How Do You Avoid Problems in Your Software Budgets?

Software Budgets

Budgeting isn’t an easy task no matter what it is you’re balancing – bills, groceries, saving to buy a home, or more specifically, a custom software project. At SOLTECH, we are often asked by our clients about problems in their software budgets and how they can avoid them. Since we answer this question almost every week, we understand that budgeting your software project is a top concern. The best ways to avoid problems in your software budget are: being realistic, prioritizing features, obtaining proper estimations, and avoiding any rework.

Realistically, how much should my software budget be?

Since each project is going to vary in cost – ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 and up, it is important to obtain a proper estimation. How do you obtain a proper estimation? By one, researching your local software firms and two, being realistic. Ensure you are using a trusted firm that can provide client testimonials as well as examples of their work. Try to stay local when choosing a company to build your software so that in-person meetings can happen regularly.

Depending on the project, it’s size and complexity, along with the estimation given, it’s best to tack on extra funds as a safety net. No one can determine if there will be any bumps in the road that will extend the cost of the project. Since they’re unpreventable, it’s best to be fully prepared for any situation that may arise.

In addition, don’t tell the software firm that your budget is one number when realistically, you can only pay another. Being upfront about your costs is crucial. With being realistic about your software budgets, comes being realistic about your project. This means prioritizing the features and cutting out anything unneeded, which will also cut out extra costs.

Ask yourself, “does my application need all of these features right now?”

Probably not. While you want your application to match the blueprint vision you have in mind, remember to also be realistic. Be realistic about what your application needs and what you want it to have. This will help avoid any issues with your software budgets as you’ll be able to cut back on unnecessary costs. This will avoid any software budget problems for you. Also, ensure additional features are not added mid-project. This not only increases cost due to more work but will also extend the amount of time needed to complete the project. Double check the project is explained clearly and all involved are on the same page.

Am I prepared for my software project to be built?

Software budgets and their problems cannot be prevented. Therefore another essential piece to avoiding a problem in your software budget is to do as much pre-work as you can. This means ensuring you have all the data collected, that it is accurate and up-to-date as well as pull all files that may be needed. The more you prepare, the more you can avoid possible hiccups in finding data needed. This prevents rework which can happen when a developer moves forward with the information you provided him or her but then finds out the information has changed per an update you provide. This will then add to your costs as the developer will have to charge for more time.

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