I opened my browser this morning and had about 20 tabs open. Project management, Slack, analytics, docs, customer support... you know how it goes.

Somewhere along the way, we ended up with multiple tools doing almost the same thing. Half the time, I'm not even sure where the latest version of a document lives.

The annoying part is that every tool was added for a good reason. Nobody deliberately made things this complicated. It just happened.

I'm starting to wonder if we actually need all of them, or if we've become a bit too comfortable signing up for another subscription whenever something gets inconvenient.

Has anyone here actually cut down their software stack? Did it make things simpler, or did you end up missing something you got rid of?

We've done this too. 😂 One tool for orders, another for emails, another for customer messages. Somehow it all creates more work.

The worst part is spending more time updating systems than actually looking after customers and making sales. At some point, another subscription isn't the answer.

We went through this with subscriptions. Every tool seemed useful when we signed up, but some barely got used after the first month.

Now I'd ask one question before adding anything new: does this help us save time, win customers or keep existing ones? If not, it's probably another expense we don't need.

I've seen small teams end up with more software than people. 😂

Every new problem gets another subscription, but nobody ever reviews what can be removed. I'd do a proper audit before paying for anything else.

Half the time, the answer is simplifying what's already there!

The annoying part is when every tool holds a different piece of the customer journey.

Orders in one place, seller messages somewhere else, support in another. When something goes wrong, you're left piecing everything together manually.

At some point, fewer tools that actually talk to each other sounds much better.

On 06/11/2026 at 14:19, Amelia Attwood said:

We've done this too. 😂 One tool for orders, another for emails, another for customer messages. Somehow it all creates more work.

The worst part is spending more time updating systems than actually looking after customers and making sales. At some point, another subscription isn't the answer.

The other thing I'd check is who has access to all those systems.

When customer information is spread across several tools, it's easy to end up with old accounts, duplicate records and permissions nobody has reviewed in months.

A software audit should probably look at security and data access as well as subscription costs. Simplifying the stack can reduce a few risks too.