\u2019t think through the tradeoffs. Yeah, disadvantages of By Application? I live them every day. Let\u2019s spill. By Application<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First up: the biggest one I see day in and day out is that BA\u2019s not<\/em> cheap. Like, way pricier than generic, off-the-shelf (OTS) tools. Let\u2019s be real\u2014when you pick a $50\/month CRM, that\u2019s a flat rate, no surprise add-ons. BA? We don\u2019t slap a number on a cookie cutter. We\u2019re sitting with you for 3 days at kickoff, interviewing your team, mapping out every process, hiring devs to tweak features, testing integrations with your clunky old QuickBooks or that legacy POS you refuse to replace. Last year, I had a small landscaping business client who wanted a custom field for \u201ctree height\u201d in their work order tool. That\u2019s it, right? Nope. It tied into their invoicing, their payroll for their crew, their route-planning app. The final bill? $12k upfront, plus $800\/month in maintenance. They called me 2 months later crying, saying it was twice what they budgeted. I get it\u2014small businesses especially have tight cash flow, and BA\u2019s upfront costs aren\u2019t for the faint of heart. OTS starts at $10\/month; BA might start at $2k, and that\u2019s before you add anything. It\u2019s not \u201caffordable for most\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s for teams that can swing that kind of upfront spend.<\/p>\n

Next up: the \u201ccustomization tax\u201d that never really goes away. I love saying this, but with BA, once you build it, you can\u2019t just flip a switch. When OTS rolls out a new feature? You click \u201cupdate\u201d and done. With BA? Every new update requires us to tweak your custom build. That means more billable hours, more delays, more \u201cwe\u2019ll have it done in 2 weeks\u201d that turns into 6. Last quarter, our product team launched a new security update to patch a vulnerability. For our OTS clients, that was free, automatic. For our BA clients? We had to schedule 3 hours of their time to test the update on their custom modules, plus 5 hours of dev time to make sure their custom fields didn\u2019t break. That\u2019s $1,800 just to apply a security patch. Imagine having to pay to keep your house\u2019s electrical code updated\u2014you don\u2019t want to do it, but you have to. It\u2019s a never-ending bill that OTS users don\u2019t deal with. And it\u2019s not just updates. Want to hire a new employee and add a custom role? That\u2019s more dev time. Want to change a workflow because your business expanded? More hours. The flexibility stops feeling like a win when every small change costs you.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the time suck, for both sides. BA isn\u2019t a \u201csign up and go\u201d kind of thing. OTS takes 10 minutes to set up. BA? We\u2019re talking weeks, sometimes months. The discovery phase alone\u2014where we dig through every nook and cranny of your business\u2014can take 2-3 weeks. I had a tech startup client who wanted to roll out a custom project management tool. They were in a rush to launch their new product, so they pushed us to skip the final testing phase. We said no (bless us), and they got mad. But 3 months later, they called us begging to fix all the broken custom integrations because they\u2019d launched too fast. They lost 2 clients because the tool crashed mid-onboarding. The thing is, your<\/em> team has to put in work too. You can\u2019t just hand us a list of features and ghost. You have to show up to every call, approve wireframes, test prototypes, answer 100 follow-up questions. A client of mine recently switched from BA to OTS and told me their whole operations team was wasting 5 hours a week just collaborating with us on tweaks\u2014time they\u2019d rather spend on their actual jobs. OTS, they logged in and went, no extra work required. BA requires a lot of hand-holding, and if your team\u2019s already stretched thin, that\u2019s a real strain.<\/p>\n

Wait, let\u2019s not sleep on the vendor dependency, either. When you pick BA, you\u2019re not just buying a tool\u2014you\u2019re tying your business to us. Why? Because we built all the custom stuff. If you want to switch to another vendor later, you can\u2019t just export your data and go. You have to rebuild every custom module, every integration, every workflow from scratch. That takes weeks, months, and thousands of dollars. Last year, I had a restaurant client who wanted to switch to a new POS system because they found a cheaper plan. They told me switching would cost them $20k to rebuild their custom loyalty program and table reservation tool. They stayed with us\u2014even though the other vendor was $300 cheaper a month\u2014because switching wasn\u2019t worth the cost. That\u2019s a catch 22: we\u2019re solving their problem, but we\u2019re also locking them in. It\u2019s not malicious, it\u2019s just how custom builds work. But that dependency means if we take too long, or raise our prices, or go out of business (knock on wood), they\u2019re screwed. I\u2019ve had a couple of clients hit that panic button when we had a 2-week dev delay last year\u2014they thought we\u2019d disappear. Yeah, trust is a big factor here, and BA tests that.<\/p>\n

Also, let\u2019s talk about the \u201cit\u2019s only flexible if you know<\/em> what you need\u201d problem. BA sounds perfect, right? \u201cCustom built for your<\/em> needs!\u201d But a lot of clients come to us saying, \u201cWe need a tool for our retail store,\u201d and they have no clue what that actually means. They think, \u201cI want to track sales and inventory,\u201d but they don\u2019t realize they also need it to sync with their e-commerce site, generate specific tax reports for their state, and let part-time staff clock in from the floor. If you don\u2019t outline every single detail, the BA build will end up being \u201ccustom\u201d but not actually tailored to the stuff you need<\/em>. I had a small boutique client last year who built a custom inventory tool with us, but forgot to mention that they sell online and in-store, so their stock levels wouldn\u2019t update across channels. They spent $8k on a tool that only worked for their in-store sales, and they had to pay us another $5k to add that e-commerce sync. That\u2019s the mistake so many people make with BA: they overestimate how much they actually know about their own workflows, and they end up with a tool that\u2019s half-baked, or way more than they need. OTS still has extra features, but at least you know exactly what you\u2019re getting\u2014you don\u2019t have to define every tiny thing upfront.<\/p>\n

Wait, before you think I\u2019m just bashing my own business model, let\u2019s be clear: BA isn\u2019t all bad. It\u2019s why we\u2019ve kept 90% of our clients for 3+ years. It\u2019s why that vet clinic we built a tool for now books 30% more appointments because the workflow fits their staff, not a generic clinic template. It\u2019s why that SaaS startup we built a customer onboarding tool for reduced their churn by 20%\u2014it\u2019s exactly what their users wanted. But the disadvantages are real, and no one talks about them enough. Because everyone\u2019s selling BA as the \u201cfuture of software,\u201d the fix for OTS\u2019s one-size-fits-all garbage. But if you\u2019re a small business owner with a $50k annual tech budget, BA might not make sense. If you\u2019re a startup that needs to launch in 2 months, BA is a no-go. If you hate having ongoing work (and bills) for your software, BA will frustrate you.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing: we\u2019re still a By Application vendor, we still stand by our model, but we\u2019ve learned a ton from the missteps we\u2019ve taken with clients. We now do a full \u201cfit assessment\u201d before anyone signs, to make sure BA is actually the right fit for their business. We give clients a clear breakdown of upfront costs and ongoing maintenance, no hidden fees. We\u2019re building a self-service version of our platform too, for teams that only need small tweaks, to cut down on the dev time. And we\u2019ve started offering \u201cexit planning\u201d for clients who might want to switch vendors later, to make that transition less painful.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, software isn\u2019t one-size-fits-all. OTS works for a lot of people, BA works for others, and there\u2019s a million tools in between. But if you\u2019re considering By Application, don\u2019t just go in thinking it\u2019s the \u201cperfect\u201d solution. Do your research, ask for a full cost breakdown, make sure you know exactly what you need, and be prepared for the work and the bills that come with building something custom.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re curious to chat about whether By Application is right for your team, or want to learn more about how we handle the tradeoffs I mentioned, don\u2019t hesitate to reach out. We\u2019d love to hear what you\u2019re working on, and walk through your specific needs to see if it\u2019s a fit.<\/p>\n

Industrial Parts Die Casting Mold<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Gartner. (2023). Market Guide for Custom Application Development and Integration Services.<\/li>\n
  2. Statista. (2024). Global Software as a Service (SaaS) Market Size, by Deployment Model.<\/li>\n
  3. McKinsey & Company. (2022). The Hidden Costs of Custom Software: A Survey of Small and Medium Business Tech Purchasers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Hangzhou Pullbull Technology Co., Ltd.<\/a>
    As one of the most professional die-casting mold manufacturers and suppliers in China, we offer a wide range of products with superior quality. Please feel free to wholesale bulk premium die-casting mold from our factory. Also, custom service is available.
    Address: Rm 805 Gemini Build 1, #1785 JiangHan Rd, BinJiang, Hangzhou, China 310052
    E-mail: markdan@menovo.cn
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.pbmold.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Let\u2019s cut to the chase: I\u2019m the founder of a \u201cBy Application\u201d software vendor, and for … Are there any disadvantages of ‘By Application’?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":3345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3308],"class_list":["post-3345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-by-application-4434-199a4b"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nutriemart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}