Sure, hiring in-house has its benefits.
But outsourcing your design projects to an external design agency could be the key to your success.
But how?
Well, I’ve got not one, but six reasons for you.
Why outsourcing your design projects could be the key to your business’ success.
1. Reduced costs
According to Indeed, a full-time entry-level, graphic designer’s salary in the U.S. starts at $59,497 per year. (That does not include any perks, benefits, or paid time off!)
Add the additional overhead costs of electricity, space, and office utilities, and your expenses just went up even further.
Not to mention the probable lean periods and downtime in between projects, when you’ll still have to pay them.
So unless you consistently have full-time work, and the capacity to keep them on the payroll through the year, outsourcing your design work is a smarter choice.
Read More: Outsourcing Design services – A guide for agencies
2. Offers flexibility to scale or downsize
Now you might think it makes sense to have a massive in-house team if you head an agency. After all, you consistently get projects to keep your designers occupied and on the payroll…
And you’re right.
A branding agency cannot run without a basic in-house design team.
But what happens when you have an unexpected spike in projects?
Or when an existing project suddenly needs all hands on deck and more to get done on time?
You don’t have the time to hunt and hire an entire team of freelancers. And you definitely don’t have the capacity to hire and onboard new designers just for a few weeks or months.
That’s when an external white label agency comes to your rescue.
With an outsourced design team, you can afford to instantly scale your team up or down depending on your project needs.
3. Specialized skills
Every once in a while you’ll come across a project that required specialized design skills.
It could be a client in a different industry from what your designers are used to working with.
Or perhaps a project that needs custom animations, which your team has no experience…
Either way, you don’t have to turn down the project or ruin your reputation with sub-par work. Or even hire a new designer just for the project, when it could become a long-term liability…
A simple solution to temporarily increasing your design capacity overnight is a white label design agency.
They usually come equipped with a diverse talent pool of designers with all kinds of backgrounds and specializations. So finding the right one for your project will be child’s play.
Read More: Why choose a Design agency over Freelance designers?
4. Beat the monotony
When every project you handle is executed by the same in-house team of designers, you soon hit a design plateau.
Every project starts to look and feel the same.
Or worse, you’ll hit a wall when trying to create a “fresh” brand identity for your latest client.
And no matter how much you push your designers to get innovative or think outside the box, everything seems to be a spinoff of the same old idea.
And it’s not their fault.
Truly fresh design requires a fresh burst of inspiration. That’s not something you can find easily, with the same brains being put together time and again, for months on end.
So bring in some fresh perspective, and a renewed sense of style, you need new minds.
A white label agency can deliver that to you, while still allowing you to deliver the design as an in-house creation.
5. Free up your internal resources
When you have an in-house design team, your investment in maintaining that team isn’t just restricted to their salaries and benefits.
You need to hire an entire host of project managers, branding specialists, junior designers, senior designers, editors, extra HRs, etc.
If you are a massive corporation that shouldn’t be an issue for you.
But if you are a growing organization or an agency that’s finding its footing – that might not be the wisest financial decision for you.
Instead use the convenience of a white label agency to free up your internal resources, This way you can focus your time and efforts on core activities and business expansion.
6. Faster workflow and project delivery
A surprising benefit of outsourcing your design to a white label agency is the speed at which projects get done.
White label design agencies are usually fully-equipped teams that are ready to go at full speed and are always in sync.
They work in complete teams of graphic designers, project managers, branding specialists, digital collateral specialists, etc. By hiring them you can enjoy the benefits of seamless project management, with end-to-end services all provided in one place.
So say goodbye to having the project stalled due to an employee taking a day off. Or a delay in delivery because the branding team was holding everyone else up!
After all this, you’ll probably never consider going in-house again, when you can instead outsource your design projects to an external design agency.
But let’s be clear, hiring a design agency isn’t an easy task either.
It needs just as much thought and effort as when you are hiring a full-time employee.
But as with anything, a little bit of knowledge, planning, and foresight go a long way.
To make your job easier for you, I’ve got some design agency tips that have served me well in the past.
Read More: In-house designer vs Freelancer vs White label design agency
Factors you need to consider while hiring an external design agency/team:
- Budget:
Before you even start looking for an external design agency, be clear on your budget for the hire. If you are working with a low budget, but looking for quality work then consider looking for an offshore design agency in Asia or Central Europe.
- Physical presence:
Ask yourself if the project demands the external designers to attend in-house meetings in person, or if they can work remotely. Also, be clear on whether the project workflow needs the designer to work in your time zone or working hours. If that is not an issue for you, you are free to expand your search to more affordable offshore agencies.
- Duration of project:
For quick, short-term projects, you can go with a basic project contract with a clear schedule. But for long-term projects consider hiring them on a retainer basis to avoid inflated costs.
- Ownership of design:
If you find yourself looking to hire an external design team, but need to deliver the project under your own label, then a white label agency is your best bet. Most regular agencies and freelancers will require you to either credit them or will demand ownership of their work.
- Management terms:
Consider whether you want to oversee the team and the design process at a micro level, or if you’d like to hand off project management entirely to the agency. The kind of agencies you can approach and the project cost will vary depending on this.
- Quality of portfolio:
When outsourcing your design project to an external agency, don’t go by just the size of their portfolio. Yes, their years of experience count. But it’s more important to find an agency that is experienced in working with similar industries and project types like the one you have on hand. Look for relevance and quality of work.
- Compatibility of workflow:
When considering a white label design agency for hire, it’s important to be sure that you can work together in synchronicity. So check for how they have collaborated with agencies in the past.
