Now

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with the earlier replies: the “hidden” problems in custom builds usually aren’t technical — they’re unspoken assumptions and messy reality.

A few things that consistently save teams from painful rework:

Shadow end users early (not just managers). Ask them to walk through a real task while you observe, then turn that into simple user stories + acceptance criteria.
Prototype the riskiest workflows first (even a clickable mock). It exposes “oh, we actually do it this way” moments fast.
Do an integration spike up front: confirm APIs, auth, rate limits, and data ownership. “Limited API” surprises are a classic budget killer.
Write down non-functional requirements: expected load/peaks, uptime, audit logs, permissions, backups, and data retention.
Plan post-release support like a feature: monitoring, bug triage rules, documentation, and who owns changes.

If this is for a nonprofit, add extra attention to donor/volunteer roles, grant reporting, accessibility, and integrations with CRM/payments/email tools — these tend to drive the real complexity. A checklist-style overview that aligns with those nonprofit specifics is here: nonprofit software development services.

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