A water leak. Right in the middle of the house. Just when you least need it.
Water’s running. Turn off the main tap. House without water. I ring a plumber. Busy. The next one: ‘Three weeks at the earliest.’ The one after that: ‘We’re not taking on any new customers.’
At some point, I was faced with the question: shall I do it myself? I’ve got tools in the cellar. I’ve got YouTube. How hard can it be?
A conversation with friends in Japan got me thinking. Over there, it’s not just that tradespeople are available at short notice – there are also the so-called 便利屋さん (Benriya-san), a sort of all-round service provider who quickly and easily takes care of household tasks: hanging a shelf, fitting a lamp, minor repairs. No major projects, no long lead times.
This got me thinking: is the tendency to do everything yourself a German peculiarity? And what does that mean in a business context?
The first impulse: build it ourselves
Many energy suppliers are familiar with this pattern. A new requirement arises: a new billing feature, a customer portal function, an interface. The first impulse is: ‘We’ll develop it ourselves.’ Quickly, in-house, tailor-made.
At first, that sounds sensible. You know your own processes. You’re in control. The first version is often ready in just a few weeks.
But what happens afterwards?
The hidden costs of in-house development
Software developed in-house must also be maintained in-house. It must be further developed when legal requirements change. It must be tested when other parts of the system change. And it must be documented – at least in theory.
A classic example is e-invoicing. What begins as a manageable project grows with every new regulatory requirement. Year after year, new obligations are added: format specifications, validation rules, statutory deadlines. What was once ‘quickly built’ suddenly ties up resources permanently for maintenance, adjustments and testing. Market communication provides a good counter-example: it is deliberately handled by specialised service providers – because the market has realised that operating this infrastructure is not a competitive advantage.
What looked like a quick fix at the outset grows over the years into a considerable burden. Teams are tied up. Budgets are strained. And at some point, nobody asks themselves any more why this solution actually exists. It’s simply there, and it works, more or less.
Why good software thrives on having many customers
There is another aspect that is often overlooked. Good software does not become good simply because of a good idea – it becomes good through use. Through many customers, different use cases, unexpected errors, genuine feedback.
A standard product used by a hundred or a thousand companies has gone through this maturing process. It has been confronted with requirements that no single company could have devised on its own. It has become more stable, faster and better thought-out because the market has ensured this.
In-house development lacks precisely this feedback loop. It is optimised for a single customer: the company itself. In some cases, this is an advantage. In most cases, it is a limitation.
When does in-house development make sense?
This does not mean that in-house development is fundamentally wrong. There are areas where proprietary know-how is actually a competitive advantage – where specific process knowledge is so unique that no off-the-shelf product can replicate it.
But these areas are rarer than many assume. Most requirements in the energy sector – such as billing, customer portals, market communication and reporting – are not unique selling points. They are necessary prerequisites, not differentiating features.
The crucial question is therefore not: Can we build this ourselves? but rather: Should we?
What this means in practice
A strategic approach begins with an honest assessment of the current situation. Which systems and in-house developments are in place? Which of these tie up resources without creating any real added value? Where are there mature market solutions that solve the problem better and more cost-effectively – whilst benefiting from the experience of many other companies?
Incidentally, I didn’t repair the water leak myself. I found someone to do it. With a bit of patience. Sometimes, the right specialist is simply the better choice. Not because you couldn’t do it yourself, but because it makes more sense.