I don't understand this line of thinking. Why do you feel that your alt characters should have an easier time completing things and gearing up compared to your main? They are their own SEPARATE character from your main, so logic would dictate that it should take just as much time and effort into gearing and doing things on that character as any other character.
This whole mindset that alts need to take less time to level up, less time to do professions, less time to gear up is just unfounded. Guess what, in TBC, if you wanted a second character, you leveled up, got into normal dungeons, grinded the rep to revered with all the heroic dungeon factions, did attunement to Kara, went linearly through the raid tiers, JUST. LIKE. YOUR. MAIN.
So last question, why is it an expectation that one should have 12 equally geared and raid ready characters these days?