Having an API integration built means your systems exchange data automatically. Your online shop sends orders to your accounting software, your website puts enquiries into your CRM, your scheduling tool pulls in customer details. Without anyone having to retype anything.
Many business owners work with five or more separate programs. Each one does its job well, but they don't talk to each other. The result is double work, typos and information that's never quite right. An integration solves that. Below you'll read how it works and how to approach it smartly.
What is an API, in plain words?
API stands for application programming interface. It's a fixed entrance to a program through which other software can request or send data. Compare it to a service counter: you ask a question in an agreed format, and you get an answer in an agreed format.
An API integration is the software that connects two of those counters. For example, it fetches every new order from your online shop, converts the data into the format of your accounting software and sends it there. If something goes wrong, you get an alert.
Worth knowing: an integration usually works in the background. It runs on a server and checks, for example, every few minutes whether there's anything new. Some systems send a signal themselves when something changes, a so-called webhook. Then it's even faster.
Examples of connecting systems in small businesses
- Connecting your online shop to your accounting: orders and payments arrive automatically as sales invoices.
- Contact form to CRM: every enquiry becomes a lead with the right details and source.
- Scheduling to calendar: appointments appear straight away in the staff member's calendar.
- Stock between online shop and marketplace: sell something in one place, and the stock is right everywhere.
- Hours to invoicing: logged hours become an invoice at the end of the month.
- Payment provider to your own software: a payment automatically sets an order or subscription to active.
Want to know which processes deliver the most when automated? Read automating processes in small businesses.
Standard integration, tool or custom integration?
There are three ways to connect software. Which one fits depends on your systems and your situation.
- Standard integration: many software packages offer ready-made integrations. Quick and cheap, but you're limited to what the maker came up with.
- Integration tool: services like Zapier, Make or n8n connect apps without programming. Fine for simple steps. With high volumes or complex rules, it gets expensive or error-prone.
- Custom integration: a developer writes the integration from scratch. More work upfront, but fully tailored to your rules and easy to monitor.
A rule of thumb: start with the standard integration if it exists and does what you need. Choose an integration tool for simple, separate steps. Choose custom if you have your own rules, process lots of data or if a mistake is costly. Read more about the tools in Zapier, Make or n8n.
How API integration development works
- Inventory: which systems, which data, in which direction and how often?
- Checking the APIs: does each system have an API, and may you use it within your subscription? Sometimes API access is only included in a more expensive plan.
- Setting the rules: what happens with a duplicate customer, a missing field or a cancelled order?
- Building and testing: first with test data, then with a small batch of real data.
- Going live with monitoring: the integration logs what it does and warns you about errors.
- Maintaining: suppliers sometimes change their API. Then the integration has to keep up.
That third step is often skipped, yet that's where most problems arise. An integration that fails silently on an exception is worse than no integration at all.
What to watch out for with an API integration
- Error handling: what happens if a system is briefly unavailable? Good integrations try again later and report it if it keeps failing.
- Source of truth: agree which system is leading for customer data, prices or stock.
- Security: API keys don't belong in a shared document or email. Give the integration only the permissions it needs.
- Privacy: if personal data is transferred, the GDPR (AVG in Dutch) applies. Know which data goes where.
- Limits: many APIs have a maximum number of requests per minute. At high volumes, the integration has to take that into account.
- Documentation: have it recorded how the integration works, so someone else can understand it later too.
How much does an API integration cost?
The price depends on the number of systems, the quality of their APIs and how many rules and exceptions there are. An integration that passes new orders on in one direction is simpler than one that keeps customers, stock and prices in sync both ways.
Also budget for recurring costs. Sometimes a software supplier charges extra for API access. And an integration needs maintenance when one of the systems changes. Set that against how many hours a week you currently spend retyping and fixing mistakes.
A simple sum helps. Say someone spends half an hour every day retyping orders into the accounts. That's over ten hours a month, every month. Add the time spent finding and fixing mistakes. An integration often turns out to pay for itself faster than you thought. Also read connecting your accounting software if that's where you mainly lose time.
Having an API integration built by Violexa
At Violexa, integrations fall under AI & automation. Violexa is a small studio with founder Hisham, based in Amsterdam, working for businesses across the Netherlands. We first check whether there's already a standard integration or tool that will do. Only if custom is genuinely better do we build it.
An automation project starts from €1,799 excl. VAT (€2,177 incl. VAT), one-off. For a larger project you get a fixed price in writing upfront. If your integration needs to keep working well later on, that's possible through one of the maintenance plans on our pricing page.
Want to know which integration would save your business the most time? Request a free quickscan. In 30 minutes, online or on site, we go through your systems. Afterwards you get short written advice with a price estimate. No obligation.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to have an API integration built?
That depends on the number of systems, the quality of their APIs and the number of rules and exceptions. A simple one-way integration is cheaper than a two-way one. At Violexa, automation projects start from €1,799 excl. VAT (€2,177 incl. VAT), one-off.
Can any program be integrated?
Only if the program has an API or another way of exchanging data. Most modern online software does. Sometimes API access is only included in a more expensive plan, so check that in advance.
Is Zapier enough or do I need a custom integration?
For simple, separate steps a tool like Zapier is often enough. With high volumes, your own rules or when a mistake is costly, a custom integration is usually more reliable and cheaper in the long run.
What happens if an integration stops working?
A good integration logs what happens and sends an alert when there are errors. Often it's caused by a change at one of the suppliers. With maintenance, the integration is then updated.
