Small Businesses Need a Software Review Process

Many small businesses struggle with selecting the right software for their operations. Without a proper review process, they risk investing in tools that don't meet their needs or causing disruptions to their workflow.

A well-defined software review process can help small businesses make informed decisions about new software, reduce the risk of costly mistakes, and ensure a smoother transition.

Here are some key considerations for implementing a software review process:

• Define clear objectives and criteria for evaluating software
• Establish a structured evaluation process
• Involve relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process
• Conduct thorough research on potential software solutions
• Evaluate the compatibility of each solution with existing systems
• Assess the user experience and support offered by each solution
• Determine the total cost of ownership for each solution
• Prioritise features and functionality based on business needs
• Maintain a record of the review process and decision-making

By implementing a structured software review process, small businesses can ensure they are choosing the right tools to support their operations and achieve their goals.

How to Put This Into Practice

Set a fixed date, once or twice a year, to pull a full list of every software subscription the business pays for — bank statements and card bills are usually the most honest source, since forgotten trials often auto-renew quietly for months. Against each tool, note who actually uses it, how often, and what it costs per seat per month. Tools with fewer than half the paid seats logging in over the past 60 days are candidates for downgrading or cutting. For anything you're keeping, check the renewal date and whether the vendor has changed pricing since you signed up; many software providers raise prices annually without much fanfare, and a quick email asking for the current small-business rate often gets a discount you wouldn't otherwise receive. Retire anything doing a job that another tool you already pay for now covers, which happens more than most owners expect as helpdesk, CRM and accounting tools all expand their feature sets over time.

A Worked Example

A twelve-person marketing agency in Bristol discovered during its first annual software review that it was paying for three separate project management tools — one the founder still used from the early days, one a project lead had introduced for their own team, and one that came bundled with an old client's preferred workflow. Combined, they cost just over £340 a month, and only one was actually used company-wide. The review also found a design tool subscription still running at the ten-seat tier six months after the team shrank to six. Consolidating onto a single project management tool and downsizing the design licence saved roughly £2,600 a year, and staff reported less confusion about where a project's actual status lived.

Common Mistakes

• Letting free trials silently convert to paid annual plans because nobody diarised the trial end date
• Never checking usage data, so a tool with one active user keeps renewing at a ten-seat price
• Assuming loyalty to an old tool is a reason to keep it, rather than checking if a newer option now does the job better or cheaper
• Reviewing cost but not overlap — running two tools that do the same job because nobody compared feature lists
• Treating the review as a one-off exercise rather than a recurring calendar entry, so the same waste creeps back within a year

A Simple Checklist

• Pull every software charge from the last 12 months of bank and card statements
• List who uses each tool and how often, using actual login data where available
• Flag anything with low usage or an unexplained renewal for cancellation or downgrade
• Check current market pricing before auto-renewing anything long-standing
• Look for overlap between tools doing similar jobs and consolidate where sensible
• Put the next review date in the calendar before closing this one out

As technology continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, it's essential that small business owners prioritise staying up-to-date on the latest innovations to remain competitive. — Editor, AppSoluteTec