Is Your Frankenstein Tech Stack Costing You Time and Money? (Here’s How to Fix It)
I talked with a coach recently who’s making about 12K a month. Great revenue, right? But when I asked how much time she’s spending on admin and tech stuff, she said 10 to 15 hours a week.
Pump the brakes.
She’s got goals to hit consistent 20K months. But 15 of her hours are spent moving data between platforms, copying and pasting information, updating websites, and remembering which tool does what. That’s not a tech stack for coaches. That’s a Frankenstein tech stack.
She had six different platforms she was paying $30 to $50 a month for. None of them were really in cahoots. Some worked together, sure. But mostly it was just piecing crap together, adding one tool here and one tool there. Layer upon layer upon layer.
This happened because she kept adding without cleaning up. She knew she needed to make changes. However, going back to fix everything felt cumbersome. She was so inundated with client delivery and getting new clients that the capacity to do a tech audit felt minimal.
Sound familiar?
Your tech is supposed to give you back time and help you increase profit. If it’s not doing that, something needs to change. Today I’m going to help you identify what’s out in 2026 and what’s in, plus how to make more money by moving around the tech pieces that are currently hurdles inside your coaching business.
The Real Cost of Being Over-Teched
You might be paying for lots of programs. That’s one cost. But the real cost is much bigger.
You’re losing time on manual tasks. Those tasks are taking you way longer than either paying somebody or automating them. You’re wasting time and money. Plus the cost of paying for the tools themselves.
Your tech could be eating your profit in time. We want to minimize that.
Additionally, you’re losing mental energy. Bouncing between platforms drains you. Trying to remember what lives where creates decision fatigue. That energy should go toward serving clients and growing your business.
My Tech Audit Framework (What Actually Worked)
When I finally sat down to fix my Frankenstein tech stack, I looked at four things:
- What I was actually using (versus what I was paying for)
- What was costing me time versus saving me time
- What could be consolidated
- What was worth keeping separate
I started making changes. Not all at once. Baby changes and flushing things out.
I went from completely overwhelmed to having my manual hours minimized. I was only using a few systems, so I wasn’t bouncing all over the place. I honestly just got my sanity back.
I also got rid of tech that people suggested I use because it worked better for them. That’s key. What works for someone else’s business might not work for yours. Your tech stack for coaches needs to match your brain and your workflow.
Why I Recommend Shine Pages (And What It Actually Does)
I want to shout out Robin and Shine Pages because this is a perfect example of consolidation done right.
Shine Pages is an all-in-one platform. You can build your website, collect emails, do your email marketing, handle scheduling, and process payments. All in one place. I use it personally. My team uses it. I recommend it to my students inside the Best Damn Coach program.
What I love most is that Robin is incredibly hands-on. She actually flew out to BDC Live. She’ll be a sponsor again this year. It’s very rare that you have somebody from a tech company so personally invested in helping you succeed.
If you want to check it out, Robin has a 14-day trial. If you sign up under my name, you’ll get an extra full funnel already built out that you can attach to an email freebie or something you want to create. I’ll drop the link in the show notes.
I suggest platforms like this because they make it easier for you. Simple sticks. Consolidation saves time.
The Non-Negotiables for Your Coaching Business Tech Stack
What do you actually need? Way less than you think.
Three core tools:
- Scheduling software to automate your calendar. You shouldn’t be hand-scheduling. Reminders should go out automatically without you being part of that process.
- Email marketing system associated with your website. This helps you collect and grow your email list. Segmentation is critical. I want you to own your audience. If you’ve heard my other episodes this year, you know why email list growth should be a prime part of your strategy. You own that audience. You can connect deeply and quickly with them.
- Payment platform. You need a simple way to collect money that doesn’t involve manually sending invoices or chasing people down.
Those are the necessities. You can do that for a really simple investment. It doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated, especially if you’re not building out advanced funnels.
The Nice-to-Haves (If You’re Actually Going to Use Them)
Beyond the core three, what else might you want?
Content library or storage platform. If you want to store call recordings, video libraries, or provide resources to clients, this could be valuable. But it’s a nice-to-have, not a must-have. I don’t think a course hosting or membership platform is critical until you’re actually ready to scale into that model.
Project management tool. This is great as you grow. I didn’t integrate this until four years ago. I wish I would have started sooner because we didn’t have a source of truth in our business.
Monday.com is where all of our team interacts now. I organize myself there. I organize promotional calendars, marketing plans, and podcast flow. It’s like a mini event planner for your business.
I tried others. They didn’t work for me because Monday works like folders inside folders. That’s how my brain operates. You might have heard of Asana or Trello. Notion could also work. Choose what works for your brain. Take advantage of trials and free versions. Begin using them.
Part of using tech is understanding there’s a learning curve. Don’t change all your tech at once. Layer them in and allow the need to develop.
CRM. I still don’t use one to this day. I use my project management software as a CRM instead. There are places you can streamline and repurpose what you already have.
Google Drive. People ask where to store things and how to organize. Everything is done through Google Drive for me. Google Drive and Monday are constant tabs open on my computer. Content is shared in Google Drive. Communication and workflows are in Monday.
How to Actually Make the Shift Without Losing Your Mind
If you’re listening to this thinking you definitely need to make adjustments, migration is inevitable. That’s okay.
Don’t choose something at the highest level possible because someday you’re going to move into that. Then you’re so overwhelmed by how it works that you don’t use it or you just shut down. I’ve seen this happen a lot.
Choose something that meets you where you’re at. Yes, you might outgrow it. I pray for outgrowing things. That means your business is growing. I pray that I outgrow this so much that I have to find a new strategy.
Don’t do mass migration into all the things. You’ll overwhelm yourself. You’ll lose things. You’ll burn out.
Instead, get rid of the dead weight first. Pick your core tools. Then slowly begin moving things. Maybe start with email, which I think is super important. Maybe shift your landing pages after that, or scheduling, or whatever order makes sense.
Move one thing at a time. Let them infiltrate. Begin to see what makes the most sense for you now.
Final Thoughts on Your Tech Stack for Coaches
Shout out to Robin from Shine Pages. She always emails me after meeting my clients to say thank you for teaching students how to do this well and right. Their messaging is clear. They know exactly what they want. She’s able to rapidly help people because of that foundation. It’s great to have a relationship with a tech company that cares.
Your tech stack is supposed to be the infrastructure that supports your business. It’s not supposed to be the thing that eats all your profit and energy. It shouldn’t be overwhelming.
This is a great opportunity to think about how you can get back time and energy to pour into the things that matter. Your life. Your clients. The results they get.
Simple sticks. Tech should give you your life back.
Connect With Amanda
- Instagram: @awalkmyway
- Want personalized support with your tech stack and business growth? DM me on Instagram or check out the Best Damn Coach program, where we help with these conversations all the time.
Free Resources:
- “How To Get Clients” Limited Series
- 10 Powerful Questions
- Shine Pages: All-in-one platform for website, email marketing, scheduling, and payments (14-day trial available thru link)
- Monday.com: Project management and team collaboration
- Google Drive: File storage and content organization
- Zoom: Video conferencing for client sessions
