Level 3: Stabilizing - The ArchiTECH Ascent

Clean Up the Backend Before It Breaks You 

From the outside, your site looks like it’s thriving. But behind the scenes? Chaos. Your catalog’s deeper, your fulfillment more complex, and your processes harder to manage. Stabilizing is about laying a real foundation before cracks start costing you.

Level 3 Snapshot

You’ve reached a critical stage: the business is growing fast—but it’s getting harder to keep up. You’ve added bundles, variants, and new channels. You’ve hired contractors or part-time help. But the backend hasn’t caught up with the front. Tools are tripping over each other. Orders fall through the cracks. You’re flying faster, but it’s bumpy—and increasingly risky.

Key Characteristics:

• SKU count growing past 500

• Complex product data: bundles, variants, kits, subscriptions

• Multiple fulfillment sources or partners

• High support volume, handled across channels

• Ad hoc reporting (if any), done manually

• Some automations, but mostly app-driven and fragile

• Team expands beyond founder—roles start to formalize

Common Product Types

Products at this level typically have complexity—either in data, fulfillment, or sales motion. You’re managing variants, kits, bundles, and detailed specs. Or you’re running higher volume with fulfillment and logistics strain.

• Auto parts or kits with multiple dependencies

• Nutritional supplements with reorder flows

• Furniture with dimensions, finishes, and shipping constraints

• Tiered subscription boxes with seasonal logic

• CPG with dozens of SKUs across regions or retailers

Your products may be growing in number, in options, or in rules—all of which require more backend structure to manage.

Level 3 Business Profile

You're doing more volume, across more products, with more tools—and everything’s creaking. You’ve outgrown scrappy workflows. The business is still growing, but the backend is a patchwork of outdated spreadsheets, disconnected tools, and workarounds. The risks are now operational.

Trait	Typical Scenario
Revenue	$250K–$500K
Team	3–8 people, mix of in-house and contractors
SKUs	500–2,000+
Tools	8–12 tools, patched together
Team Communication	Slack, task boards, group texts
Operations	App-heavy, still scattered

The day-to-day feels increasingly reactive. You spend more time cleaning up issues than driving growth. Even simple questions—"Are we in stock?" "Where’s that order?"—require a Slack message, a spreadsheet, and a Hail Mary.

Mindset: “Stabilize so we can grow again.” 

You’re not looking to slow down—you’re looking to stop the bleeding. Every success reveals a weakness. You want to scale, but not on a shaky foundation. You’re ready to pause, fix, and rebuild key systems that can carry you forward.

Estimated Expenses at Level 3

You’re investing more across the board. But instead of efficiency, you’re getting complexity. Your apps cost more, and you’re spending a significant chunk on technical labor—either contractors, agencies, or internal hires.

• Estimated monthly revenue: $20,800

• Monthly tech budget (10%): $2,800

• Stack tools: $830/month

• Technical Labor: $1,250/month

• Split: 40% stack tools / 60% Technical Labor

The investment is real—but uneven. You’re upgrading tools, but still struggling with implementation. It feels like you’re spending a lot just to tread water.

Most of your investment goes toward software and support—not to create scale, but to stop the business from breaking. It’s the digital equivalent of replacing duct tape with rivets—necessary, but not yet transformative.

Typical Tech Stack at Level 3

Your stack is bigger—and more tangled. You’ve stacked tools quickly to keep pace with growth: ShipHero, Klaviyo, ReturnLogic, Zapier, Zoho trials. But the integrations are shallow, data lives in silos, and every new order exposes a new workflow gap. You're spending more to patch things than to improve them.

Category	Tools Used at Level 3	Monthly Cost Estimate
Ecommerce Platform	Shopify (Plus tier), BigCommerce, WooCommerce	$200
Order Management	ShipStation, ShipHero, Order Desk	$80
Inventory Management	Shopify Inventory, Zoho Inventory (trial), spreadsheets	$80
Product Information Management (PIM)	Plytix (basic), Google Sheets, Shopify Metafields, Airtable, Treehouse	$50
Production/Assembly	Google Drive SOPs, manual checklists, Katana	$30
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)	Zapier logic stack (pseudo-ERP), custom dashboards	$50
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)	Gorgias, Klaviyo, HubSpot Free	$100
Accounting Systems	QuickBooks Online, Xero + A2X or Zapier integrations	$60
Shipping & Fulfillment	Pirate Ship, ReturnLogic, 3PL dashboards	$80
Automation Tools	Zapier, Make, Shopify Flow, basic Alloy flows	$90

Technical Reality at This Level

You’re spending more on tools—but they aren’t working together. Most automations are band-aids. If one piece breaks, the rest unravels. It takes a human to monitor the machines. You have reports, but you don’t trust them. And your stack keeps growing, not getting smarter.

How Technical Labor is Typically Allocated

At Level 3, you’re starting to stabilize by adding team members and trusted contractors. Most of your backend still depends on manual effort and a few key people. You’re not building complex systems yet—but you are solving problems you can’t solve alone.

Role	Type	Typical Cost Range
CEO or COO
Still responsible for both strategy and execution—managing tools, vendors, and operational workflows personally.	Payroll	Varies
Marketing Coordinator or Manager
Runs campaigns and promotions using basic ecommerce and email tools—not responsible for tech stack configuration.	Payroll	Varies
Customer Support Rep
Handles orders, product questions, and post-purchase issues using ecommerce platform or CRM apps.	Payroll	Varies
Ops Lead
Oversees fulfillment, inventory tracking, and vendor communication—usually with spreadsheets and lightweight apps.	Payroll	Varies
Digital Ops Assistant
Supports product data cleanup, app setup, and backend workflows. May start experimenting with automation.	Contract, often project-based, on an as-needed basis	$750–$1,200/month
Platform / App Specialists
Helps troubleshoot or configure front-end tools—bundles, subscriptions, themes, or basic OMS connections.	Contract, often project-based, on an as-needed basis	$500–$1,500/month
Backend Systems Specialists
Advises on or implements inventory tools, PIMs, and lightweight ERP components (Zoho, Airtable, etc.).	Contract, often project-based, on an as-needed basis	$750–$2,000/month

Note: Most Level 3 businesses can only afford 1–2 tech contractors at a time. This stage is about patching holes, not building long-term systems—yet.

Real-World Example

A mid-sized supplement brand has grown from 10 to 300 SKUs, with bundles, recurring subscriptions, and wholesale options. They’ve added Klaviyo, Gorgias, ShipStation, and Alloy. But none of it connects cleanly. Inventory discrepancies are weekly. Support is overloaded. Their 3PL doesn’t update in real time.

They launch a new product—only to realize halfway through the month that it was never added to two of their shipping flows. Refunds pile up. They try to backfill with Zapier, but the automations break under volume. They can’t see margin, performance, or fulfillment data in one place. A spreadsheet runs the business—but no one’s sure it’s accurate.

Eventually, they realize the need for real structure: consistent data, platform consolidation, and better handoffs between tools. The marketing team wants to scale—but operations aren’t ready.

Level 3 Pain Points:

• App conflicts or data silos

• Fulfillment breakdowns or warehouse syncing issues

• Subscriptions and bundles are hard to maintain

• Team roles are unclear or duplicate effort

• Manual workarounds drain time and focus

• Reporting is inaccurate or absent

• Growth is creating more problems than revenue

Signs It's Time to Level Up:

• You’ve hit six figures, but operations still feel like Level 1

• Launches cause panic instead of excitement

• You’re reacting to issues instead of improving systems

• Your tech stack is bigger, but less effective

• Team communication is breaking down

• You’re spending more to fix things than to grow

Bottom Line

You’ve proven demand, built momentum, and stacked tools. But now’s the moment to step back and stabilize. Growth should be building leverage—not creating chaos. If your business feels like it’s running you, it’s time to build a real backend that can carry you to the next level.