Your in-house creative team is crushing it.
Campaign wins? Check.
Stakeholder praise? Check.
Demand for more? Triple check.
It’s a great problem to have—until the workload starts outpacing your team’s capacity.
Naturally, the next thought is… time to hire another designer.
But is hiring the smartest, fastest, or most scalable move? Here are five critical questions to ask before you post that job ad.
1. What Are You Really Looking for in a Designer?
Before writing a job description, clarify what the new role should achieve:
Deep brand knowledge and stakeholder familiarity
Specialized skillsets or added capacity
A balanced, well-rounded team
But—consider the trade-offs:
- You can’t hire for every skill.
- Talent pools can be limited by geography, specialization and experience.
- Hiring, onboarding and retention are expensive and time-consuming.
"Hiring is about adding strategic capability. But it’s also a long-term commitment with real costs," says Eliott Wahba, CEO of DolFinContent.
2. Do You Have the Time and Resources to Hire?
Spoiler alert: It takes longer (and costs more) than most teams expect.
The True Cost of a Mid-Level Design Lead:
- Recruiting: $4,000
- Salary: $80,000
- Software/licenses: $2,530
- Total: $86,530
And that’s before benefits and overhead.
Timeline:
- Time to hire: 44 days
- Onboarding: 90 days
- Total ramp-up: 134 days (~4.5 months)
Risk Factor:
- Turnover cost: Up to 3x–4x salary = $320K+ if they leave.
"You’re not just investing money—you’re investing months of time, training and team energy," notes Wahba.
3. Have You Explored Outsourcing?
Even fully staffed in-house teams are overwhelmed today.
Solution: Many top brands now blend in-house talent with flexible external partners.
Outsourcing options:
- Freelancers = Speed and flexibility, but unreliable for scale
- Agencies = Complex projects, but rigid processes and pricing
- CaaS (Creative-as-a-Service) = Speed, flexibility, reliability and scale
"CaaS was designed for exactly this problem. It bridges the gaps where hiring and traditional outsourcing fall short," says Wahba.
4. What’s More Important: Speed, Scale, Reliability or Flexibility?
Your outsourcing choice should align with what you value most.
"CaaS blends the best of freelancers and agencies—without their downsides," Wahba explains.
Plus, subscription pricing gives you predictable costs and up to 50% of hours for fast-turnaround work.
5. What’s Your Endgame: Growing the Team or Scaling Creative?
Hiring = Incremental growth
Outsourcing (especially CaaS) = Exponential scale
"Scaling creative means increasing output, quality and strategy without linear cost growth. That’s not possible with hiring alone," says Wahba.
The smartest creative leaders today empower their teams with:
Flexible external support
Skills that cover both day-to-day work and specialized needs
Freedom to focus on strategic, high-impact projects
"Growing your team is good. Scaling creative is how you drive revenue," Wahba adds.
Bottom Line: Hiring Is an Option. Scaling Is a Strategy.
Before you post that job:
- Identify your true needs.
- Weigh costs and timelines.
- Compare hiring to outsourcing.
- Prioritize speed, scale and flexibility.
- Think growth—but aim for scalability.
If you’re ready to explore the smartest path to scaling creative:
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