Since software costs are a significant part of your business expenses, have you thought about easing their impact via a monthly development budget? Perhaps you have considered:
Weighing the benefits of a monthly budget against potential pitfalls may help you to make this decision. For more than thirty years, Portage Bay has designed, modernized, and supported FileMaker databases of all types and sizes. Send your questions our way and let’s see what we can do.
Setting a monthly budget for your software offers several advantages.
Since most big business expenses are amortized, why not set a monthly budget for your software development as well, to better manage expenses and cash flow while reaping the benefits of updates?
You’ve probably been thinking about your project for a long time.
As a personal aside, for many years I’ve handled payroll and tax filings for my husband’s small business. This year I finally signed up with Square Payroll and the peace of mind that came with letting them do what they do best has been so much greater than I’d anticipated. Square didn’t pay me to say that. But the benefit of incurring that monthly expense has been dramatic.
And I noticed that Wicked Good Cupcakes, as with most successful entrepreneurs who make their pitch on Shark Tank, didn’t wait until they’d found a reliable co-packer and had contracts with hundreds of retail establishments. Their backing by Mr. Wonderful wasn’t the beginning of their journey – it was part of moving along determinedly and refining as they went.
Similarly, a monthly development budget for your software lets you move forward instead of wishing someday you could.
Wicked Good Cupcakes sold their millionth cupcake jar … eight years ago!
There’s no need to be locked into a five-year plan for your software since markets and technology are changing so rapidly. A monthly budget allows you to begin and adjust, as you go.
A thoughtful strategy, backed by consistent monthly investment, neatly aligns with an incremental delivery approach. The experience can be likened to the arrival of Amazon packages. You receive usable software features regularly, instead of waiting for unpredictable delivery.
With cyclical development, you can provide early and frequent feedback, which reduces the risk of building the wrong product.
Talk to employees who’ve been there – those on the receiving end of software developed quietly over many months, without their ongoing feedback. They will often not have nice things to say.
By moving along monthly, you stay in tune with progress and make informed decisions at each budget interval. It can often be very beneficial to check things off one area at a time, learn from the process, and then proceed to the next area. If potential issues arise, we can work together to make adjustments.
With a monthly budget, development doesn’t stop after the initial release. Viewing your software as a whole fosters continuous improvement. You can approve updates and enhancements on a rolling basis based on staff feedback, advances in technology, or shifting business requirements.
With this approach, you’re not hoping that your software can last just a few more years, and making do with parts that become outdated sooner than expected. Instead, you can have confidence that your database will continue to flex and become stronger and more in tune with how you and your company operate.
This spot in my article is a good place to remind you that your FileMaker license includes all upgrades released during your contract. Whether it runs from one to five years (Claris provides discounts for multiyear terms) you can take advantage of new versions as they come out.
* The updates are free, though there might be some support costs or time expenditures to install them on your server and staff computers.
Do you have questions about FileMaker licensing? We are certified resellers and manage the licenses for most of our clients, so please ask away.
Monthly budgets keep us accountable, too. We love having regular check-ins and reviews to collaborate and stay in tune with your plans. Frequent and clear communication helps keep your project on track.
By starting with a smaller scope and delivering increments regularly, you can get essential features into the hands of your team faster. Will your team appreciate your attention to expediency? Most likely, yes.
An earlier article I wrote, Make Sure You and Your Staff Software Stay Relevant, covers some aspects of why that’s the case. It also outlines some quick wins you can provide in your software while keeping an eye toward broader improvements.
While keeping your budget consistent is ideal, a monthly approach can still be a tool for resource allocation. You can increase the budget in some months for sprints and development momentum.
You can also pull back in specific months to offset other expenses. Your flexibility helps optimize your resources while maintaining productivity across the development lifecycle.
Compared to paying for a large project all at once, a monthly budget offers:
This approach aligns well with agile methodologies and modern software development practices, which allows you to be adaptable and respond to market conditions effectively.
There can be pitfalls, of course. Awareness of these potential downsides helps us map out a solid path for your specific software development project, improvements, or support.
We’ve run into all of these roadblocks before, through our thirty-plus years of experience. But because we’ve been through them, we are better able to help shepherd your project around them.
“A budget is telling your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went.” Dave Ramsey
“A budget is telling your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went.”
Even with careful monitoring, budgets can be affected by changes in scope, unexpected challenges, and inefficiencies. We’ve found that frequent and open communication – and purposeful project management – helps stave off unforeseen costs.
I have plentiful Virginia Creeper outside my kitchen window but last fall we had to pull down the “overgrown vegetation” to make the home insurance company happy. I took consolation knowing the vine would be back full force in the spring. A few weeks ago, as expected, I spied the first tiny tendrils poking through the fence and have been enjoying seeing the green slowly creep and flourish once again.
My vine does remind me, though, how any type of project can quickly run rampant into unexpected territory. For software projects, the aptly named scope creep can blow up budgets as impressively as an action scene in The Fall Guy.
Without clear guidelines and strict change control procedures, you and your staff will likely be tempted to introduce new items that could extend the project timeline and increase costs.
I attended a webinar conducted by software product strategist Rich Mironov and turned a concept he was describing into something of a mantra.
Once you start a FileMaker project or improvements and realize how much easier your work life will be, it is tempting to let the wish list grow. We are often asked whether FileMaker can do this or that. The answer is always yes – FileMaker is robust and capable and can handle whatever you want to throw at it. (Web app, anyone?)
But to help you stay focused, we will begin with the following: :
Having an overall roadmap for full features and implementation is crucial. But our experience has shown that it’s better to get a solid foundation in place – one that staff have adopted and are using well – and then build from there in a modular way.
We’re happy to get to the extras. We love bringing to life all that FileMaker can do, especially when it means your days are improved. But we don’t want to burn through your budget and leave an incomplete product in the rubble.
Focusing on immediate needs is understandable because you want to relieve the pain point that is being the loudest right now. But thorough planning for scalability and future-proofing helps prevent do-overs and limitations down the line.
Interruptions in funding can disrupt development and delay project milestones. If you’re funding situation is fluid, we can map out smaller steps that will keep you headed toward your grander goal.
Estimation can be challenging, particularly in complex or innovative situations. Productive communications at the start of a project are essential so that we have a detailed picture of how your current system works and what you need it to do. Building in enough time for project management and contingencies is also vital.
A monthly development budget gives your company flexibility, adaptability, and agility. Though the words seem the same, the meanings are different and very interconnected.
To experience these benefits fully, development roadmaps need diligent oversight, proactive risk and change management, and effective collaboration.
We have the experience you need in a software company. We are a Claris Partner, have earned various certifications, and stand by the hundreds of projects we’ve successfully implemented and supported.
Thank you for reading this article and thinking more deeply about how best to achieve your software goals. Schedule a call with us today to get started in achieving them.
Project Coordinator and Claris Licensing Manager Brandynn Stanford is responsible for a wide range of tasks including client services, initiating and renewing licenses, testing & reporting, monitoring servers, coordinating blog posts, and keeping our Teamwork project management system humming. She enjoys seeing these myriad elements flow smoothly.
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