Choosing Business Software: Questions to Ask Before You Buy
The wrong system is expensive to switch away from. A short checklist keeps the decision grounded in how your business actually works.
Accounting packages, point-of-sale systems, HR platforms and ERPs all promise efficiency. Many businesses buy based on a good demonstration and then struggle for months. These questions help you choose with more confidence.
Start with your needs
List the five to ten things the system must do, in order of importance. Describe them in terms of your processes, such as "issue EFRIS-compliant invoices" or "track stock across three branches". Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves.
Questions for the supplier
- Does it comply with Ugandan requirements, including URA e-invoicing and tax reporting?
- Does it support mobile money and local banks?
- What is the total cost over three years, including setup, training, support and upgrades?
- Where is our data held and who owns it? Can we export it easily?
- What support is available locally, and in which hours?
- Can we speak to three similar customers in Uganda?
Test before you commit
Ask for a trial and run real transactions through it with the staff who will use it daily. Their feedback is more valuable than the sales presentation.
Plan the implementation
Allow time to clean up your existing data, set up the chart of accounts or product list properly, train people and run the old and new systems side by side for a month. Many failed projects were good software badly introduced.
Think about connectivity and power
Consider what happens during internet or power outages. Offline capability and a simple backup routine can save a trading day.
We help organisations define requirements, compare suppliers and manage implementation without bias towards any vendor. See operations and process.