In-house, freelancers, agencies or one partner?
An honest look at the ways a startup can cover its operations, including when LightWay is not the right choice.
| In-house hires | Freelancers | Separate agencies | LightWay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to start | Months per role | Days to weeks | Weeks | Days |
| Cost structure | Salaries and benefits, fixed | Hourly, per specialist | Retainer per function | One service fee, set by scope |
| Coverage | One function per hire | Fragmented across people | Usually one function each | Six functions, coordinated |
| Accountability | Clear, but each role managed separately | Spread across individuals | Split between providers | One accountable partner |
| Founder time needed | High: hiring and managing | High: coordinating everyone | Medium: several relationships | Low: one point of contact |
| Scales with you | Slowly, through new hires | Depends on availability | Contract changes per agency | Scope adjusts as you grow |
When a partner makes sense
- Several functions need an owner, but none is a full-time job yet
- Founders spend evenings on admin and compliance
- You need reliable processes quickly
- You want one point of contact instead of many providers
When to hire in-house instead
- A function has become a full-time workload
- The role is core to your product or competitive edge
- You need someone on site every day
- You are ready to build and manage a team for that function
When that moment comes, we help you hire and hand over the processes cleanly.
ready when you are
Let's take operations off your plate.
Tell us about your startup and the areas you want covered. We reply within one business day.