One of the rookie mistakes I made as a new business owner was falling for the hype of two things:
Automation or tracking tools
AI tools
My goal was to run more efficiently and grow faster. The funny thing is, instead of moving faster or being more efficient, I just felt more reluctant.
Reluctant to start using a new tool because it was a pain to learn.
That’s when I realized a new tool means dedicated time to learn its features so I can get to the automation part, use its data properly to make better decisions, or introduce a new AI workflow. I can’t expect these new tools to ‘just pick up the slack’ and ‘close the gap’.
So when I realized this, I did the audit that saved me 1,000 USD.
I Wasted Almost $1000 in Tool Subscriptions, Here’s What I Learned
Anyone else familiar with these types of content?
The mistake new entrepreneurs often make unconsciously
I was never an ops person. If anything, I was always spoiled by whatever structure my previous employers provided for me. So as a new business owner having to set up my own ops, I felt like I had to have everything. Lucky for me, an ops expert was open to chatting about this.
Enter Jagoda Puczko, an ops specialist who used to work with Apple and Little Dot Studios before building her own venture. Like so many other cool people I met in 2026, Substack brought us together.
I shared with her exactly what happened: my rationale, my goal, and the bottleneck. She smiled and nodded, and without judgment, she told me that this is such a common mistake she sees entrepreneurs make.
“The hype around these AI tools is real. We often unconsciously project our desire to succeed onto them because they’re sold through glowing case studies. It’s easy to collect tools thinking they’ll solve operational chaos, but software will never fix a lack of structure.”
She explained that tools are only as good as how we set them up. Two things she sees me doing, just like other entrepreneurs:
AI cannot fix a lack of structure: Putting AI (like Claude) on top of a scattered or unclear process won’t solve operational chaos; it just amplifies the disorganization.
Features -we don’t know what we don’t know: Anyone can watch YouTube tutorials to learn tool features, but most entrepreneurs lack the time or capacity to step back and translate those features into their specific business setup.
So now, what do we do first?
What to do before adding new tools to your business
What I got from Jagoda’s advice is for entrepreneurs to:
Map human steps before picking up software: You need step-by-step clarity on your manual operations first before anything else (e.g., Step 1: Initial client email > Step 2: Contract > Step 3: Onboarding intake > Step 4: Deliverables).
System integration takes intention: Building an effective workflow (like pulling social metrics into Notion, analyzing with Claude, and outputting to Canva) requires knowing exactly where data lives, how the tool should behave, and what output you need.
And from this whole conversation, I learned that growth takes time.
My biggest mindset shift this year is really to be more intentional with my growth. But sometimes I fall back into old patterns where I want things to be immediate. Which is funny because, in retrospect, I now know how much it backfired -and it was not cheap!
Fixing the process first: My takeaway from Jagoda
What I did after speaking to Jagoda:
I paused and had an honest conversation with myself: What does growth look like? What metrics will be important for me now? And how do I get from this point to that point?
Then I noted down the redundant things that I think could be delegated. For me, it’s invoicing, admin, taxes -basically the things that give me zero dopamine to do.
I chose Claude to help me with this because I find it best at logical tasks. So I had a conversation with it and set up a project + its connections to help me spend less time inputting things manually.
A month into this improvement and so far:
I have more free time to either create for my clients (and it took off! But more on this next time 😄):
engage with the community (on LinkedIn, and yes, Substack I’ll come back for you more, I promise!):
or just be with the family, taking naps and keeping warm as we welcome fall:
I haven’t achieved some “highest flow of efficiency” status, because honestly, I don’t think I’ll be needing that anytime soon. I’m enjoying working with this workflow because, at the end of the day, my goal is to grow my business at my own pace and still have free time to do the things I like.
Thanks to Jagoda for the reality check!
And if you’re a relatively new entrepreneur like me or are looking to set up your own ops, Jagoda shares free systems you can download!
Here’s to growing at our own pace, with a realistic system 💙
Annisa
"Software will never fix a lack of structure" is the line I'd put in front of every new founder's tool stack. When you mapped the human steps, which one turned out to need no tool at all?