How to Pick Your Small Business Tech Stack
Why It Matters
Having tech in your business can feel exciting. It makes things feel official. It makes you feel like you’re on the right track. But let’s be clear: tech is an expense. And any expense without a return becomes a liability. Your tech stack should be earning for your business. It should make you more productive. It should make life easier for you and your team. Most importantly, it should allow a solo entrepreneur or DIY business owner to get more done with less effort.
Ultimately, your tech stack should be carefully aligned with how your business, small, medium, or large, employs revenue operations. If that term’s new to you, check out our blog on RevOps for small business owners. Put simply, the tech stack you pick should help you find new clients and keep them. Here are the prime considerations we use here at Pocket Office.
What to Consider When Picking a Tech Stack
Here are a few questions that should guide your tech decisions:
1. What am I selling?
Are you selling services or products?
Are you selling multiple services?
Are your services able to be bundled?
Is the service you sell based on packages, or is there a resource factor tied to what you're selling—such as your time, tokens, data, or number of items?
Having software that doesn’t track or dispense this value accurately can make your work harder than it needs to be.
2. What industry am I in?
Some industries rely more heavily on tracking customer journeys, inventory, location data, or compliance tasks. Your software should obviously facilitate that.
This matters because not every software tool - though marketed similarly - is designed for your unique industry needs. For example, Monday.com identifies as a CRM and markets itself to legal professionals. But when compared to Lawcus or Smokeball, it functions more like a glorified spreadsheet. It’s simply not built to handle matters and case management. The industry you serve determines what truly works.
3. What does my customer journey look like?
From marketing to sales to onboarding to delivery and follow-up, what software helps you track and optimize this journey?
Is your service-centric business aware of its ideal customer’s buying journey?
Will they need you once every two years, or weekly?
What data will you need to collect to keep them satisfied while they’re with you?
Not considering this can result in churn, a costly phenomenon where new clients leave before completing the journey you designed for them.
4. How tech-savvy am I (or my team)?
Will the learning curve cost you more time than the tool saves?
This isn’t a reason to avoid new tools entirely. Growth always comes with discomfort. Expect a dip in productivity as your team adapts. Don’t let resistance to change prevent long-term gain, at the same time some tools are clearly a heavy-handed solution and should be avoided at all costs.
5. Will this help me execute Revenue Operations (RevOps) better?
Like we said, your tech should help you attract, convert, deliver, and retain clients. If it isn’t moving you toward revenue, it’s not the right fit. This is easy to figure out too. For the amount of money you've spent on the software how much has it returned in value to you?
6. How integratable is this tech?
Will it connect with other tools automatically, or will you be manually transferring data?
Some software tools have open APIs and native integrations while others don’t. Picking a tool that “plays well with others” can save you hours and headaches. A disconnected tool may become an island in your workflow, forcing duplication and reducing efficiency. You want your systems to talk to each other seamlessly. Babysitting your tech because you like it is not a good strategy.
How Much Should It Cost?
Here’s a simple formula we use at Pocket Office for work-from-home folks and solopreneurs: 10% of your monthly income should cover your operating expenses—including your tech. If you work from home likely your expenses are already low, not having to pay for a rental space or a brick and mortar, but that doesn't mean you should go ham on paying for software. As much as possible keep that spend low. So if $5,000 is landing in your business checking each month, all of the tech you use in your business should cost no more than $500/month, if you follow our 10% rule.
In fact, at Pocket Office, we're currently developing strategies to help most successful work-from-home businesses run nearly every part of their RevOps process for under $200/month. Contact us if you'd like to learn more.
Remember: Tech should never be a trophy, it should be a tool and don’t pay for software you aren’t using. Ever. Shelfware is the invisible leak in too many budgets.
So Finally, What Tools Should Be in Your Stack?
Every small business is unique, but here are the five main categories your software should fall into. Use the considerations above to find the right tool for you. And if you’re stuck, a CRM consultant or software consultant ("SaaS") can help you identify what will work best. That’s exactly what we offer at Pocket Office for solopreneurs, mompreneurs, and work-from-home business owners who need clarity and traction.
1. Marketing Tools
Email marketing platforms
Website hosting and building, Landing page or form builders
Social media scheduling (optional, but helpful)
2. Sales Tools
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Picking a good CRM is a whole discussion in itself. This article will show you how to choose a crm.
Sales pipeline and lead tracking
Proposal and contract tools
3. Customer Success Tools
Onboarding workflows
Customer portals (optional, but useful)
Survey or feedback tools
4. Project & Task Management
Task tracking software
Project boards (Kanban or list views)
Automations for repetitive tasks
5. Financial Tools
Invoice creation and tracking
Payment receiving
Expense categorization and reporting
Final Word
Your tech stack isn’t a status symbol - it’s a support system. Build it with intention. Keep it lean. Make sure every tool is pulling its weight because tools don’t build a business, you do. But the right tools? They help you build it faster, with less stress, and with far more clarity.
Need help figuring out your small business tech stack? Start here.
