In-house designer or agency? What most businesses get wrong

At some point, most growing businesses hit the same crossroads.

Design and marketing are becoming more important. The workload is increasing. Turnaround matters more. And the obvious thought is:

“Maybe we just need to hire someone in-house.”

It’s a fair instinct. Sometimes it’s the right move. But more often than not, it’s a decision made on assumptions rather than the full picture.

This is where things usually get misunderstood.

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The real cost of hiring internally

On paper, an in-house hire can look straightforward. A salary feels predictable. One person, one cost, job done.

In reality, the salary is just the starting point.

Once you factor in:

• Employer NI and pension contributions
• Software licences and hardware
• Training and development
• Management time
• Holiday, sickness, and downtime

That £35k–£45k role quickly becomes a much bigger commitment.

And that’s before you consider output.

One person can only do so much. When priorities stack up or deadlines collide, things slow down fast.

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One hire rarely covers what businesses actually need

This is the bit that catches most teams out.

They hire “a designer” expecting branding, websites, social graphics, presentations, packaging, campaign thinking, and maybe even video support.

That’s not realistic.

Design today is broad. A great brand designer is not automatically a great web designer. Someone strong in digital may not touch print. And very few people excel across everything at a commercial level.

What businesses usually need is not a role. It’s outcomes.

Clear branding. Consistent marketing. Campaigns that convert. Assets that actually work in the real world.

That’s hard to solve with a single hire.

What a good agency actually gives you

When agencies are at their best, they are not “outsourced design”. They’re an extension of your team.

Instead of relying on one skillset, you get access to:

• Multiple disciplines
• Strategic thinking as well as execution
• Capacity that flexes with your workload
• Experience from working across different sectors and challenges

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You are not paying for hours. You’re paying for momentum, reliability, and perspective.

There’s also less risk. No long-term employment commitment. No panic when someone leaves. No productivity dip when priorities change.

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When hiring in-house does make sense

This is important to say clearly.

Hiring internally can be the right move when:

• You have high-volume, repeatable work
• Your brand and systems are already well established
• You have strong creative leadership internally
• You need day-to-day execution more than strategic input

In those cases, an in-house hire can be incredibly valuable.

The issue is that many businesses hire internally too early, before the foundations are solid.

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The middle ground most businesses overlook

For a lot of companies, the smartest setup is not one or the other.

It’s a small internal team supported by a trusted agency partner.

That gives you:

• Day-to-day consistency in-house
• Strategic depth and extra capacity when needed
• The ability to scale output without scaling overheads

It removes the pressure from a single hire and avoids the cost and risk of building a full internal team too soon.

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So what’s the right answer?

There isn’t a universal one.

But the mistake we see most often is businesses hiring for a role when what they really need is a solution.

The right question is not “Should we hire internally or use an agency?”

It’s:

“What do we actually need to achieve over the next 12 to 24 months?”

Once that’s clear, the right setup usually becomes obvious.

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Click here to view the packages and demo structures we provide at Just Design Stuff!

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If you’re weighing up that decision and want a second opinion, we’re always happy to talk it through properly, without the sales pitch.

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