If you have made the decision to work for yourself, or have recently started your own business, you are probably at a bit of a crossroads. Do you build your business completely from scratch on your own, or venture into the world of turnkey business solutions?
This question will depend on your own personal preferences and your own abilities as a business owner. However, it is worth understanding if turnkey technologies offer enough to really service growing business needs.
In order to help you understand the answer to this common question, we will explain what turnkey business solutions are and how effective they are at creating successful business growth. We will also go over some of the many things you should take into consideration before you opt for a turnkey business solution.
This information should help you navigate your way through the build vs. buy dilemma that is faced by countless new business owners. It will also help you understand if turnkey business solutions are the best option, or if it is better to go with a more customized and comprehensive strategy.
What Are Turnkey Business Solutions?
Essentially, turnkey business solutions are pre-packaged business solutions that are designed to help you start or transform a business. They are intentionally designed for quick deployment and are meant to be as user-friendly as possible.
They are a type of end-to-end system that can be implemented to create a new business or change the way an existing business operates.
Some business owners will opt for a turnkey business solution to a particular need. For example, many small business owners need help modernizing their company, so a turnkey digital transformation can help change and update an outdated business and bring it up to speed with modern business practices. This is done by introducing new digital technology and developing a business’s online presence.
Ideally, a turnkey business solution would replace or introduce a new system that would make sure a business is competitive and relevant in today’s market.
It is important to note that a turnkey business solution is different from a custom-built system. As the name suggests, custom-built business systems are developed with the client to create the exact business they want. On the other hand, a turnkey business solution is designed to be a straightforward one size fits all system that is more affordable, but not always the best fit.
What You Should Consider Before Choosing a Turnkey Business Solution
As you now know, a turnkey business solution is a straightforward business strategy that is designed for quick implementation and affordability. They are meant to address your business’s needs in a quick and cost-effective manner. While this sounds great, there are a few things you should first take into consideration:
- What are Your Company’s Existing Strengths and Weaknesses? – To understand if a turnkey business solution will help your company grow, you need to clearly understand what you are trying to address and improve. You want to make sure a turnkey solution will be able to properly compliment your strengths and help improve your weaknesses.
- Is the Turnkey Business Solution a Temporary Fix, or is it Scalable? – If you want to help your business grow, you should always be asking yourself if anything you add is scalable. This will depend on your particular business. In most cases a good turnkey business solution is a one-size-fits-all strategy, so it will be less scalable than a custom solution. However, this will depend on your particular company’s needs.
- Consider the Long-Term Costs of the Turnkey Business Solution – A turnkey business solution will not help your business grow if you cannot afford to implement it in the long-term. While some may have lower up-front costs than custom solutions, they could also have hidden fees or additional expenses you need to pay for in the future. If growth is your aim, make sure whatever you are implementing is affordable enough to be sustainable.
Problems with Using a Turnkey Business Solution for Long-Term Growth
There are several reasons why turnkey business solutions can be ineffective for long-term growth. While there are some advantages to using turnkey business solutions, they do have some potential pitfalls, especially when it comes to growth potential.
1. Customization is Really Important When Digitally Transforming a Business
The one size fits all nature of a turnkey business solution can be beneficial in certain situations; however, when it comes to a digital transformation, a company’s strategy should be specifically tailored to that particular business.
If you want to create a digital strategy for your business, it should be customized to fit the unique needs and challenges faced by your particular company. Having a customized online presence will help increase your entire company’s growth potential. Essentially, you want a solution that will meet your exact needs. This will prevent your business from having to go back and update your entire digital strategy as the company grows.
2. Turnkey Business Solutions Sometimes Force Companies to Adapt to Them
If you want to have control over your own business, it is best to use a system that is specifically tailored to your unique vision. Using a turnkey business solution can save you money in the short-term, but it can limit growth potential.
This is because many businesses will alter their behavior to make sure a turnkey solution works. Oppositely, a custom system would adapt to the specific needs of the business and vision of the owner. A cohesive, top-down vision is one of the most effective ways to ensure growth, so a turnkey solution that does not mesh well with that vision could potentially limit the company’s ability to grow.
3. It Can Be Difficult to Integrate Turnkey Solutions
Sometimes it can be difficult to make a turnkey solution fit with a business’s existing systems. This is down to the plug-in and go nature of turnkey solutions. They are not designed for easy integration, which is part of the reason why they are so affordable.
However, if your aim is long-term growth, you want to make sure every aspect of your business runs smoothly because it all works together seamlessly.
Final Words
While turnkey solutions can work with many business models, custom systems are almost always better at meeting the unique needs of a growing business.