Building the kaanduIT stack for $35/month
Google Workspace, a domain, Claude Pro, and nothing else. Here's exactly what I bought, why, and what I'd do differently.
When I started kaanduIT, I gave myself a rule: don’t pay for anything you can’t directly connect to a client outcome. No SaaS creep, no “eventually useful” subscriptions.
Here’s exactly what I’m running on — and what it costs.
The stack
Google Workspace ($12/month)
I use this for everything that touches clients: email (deon@kaanduit.com), Drive for proposals and SOWs, Meet for calls, and Docs for async collaboration. The custom domain email alone is worth it — it’s the first thing a prospective client sees.
Namecheap domain ($12/year)
kaanduit.com. Forwarded to a landing page while the site was being built. I’ll eventually move DNS management somewhere with better tooling, but Namecheap is fine for now.
Claude Pro ($20/month)
This is my most-used tool. I use it for drafting proposals, debugging workflow logic, structuring client documentation, and brainstorming automation approaches before I build them. At this point I use it more than Google Docs.
What I’d do differently
Honestly? Not much. The discipline of keeping costs low forced me to be intentional about tooling. The trap with early-stage services businesses is paying for infrastructure before you have the clients to justify it.
The one thing I’d add sooner: a proper project management tool. I’ve been running on a shared Google Sheet, which works fine but doesn’t scale. I’m looking at Linear.
What’s next
As the business grows, I’ll add:
- n8n (self-hosted) — for building workflow demos and client automations. Running this on a $6/month VPS is totally viable.
- A proper scheduling tool — Calendly or something similar once inbound calls pick up.
- Accounting software — Wave is free and handles what I need for now.
The point isn’t to stay at $35/month forever. It’s to build a habit of only paying for things that are working.