Over time, I’ve transformed a golf tour company’s digital presence and workflows, with the next version about to launch being the most automated yet. Once the remaining changes are complete, their ongoing platform costs will be around $94 a year, down from $2,254.40.
The savings may seem small to some, but when you run a company solo, saving a few thousand dollars a year is money straight in your pocket. Many successful entrepreneurs are extremely conscious of costs for good reason. Resources you don’t waste can be put back into the business and compound over time.
An important requirement for me when changing a client’s software or implementing something I’ve built is that it must be easier to use than the current system and add value, not just save a few bucks.
The website
Firstly, I used Cursor to create a new website and write scripts to grab the best-quality images available from the old site. This was before I started working with agentic AI, so it was a more hands-on process. I had a paid Cursor subscription at the time, but the ongoing hosting cost to the company is $0 under its current Vercel setup. This allowed them to move off Squarespace, saving $39 a month, plus any Squarespace transaction fees. The next website version has been created with ChatGPT Astra, and is in testing.
The CRM
For CRM, I went through the full list of business requirements and checked them against the current WeTravel plan. They can downgrade to the free version without losing any functionality they currently use, saving $79 a month without the owner having to learn a different system.
Email and Google Workspace
For email, there were two costs: Google Workspace and Mailchimp. I used ChatGPT Astra to set up Resend and build our own easy-to-use email inbox and marketing email software, which I can now reuse for other clients and projects. At the business’s current usage, there’s no provider subscription cost, removing the $28.71 monthly Mailchimp fee.
For Google Workspace, I again had to revisit the business’s requirements and processes to check whether it was still needed. With those needs covered by the replacement setup, it can be cancelled, saving another $12.99 a month.
AI tools
The owner also pays $79 per quarter for a subscription that allows them to switch between different AI providers. We think free tools can now cover what they actually need, so we’re checking that before cancelling. If they do, that’s another $316 a year saved without losing functionality they use.
The costs and the result
That leaves GitHub at $6 a month and the domain at around $22 a year: $94 annually, saving $2,160.40, or 95.8%. These figures cover ongoing platform costs, rather than development, maintenance or my own AI subscriptions, and could change if usage grows beyond the free allowances.
For the owner, the result needs to be more than a smaller bill. The next version brings more automation and tools built around how they actually run the business, giving them less admin and more time to spend on their customers.