The £2M Question: When DIY Tech Stops Being Clever and Starts Being Expensive
Written by Ray Stephens
Your DIY tech solution was brilliant when you built it.
It solved exactly what you needed. Complete control over functionality. No vendor lock-in. Built precisely for your business requirements.
But now you're trying to scale, and that clever solution has become something else entirely.
When DIY becomes a scaling blocker
The costs and risks associated with supporting and maintaining DIY solutions are becoming unsustainable. What started as a smart business decision is now creating blockers to scaling and M&A opportunities.
Your home-grown system is preventing your business from growing.
For eCommerce businesses, this might be your custom-built order management system that can't handle peak trading volumes. For professional services firms, it could be that bespoke project tracking platform that only your original developer understands.
The problems are real: old and outdated tech that's no longer supported, systems that aren't scalable, solutions that can't be maintained properly. The complexity has grown beyond what's manageable, and the costs to support everything have spiralled.
There's also the single point of failure problem. That critical system or database that only one person truly understands. What happens when they leave?
The transformation opportunity
The solution isn't to abandon everything you've built. It's about taking your home-grown solutions that are at the core of your business on a digital transformation journey.
You can reengineer these systems into scalable and reliable cloud-centric solutions that are scalable, maintainable, secure, reliable, and future-proofed.
This isn't about starting from scratch. It's about building on what you have and transforming it into something that supports your growth rather than limiting it.
Three practical steps forward
Modularise what you've built
Start by breaking your DIY system into smaller, manageable components (e.g., CRM, payments, reporting). This makes it easier to replace or upgrade parts incrementally without disrupting the whole business.
Introduce APIs to bridge old and new
Wrap legacy functionality in APIs so you can integrate with modern platforms (like HubSpot, Stripe, or Xero) without a full rebuild. This creates breathing room while planning a longer-term transition.
Migrate core workflows to cloud-based tools
Identify the most painful or time-consuming workflows and move them to scalable SaaS platforms. This reduces technical debt and gives your team immediate productivity gains.
Let's wrap this up
Your DIY solution served its purpose when you were a startup. But if you're scaling past that phase - whether you're processing thousands of orders in eCommerce or managing complex client projects in professional services - those home-grown systems are now holding you back.
The costs and risks of maintaining DIY solutions are creating real blockers to scaling and M&A opportunities. That clever solution has become an expensive liability.
The path forward is clear: modularise your existing system into manageable components, introduce APIs to bridge legacy functionality with modern platforms, and migrate your most painful workflows to scalable SaaS solutions.
This transformation journey turns your home-grown solutions into scalable, maintainable, secure, and future-proofed systems that support growth rather than limit it.
Time to take the next step and own your digital strategy so that you have all the elements in place for scale and sale.
What's the biggest technical blocker preventing your business from taking that next step?
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