"Should we build or buy?"
We get this question every week. The answer is rarely binary. Most Nigerian businesses default to "build" when they should buy, or "buy" when their needs are too specific for any off-the-shelf product.
Here is a framework to get it right.
The 7-question decision matrix
Answer these 7 questions honestly:
- Is this process core to your competitive advantage? If yes, build. If it's a commodity (payroll, email, accounting), buy.
- Does an off-the-shelf solution exist for your market? Nigerian-specific industries (last-mile delivery, school management, POS agent networks) often have no good off-the-shelf option. That gap is a build signal.
- Can you afford to wait 3-6 months? Buying takes weeks. Building takes months. If you need it now, buy.
- Do you have a clear, stable spec? If requirements change month-to-month, building is risky. Buy something flexible first.
- What is your total cost over 3 years? A subscription at ₦500K/year × 3 = ₦1.5M. A custom build starts at ₦5M + maintenance. Do the math.
- Do you have in-house technical capacity to maintain it? Building is the easy part. Maintaining, updating, and supporting custom software is the long-term cost. If you don't have a tech team, buy.
- Can you integrate the off-the-shelf tool with your existing stack? Many SaaS tools have APIs. If the integration is straightforward, buy. If you'd need heavy customisation anyway, build.
Cost comparison
| Factor | Buy (Off-the-Shelf) | Build (Custom) |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | ₦0-500K (setup fees) | ₦3M-15M (development) |
| Monthly cost | ₦20K-500K (subscription per seat) | ₦200K-1M (hosting + maintenance) |
| Time to launch | 1-8 weeks | 3-9 months |
| Customisation | Limited to what vendor offers | Full control |
| Control | Vendor decides roadmap | You decide |
| Maintenance | Vendor handles | You handle (or pay us) |
| Lock-in risk | Medium (data migration) | High (custom code dependency) |
| Total 3-year cost | ₦720K-18M | ₦8M-30M+ |
When to buy
Buy when the software is a commodity (accounting, HR, CRM, email, office productivity). Buy when you need it fast. Buy when you don't have a technical team.
When to build
Build when the process is your competitive secret sauce. Build when no off-the-shelf solution serves your market or industry. Build when you have the team and budget to maintain it long-term.
The smartest path: buy first, build later
Most companies should buy something off the shelf, use it for 6-12 months, and build custom only when they outgrow it.
Here is why:
- You learn what you actually need. Using a tool for a year teaches you your real requirements better than any specification document.
- You validate the business case. If you can't get enough value from a ₦50K/month SaaS tool, you definitely won't get value from a ₦10M custom build.
- You build internal habits first. The hardest part of any software project is getting people to use it. That challenge is the same whether you buy or build.
The trap we see most often
A founder with a ₦15M budget decides to build a custom inventory system from scratch. Six months in, they discover they didn't know what features they actually needed. The project goes over budget. The team stops using it. A ₦60K/month SaaS tool would have solved 70% of the problem in 2 weeks.
The Nigerian-specific factors
Off-the-shelf software built for Western markets often fails in Nigeria because:
- No offline mode — critical when your warehouse has intermittent internet
- USSD not supported — your field staff don't all have smartphones
- Naira pricing — many SaaS tools charge in dollars, making costs volatile
- Local payment integration — if the tool doesn't support Paystack or Monnify, it's useless
The hybrid approach
Many of our clients buy a global SaaS tool (Slack, Notion, Stripe) and build a thin custom layer on top for Nigeria-specific needs. This gives them the best of both: reliable global infrastructure plus local adaptation. Total cost is often 40-60% less than building everything from scratch.
Not sure which path is right for you? Book a 30-minute consultation. We'll run your situation through the framework and give you a straight answer — even if that answer is "don't build anything yet."