Custom development vs. open source
Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:54 am
I've done custom PHP apps with a company for the last couple of years. However, lately I have become frustrated because I feel that many of the clients we work for would be better served with an open source application like Wordpress. It's free, it's packed with features, and it has great community support. Contrast that with our CMS which is custom, extra features are charged at an hourly rate, and nobody at our company seems to want to maintain it besides me.
I'm currently taking a break from this company, so I'm looking to do some freelance PHP work on my own. However, I'm at a crossroads. Should I embrace the open source apps (even though I feel they are coded poorly) and start offering my services as a Wordpress developer? Or should I start trying to market myself to higher end clients who really need custom work (and actually have a budget for it)?
How do you justify your custom work in an age when there are plenty of free, "good enough" apps out there that do virtually the same thing?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
I'm currently taking a break from this company, so I'm looking to do some freelance PHP work on my own. However, I'm at a crossroads. Should I embrace the open source apps (even though I feel they are coded poorly) and start offering my services as a Wordpress developer? Or should I start trying to market myself to higher end clients who really need custom work (and actually have a budget for it)?
How do you justify your custom work in an age when there are plenty of free, "good enough" apps out there that do virtually the same thing?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.