🧠 The AI Stack Behind My Coaching Business: Real Use Cases, Honest Lessons, and What Still Feels Broken

Not Just Tools, A Transformation System

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When people hear that I’m building a coaching business with productized services, they often ask,
“What tools are you using to run it all?”

The truth is: I use a lean stack of mostly free AI tools, this is because to remain thin and lean but also to find the most effective ones that fulfil my requirements. However, it’s not the tools that make the system work.

The tools help, but the thinking behind how you use them is what builds momentum.

This piece builds on my reflections in From Employment to Entrepreneurship: Why Self-Leadership Is Your Most Underrated Superpower because tools only help when you’ve done the inner work to lead yourself.”

This article is not a list of affiliate links or product reviews.

It’s a behind-the-scenes breakdown of how I’m actually using AI tools to run and grow How2Transform — a solo coaching venture focused on clarity, mindset, and execution.

Whether you’re a founder, solopreneur, coach, consultant, or content creator, this piece is here to:

• Help you discover free or low-cost tools worth exploring

• Learn from my real-world use cases, failures, and lessons

• Understand where AI tools support (and where they fall short)

• Save time building your own system from scratch

Let’s break it down, transparently and with examples.

🔧 My AI Stack (And How I Actually Use It)

Tools are only as good as the use cases they solve. So instead of a laundry list, I’ll walk you through what problem I had and how each tool helped (or didn’t).

1. Grok (Free) – Idea Bouncing + Structured Questions

Problem:
I often get stuck in vague ideas, lacking direction or depth for content or product logic.

How I used it:
Grok helped me challenge my assumptions using first-principles questioning. It’s not perfect, but it sometimes gave me a better counterpoint than ChatGPT.

Use Case:
Mapped early questions for my FundEasy product idea and clarified audience blind spots in coaching content.

✅ Great for: High-level strategy thinking
❌ Lacks contextual memory and sometimes goes philosophical instead of practical

2. ChatGPT Plus (€20/mo) – Content Creation + Prompting + Image Generation

Problem:
Needed fast content ideas, workshop outlines, client questions, Substack post headlines.

How I used it:
I used GPT-4 to generate post structures, help with branding prompts, and co-create visuals using DALL·E (like the image in this post). Also helped build custom prompts for validation sessions.

Use Case:
Every Substack post begins with a prompt I refine using GPT. I also use it to simulate tough founder questions before a coaching session.

✅ Great for: Writing, branding, structured frameworks
❌ Weak in critical thinking often agrees with me instead of challenging me

3. Loveable.dev (Free) – Landing Pages + Lead Gen App

Problem:
I needed a fast, beautiful landing page for FundEasy with no coding or backend work.

How I used it:
Built the FundEasy landing page in under 2 hours. Also prototyping a client-facing lead gen app for founder coaching (WIP).

Use Case:
How2Transform homepage and FundEasy validation landing page.

✅ Great for: Visual-first builders, quick MVPs
❌ Not ideal for complex logic or user account handling

4. Mailchimp (Free Tier) – Email Automation

Problem:
Needed to collect emails and automate a basic welcome flow from my landing page.

How I used it:
Connected Loveable.dev to Mailchimp, wrote 3-part welcome sequence for subscribers.

Use Case:
Nurturing early coaching leads + auto-delivery of lead magnet (Self-Leadership Starter Kit coming soon).

✅ Great for: Free CRM + emails
❌ Interface is clunky; no visual logic builder on free tier

5. Tally (Free) – Consent Form + Client Feedback

Problem:
Needed a way to collect consent and testimonials without Google Forms.

How I used it:
Created a beautiful branded consent form + feedback survey linked inside calendar invites.

Use Case:
All coaching clients fill a Tally form before we start. Follow-up feedback also captured here.

✅ Great for: Clean forms, logic jumps, design
❌ No payment gateway or CRM link on free tier

6. Google Calendar (Free) – Booking Interface

Problem:
I needed a no-fuss way to let leads book sessions without back-and-forth.

How I used it:
Used Google’s “appointment schedule” to let people pick from preset times.

Use Case:
Integrated into my landing page + discovery calls + coaching sprint sessions.

✅ Great for: Solopreneurs who use Google already
❌ No automated reminder customization

7. Manus (Free Beta) – Low-Code SaaS Prototyping

Problem:
FundEasy needed a clickable, working prototype to share with potential users.

How I used it:
Built a working prototype of FundEasy’s scoring system in Manus (form-based, no code).

Use Case:
Used in founder validation interviews to test product logic live.

✅ Great for: Testing product logic early
❌ Not scalable for production SaaS

8. Gamma (Free) – Visual Coaching Decks

Problem:
I needed clean, elegant presentations without PowerPoint or design effort.

How I used it:
Created my 3C coaching framework slide deck for founder clarity sprints.

Use Case:
Shared slides with clients post-session. Used Gamma AI to auto-format long content.

✅ Great for: Presentations, lead magnets
❌ Formatting is sometimes rigid or unintuitive

9. Notion (Free) – Coaching CRM + Client Tracker

Problem:
I needed a simple, private CRM to track coaching progress, feedback, and templates.

How I used it:
Built a dashboard for client folders, session notes, CRM stage tracker, and resource library.

Use Case:
Every client has a page. I store prompts, feedback, and worksheets here.

✅ Great for: Solopreneurs managing their own operations
❌ No native reminders or automation (unless you use Make or Zapier)

10. Coming Soon: n8n (Free/Open Source) – Automation

Problem:
Right now, my stack is helpful but disconnected. Nothing talks to each other.

Plan:
Use n8n to connect Notion, Tally, Mailchimp, and Google Calendar in one automated flow (e.g., onboarding form → CRM update → email trigger → session reminder).

✅ Future-proof, privacy-safe
❌ Requires time to learn

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💡 Real Talk: What I’ve Learned From All This

• Most tools promise to make things “easier” but require thought to be truly useful

• ChatGPT is amazing, but it’s not your co-founder—human thinking still leads

• Free versions work if your goals are lean and clear

• Eventually, i am leaning towards hand-picking a couple of those tools for the paid version

• What I’m still missing is automation between all of them

• Overreliance on AI = creative fog. Trust your own pattern recognition, not just output

“It ties back to my thoughts in Manifestation, Science, and Self-Leadership — clarity and grounded vision must come before stacking tools or chasing growth.”

Want me to send you my ‘AI Tool Stack Starter Pack’ (templates + prompts I actually use)? Click Yes above and make sure you’re subscribed so I can share it directly.

🧭 What’s In It for You?

If you're trying to build a coaching, service, or solo product/service business this stack:

• Can save you dozens of hours figuring out what works

• Helps you validate ideas faster without hiring anyone

• Gives you a clear map of how to piece together a solo system

• Costs you very little (most are free) while helping you look pro

Final Thought: AI Tools Don’t Build Businesses, People Do

You don’t need 50 tools.
You need 5 tools used brilliantly and consistently.

AI is a lever. Self-leadership is the hand pulling it.

I hope this helped you map your own tool journey. If it did restack, comment, or share with someone building solo.

Your clarity builds momentum. Let’s move.

Want to shortcut your solo business journey?
Subscribe for weekly clarity drops on self-leadership, AI tools, and strategies for building a purposeful solo business.

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Selected reader’s Suggestions:

A reader shared that they use Claude for compressing idea iterations and Notebook LM to test messaging with lay audiences. Fantastic insights—keep them coming in the comments.

(by

Moe_Ben

who helps growth-stuck entrepreneurs and solopreneurs uncover new ways to deliver value using repeatable, measurable R&D-style frameworks.

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