When you’re growing your business, it makes sense that you want to handle everything yourself. After all, it’s yours, and you want to see it succeed. But even though DIY sounds more budget friendly, trying to do it all in-house can cost you more time and money for less effective results than you’d get with an expert.So how do you know when you’ve reached the point where you need to bring in outside help?

You’re struggling with next steps.

You have a great vision and concrete goals you want to reach. However, setting goals and reaching them are two different processes with two very different mindsets. When you’re setting a goal, you’re dreaming big and thinking outside the box. But when you’re deciding how to reach them, you need to do research, define a strategy, and start using tools or programs you might not have experience with.If you don’t know what your next steps are, you might find yourself stalling out. That can make the thought of reaching your goals a pretty daunting one. But agencies know how to help you achieve your goals and handle all the work that comes with it. And they can attach tangible metrics and deliverables to your goal so you know when you’ve reached it.

You can’t keep up.

Maybe you have a plan for growing your business and you’re excited to make it happen, but you just don’t have the time to make it a priority. It’s tough to manage your social media, update your website, and keep up with marketing trends while thinking strategically about your business. Being busy is a great problem to have, but it’s still a problem.Your agency will keep your high-level strategy and long-term business goals in mind when they’re doing work for you. They can plan and carry out strategies and tactics to move your brand and business forward. Because an agency’s business is focusing on yours, they have the time to make your work a priority and take care of everything you don’t have time for.

You don’t have the in-house expertise.

When you add it all up, hiring a full team of marketers, developers, and creatives to accomplish your goals is expensive. And no one in-house person can take on all of those roles. But don’t worry, you’re not alone. There are plenty of other businesses don’t have the budget to hire an entire department of full-time employees.Instead of paying salaries for multiple in-house marketing experts, many of those businesses use that budget for an agency instead. An agency gives you well-rounded, expert support to fill in any gaps in your expertise. You get access to a team of experts in different disciplines, and it doesn’t cost any more than hiring the people (or single person) you otherwise would.

It’s just not working.

You might be thinking, “But I do have all those things! I have a plan, I have the time, and I have a team.” And yet for some reason, even though you have all the pieces in place, they just aren’t fitting together for you. You aren’t getting ahead, you don’t know why, and you’re getting frustrated and burned out.Getting a team of experts in the room with you to problem solve and brainstorm can get you out of that rut and help you move forward. They might have insights you don’t or a new perspective that can put your situation in a whole new light. Whether you just need a consult or more help over time, an agency can help make sure you’re spending your hard-earned money wisely.If any of these sound like you, it might be time to call in reinforcements. Not sure how to do it? Head over to our follow-up blog post next month: “How to Pick an Agency.” Or, if you already like what you see, give us a shout.