There are reasons you have VAs, reasons you use third-party software, and reasons you use an agency.
All these reasons are valid. Imagine if you removed all your VAs and hired them locally. Think about managing hundreds of products without software for your PPC campaigns.
Both you and I understand that there is a time and a place for every tool and service, and secondly, expertise matters. I’m not going to pretend that the latter isn’t subjective for many reasons, which are too lengthy to discuss here.
What works better for time and cost? Building the next Helium 10 in-house or hiring developers without being able to validate their code? What would happen to your margin compression if you eliminated your VAs and freelancers? What if your plan was to handle PPC in-house, yet you have limited knowledge and hire someone who knows only 5% more than you? Or you spend months training them, micromanaging them, only to find out it costs you more, or you saved a mere $100 or $200 compared to an agency managing.
Do you have a price on your time? Give yourself an hourly rate; let’s say you’re doing 1 million plus per year, and your time is worth $100 per hour, and you spend 8 hours a week on your PPC. That’s roughly $3,600 a month.
Remember when I mentioned the talent pool at the top of the article? Let’s say you hire someone with minimal skills—not a VA—but someone with low to mid-level chops that could cost you $2,400 a month.
Then you add the subscription cost of the software if you’re using one, then maybe add the tier cost and percentage of ad spend. Then they leave, and you have to go through the hiring process again. What if the agency is $2,000 a month and they have the right level of expertise, greater than yours and your hire?
Of course, I’ve given you a number that validates my point. However, my point here is to get you to think things through and take the best course of action that works for you and your business. Your time is money, and the most important function at the highest level is the product. And if you’re saving yourself time only to cost you money, it works against you. So, really break down what would be the best outcome for you.
