When you need your computer or your website to do something new for you, there's one essential decision you have to make first. It's not how much room you're willing to give to the new software or which software company you should support or even how much to spend. It's this: do you want an off-the-shelf solution, or something designed for you?

Many businesspeople don't even consider this. After all, when you need a chair, you don't begin by contacting carpenters and upholsterers. You go to the store and buy a chair. Just so, when you need new software or a new application, you may go to the store and stand in the software aisle. You read the packages, ask the clerks for advice, or perhaps call friends to see what they think. Eventually, you pick the thing that seems best and install it.

This is not the only way. And it isn't necessarily the best way. Off the shelf solutions can have drawbacks:

• They may not do what you want. You may have a list of characteristics and functionalities you want in a solution, and you may not find anything that has all those characteristics. You may just have to choose the closest thing, or put together several different packages in order to get everything you want. Often, you'll find that the exact functionalities you want don't seem to come in your price range, or that you have to have other software in order to do what you want with one package.
  
• They may do more than you want. This may not sound like a bad thing. Often, we buy a software package for one thing, and we think of the other stuff it does as free add-ons that we might use someday. However, we're paying for all those added things. If we want an invoicing package, should we have to pay for the calendar that comes with it, which we'll never use? It isn't only the cost of the solution, either. A software package with lots of options can mean a steeper learning curve for your staff and use of more resources in your computer.
• They may not suit you or your company. A solution designed for lots of people to use may not work quite right for you. A solution designed for you will mesh with your workflow, not require workarounds. It won't look as though you've patched it in. Onsharp's SmartPay, for example, is an electronic invoicing solution with a customizable portal. That means that your customers see something recognizable when they go online to pay their bills. This makes them feel secure and makes you look good. "Customizable" means that you save, compared with a system completely built for you, but you still get the benefits of a solution designed with you in mind.