In the current digital era, brand image is not just a “face” but also a direct competitive weapon. For SME business owners, the most headache-inducing question often revolves around optimizing costs: Should we build an in-house design team or partner with a Design Agency professional? This is not just about money but also long-term operational strategy.
Many businesses mistakenly think that paying fixed salaries to employees is cheaper than paying external service fees. However, operational reality hides many “icebergs” of financial costs that regular accounting reports rarely detail. Choosing the wrong model can cause businesses to waste hundreds of millions of dong each year.
As a unit with real-world experience since 2017, serving over 5,400 customers, DPS.MEDIA we understand these challenges well. The article below will analyze in depth and multi-dimensionally to help you make the wisest decision when seeking a partner Design Agency or recruiting staff.
1. Breaking Down Hidden Costs of In-House Team vs Design Agency
When comparing costs, most CEOs only look at monthly salary. For example, a mid-level Designer's salary in Ho Chi Minh City is about 12-15 million VND. But the actual figure to maintain this staff is much larger than the service fee of a Design Agency.
Initial recruitment and training costs
To find a suitable staff member, you incur costs for posting ads, interview time, and trial period. On average, businesses lose 2 months' salary to fill a vacancy. If the staff quits after 6 months, the process repeats, creating a huge budget gap.
In contrast, when working with Design Agency, you completely skip this step. Agencies already have a ready team of high-quality staff, carefully screened. You just need to sign the contract and the project can start immediately.
Burden of equipment and software licenses
A Designer cannot work on a regular office laptop. They need a high-config workstation, color-accurate monitor. Not to mention the increasingly expensive Adobe Creative Cloud license costs (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere…).
Professional Design Agency agencies always invest in the most modern equipment systems to ensure performance. When outsourcing, you are utilizing their hundreds of millions of dong technology infrastructure at a fee that is only a fraction.
Benefits and social insurance contributions
In-house staff need to contribute to social insurance, health insurance, holiday bonuses, 13th-month salary, and team-building activities. These are fixed costs, regardless of the workload volume that month. For Design Agency, you only pay for the product or committed service package.
According to analysis from experts at DPS.MEDIA, switching to an outsourcing model can help SMEs cut up to 40% of design department-related operating costs in the first year.
| Cost Category | In-House Staff (1 person) | Design Agency (Monthly Package) |
|---|---|---|
| Salary/Service Fee | 15,000,000+ VND/month | 10,000,000 – 20,000,000 VND |
| Computer & Software | 50,000,000 VND (Initial Investment) | 0 VND (Included) |
| Recruitment & Training | 5,000,000 – 10,000,000 VND | 0 VND |
| Insurance & Benefits | 23% of basic salary | 0 VND |
| Staff Risk | High (Resignation, illness) | Low (Replacements available) |
2. Professional Quality: One Person vs An Entire Design Agency Team
Another common misconception is that in-house employees will understand the brand better. However, that understanding sometimes leads to thinking ruts. Partnering with Design Agency brings fresh air and diversity in design styles.
Limitations of individual staff skills
In the graphic design industry, very few people are good at everything. Someone good at logo design may not know how to do video, motion graphics, or UI/UX design for websites. When hiring in-house, you often only get an individual's skills.
In contrast, a Design Agency has a diverse team. They have branding experts, social media print specialists, and a video editing team. You are hiring a company, not a person, so you gain access to their “vast knowledge pool”.
Strategic thinking and trend updates
In-house employees working in a fixed environment can easily become “emotionally numb” to creativity. They have few opportunities to interact with different industries. This makes designs gradually become boring and lack breakthrough.
Professional Design Agency works with hundreds of clients from various fields. They must update the latest design trends daily to survive. Based on DPS.MEDIA's experience serving over 5,400 customers, this diversity helps agencies provide more creative and effective visual solutions.
Quality control process (QC)
Who approves the in-house employee's designs? Usually the business owner or Marketing head – people without deep expertise in art. This easily leads to products that “meet the boss's taste” but violate visual principles.
At reputable Design Agency agencies, every product goes through multiple rigorous approval rounds. From Art Director to Creative Lead, all participate to ensure the final product is perfect before delivery to the client.
- Ensuring consistency of the brand identity system.
- Adhering to rules on layout, color, and typography.
- Optimizing design files for printing and digital display.
- Creating based on real data and market research.
- Commitment to revisions until the client is satisfied.
3. Flexibility and Scalability of Design Agency
Business is not always a straight line. There are peak months needing big campaigns, but also low seasons. The rigidity of the in-house model is the biggest weakness when compared to the flexibility of Design Agency.
Addressing seasonal demands
Imagine you need to launch a new product and urgently require 50 banners, 5 videos, and a POSM set in 1 week. An in-house employee will surely be overwhelmed (burnout), leading to reduced quality or delays. You can't hire extra people just for that 1 week.
At this time, Design Agency maximizes its strength. They can mobilize 3-4 designers to join the project to ensure progress. When the project ends, costs stop. You don't have to maintain a cumbersome machine during low seasons.
Diverse service packages according to needs
Agencies today offer many flexible collaboration models. You can hire by project (Project-based) or by monthly package (Retainer). This allows businesses to proactively adjust Marketing budgets according to actual business conditions.
For example, during spending tightening phases, you can reduce the service package to basic level. When needing to boost sales, you upgrade to a higher package. This flexibility is something impossible with in-house employment contracts.
Response speed and workflow
Many worry that outsourcing will be slow due to complex processes. However, professional Design Agency agencies like DPS.MEDIA always have tight account and project management processes. All requests are digitized and progress is clearly tracked.
| Comparison Criteria | In-House Staff | Design Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Scalability | Low (Need time to recruit more) | High (Can add people immediately) |
| Handling Large Volumes | Easily overwhelmed, stressed | Team division handles easily |
| Working Hours | Working Hours (8h/day) | Flexible per project deadline |
| Skill Scope | Limited to individual expertise | Diverse (2D, 3D, Web, Video) |
4. Management and Operations: Who Bears the Responsibility?
Managing creative staff has never been easy, especially for business owners from economics or technical backgrounds. Miscommunication between “Boss” and “Designer” is the main reason staff leave.
Reducing management pressure for business owners
When having in-house employees, you must handle attendance, performance, staff psychology, and career progression. If you lack design expertise, evaluating employee competence becomes subjective and inaccurate.
Work with Design Agency, you work through an Account Manager. This person acts as a bridge, “translating” your business language into design language for the execution team. You only need to focus on the final result, minimizing micromanagement time.
Commitment and legal binding
Employees can suddenly quit for personal reasons, leaving a mess of unfinished design files. Handover is sometimes not smooth, disrupting business operations. This is a present risk that many businesses have experienced.
With Design Agency, everything is bound by B2B legal contracts. Commitments on deadlines, quality, and information security are mandatory. If the staff handling your project at the agency quits, the agency is responsible for immediate replacement without affecting your progress.
Storage and handover system for assets
Another nagging issue is managing source files. Resigning employees may delete files or arrange them messily, making it impossible for successors to take over. Professional Design Agency agencies always have scientific storage server systems.
At DPS.MEDIA, the storage process is standardized so clients can access data anytime, even long after the project ends. This is absolute security for the business's intellectual property.
5. When to Choose Design Agency, When to Build In-House?
There is no absolute answer for every case. The choice depends on the development stage, scale, and specific needs of each business. Below is an analysis table for you to self-assess your situation.
Cases to choose In-House
Your business should consider recruiting a separate design team when daily workload is extremely large and requires instant responses every minute. For example, online news sites or e-commerce platforms need to handle thousands of images daily.
Additionally, if your product has extremely high technical specificity, requiring long training time to understand (e.g., core technology, specialized medicine), having in-house staff is more convenient for continuous internal information exchange.
Cases to hire Design Agency
For most SME businesses, startups, or companies focused on core business, hiring Design Agency is the optimal solution. You need professional images for Branding, advertising, product packaging but don't want the burden of a staff machine.
Especially when you need to execute Re-branding campaigns (brand repositioning), launch new products, or need high-technical prints (3D, Animation) that regular staff can't do, agency is the only choice ensuring quality.
| Business Characteristics | Recommendation | Main Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Startups / SMEs | Design Agency | Optimize cash flow, need professionalism immediately |
| Multinational conglomerate | Combine both | In-house handles daily tasks, Agency handles big campaigns |
| Large E-commerce Company | In-House | Huge volume of minor tasks, needs instant speed |
| B2B Enterprise | Design Agency | Needs polished, highly professional images |
Expert Advice and Conclusion
Balancing between “raising” an army or “hiring” an army is always a difficult equation. However, the current market trend is to streamline the organization and leverage external expert resources. Partnering with a Design Agency not only helps you save costs but is also the fastest way to elevate your brand image.
Market research and 2024 human resources market report all indicate that the trend of outsourcing creative services is growing strongly. This shows the practical effectiveness this model brings to the business community.
5 Key Points to Remember:
- Agency hiring costs are usually 30-40% lower than maintaining a full in-house team.
- Agencies provide diverse skills and breakthrough creative thinking.
- Outsourcing helps business owners reduce the burden of people management.
- Agency flexibility helps businesses easily adapt to the market.
- Choose a reputable partner like DPS.MEDIA to ensure process and quality.
If you are looking for a reliable partner to build brand identity professionally, don't hesitate to change your management mindset. Let the experts do their job, while you focus on developing your core business.
At DPS.MEDIA, we don't just draw beautifully, we consult visual solutions that drive sales effectiveness. With extensive experience and standard processes, we commit to maximum customer satisfaction.
