The short answer
Under twenty employees and with a bounded process you usually get furthest with an independent: one point of contact, a fixed price, done in weeks. An agency makes sense for several departments at once, tenders or continuity requirements. Doing it yourself works if someone on the team has time and aptitude, and it costs months instead of weeks.
The three routes side by side
| Agency | Independent | Do it yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Highest, with overhead and account management | Medium, without overhead | Only licences and the time of your own people |
| Lead time | Weeks to months, depending on planning | Weeks | Months, because it happens beside the real work |
| Who you speak to | Often not the person who builds | The person who builds | Yourself |
| Continuity | Strongest, there is always someone | Depends on one person | Depends on one person |
| Knowledge stays | With the agency, unless you insist on handover | With you, if handover is in the agreement | With you |
When an agency
When you want to tackle several departments at once, when procurement requires an organisation with multiple people, or when you need a contract with continuity in it. Those are real reasons and they are worth the money.
Watch two things: who actually builds, and what happens after handover. At agencies the person who sells is rarely the person who builds, and the maintenance contract is often where the money sits.
When an independent
When you have a bounded process, speed matters more than scale, and you want to talk to the person who builds it. For organisations up to around twenty people this is usually the cheapest and fastest route to something that works.
The risk is dependence on one person. Cover that: agree that everything delivered belongs to you, that configuration and prompts are handed over, and that your team can work with it independently. That is exactly why training is included in my implementation price, see AI training for your team.
When to do it yourself
When you have someone with time, aptitude and a mandate. That is a rare combination and the third condition is the hardest: without a mandate it stays a side project that always loses to daily work.
If you want that route anyway, start with the free tools: the process check, the baseline builder and the prompt builder. That is the same order I follow myself, and it costs you nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Is an agency always more expensive?
Per hour usually yes, per project not always. On a large programme across several departments an agency can be more efficient. On a single bounded process you mostly pay an agency for overhead.
What is the biggest risk with an independent?
Dependence on one person. Cover that in the agreement: ownership of everything delivered, handover of configuration and prompts, and training for the team that uses it.
Can I start by doing it myself and get help later?
Yes, and that is often wise. Someone who has tried for a month knows exactly where it stalls and buys more precisely afterwards. That work is not wasted.
How do I know whether I am large enough for an agency?
When you want to tackle several departments at once, have a procurement process with supplier requirements, or need contractual continuity. For a single process in a small team that is rarely the case.
