4 awesome examples busting the one-size-fits-all myth

Custom applications have revolutionized the way people use technology to run their businesses.

In today’s fast-paced world, no one has the time to wait for industry-specific apps to be released or updated. And there’s no guarantee that the application will even fit into your business as the one size fits all promise is always a let down.

That’s why you need tools that help you build your own applications. The best part? You don’t need a technical background to get started.

Plenty of businesses have created custom apps for their companies without ever having to learn to code. Here’s a list of industries where custom apps have helped businesses perform better – putting off the shelf programs to shame.

Nonprofits

Having spent a decade volunteering at and working for nonprofit organizations, I can attest that these are the some of the most deserving, yet underserved, companies. Between organizing fundraisers and managing volunteers, NPOs rely on using efficient, yet cost-effective programs. Unfortunately, they’re usually stuck with ones that don’t come cheap and rarely work as well as they should.

Thanks to custom app creators such as those from companies like CiviCRM, NPOs have free access to premium, customizable and flexible products so they can engage their contacts and achieve their mission. Easily manage fundraising databases, as well as event registration, content creation, and more.

Education

As more and more classrooms embrace technology, it’s imperative that they have apps and programs dedicated to their specific needs, offering students and teachers access to high-quality educational tech. That’s exactly what one company is doing.

FileMaker’s custom apps and programs help educators, from K-12 through higher, easily integrate with teacher-generated curricula. From Berklee’s transient auditions to Rutgers’ student support system, these easily customizable apps make it easy for schools to organize projects, people, assets, and more – fill a void in an already stressful industry.

Infrastructure

People don’t really think about infrastructure until it breaks down. So when the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) needed to update their central IT database, they turned to QuickBase to help them create a customizable database.

Because when it comes to a business like infrastructure, with so many different areas of specialization, no one solution could ever offer everything that these businesses need.

But a custom application will as it’s made by the business themselves.

Transportation

In and of itself, logistics may seem rather mundane. But put all those processes in the middle of the ocean and you have one of the most unique businesses in transportation.

For Settoon Towing, their biggest challenge was collecting and processing real time data from their fleet. Thanks to Zoho Creator, they created custom workflows that can handle orders from end to end and were quickly able to double in size. They can now fully manage shipments the way they want, no matter where in the process flow or the size of the job.

Packaged software can’t do that. With custom apps, businesses can automate tracking and orders and really, anything they need. And that’s how evolution happens – everything has business potential and finding that potential keeps you ahead of your competition.

This is just a handful of areas where custom business apps literally saved the day – and sanity – of organizations. No matter the industry, at the end of the day, who else knows business better than those who run it?