For startups, hiring freelancers is an attractive option as developer rates are extremely competitive. The below top 3 results were
taken directly from Upwork.
Freelance developers can be found and hired for $10 an hour which is far less than what AOC
charges. So why are we showing you rates that are less than ours?
Because, we not only started out as an e-commerce furniture company using freelancers, but
employ several former freelancers who also no longer found it as a viable long term option.
Freelancers are great for short term projects or if one person can do the job. For starting, building,
and growing an e-commerce business, an entire team is needed.
The average base pay for one full time junior developer prices most SMB’s out of the market for an in-house position. Below is
taken directly from Glassdoor.
Fortunately, with the advent of SaaS e-commerce platforms (BigCommerce/Shopify) the reliance
on developers have greatly decreased. No longer are owners beholden on a webmaster,
programmer, or a single 3rd party development company to manage the entire infrastructure of
their online business.
For an SMB who is actively selling online, a developer on a SaaS ecommerce platform is only
needed for an average of 40-50 hours a month. Simple maintenance is still recommended as well
as constant improvements to enhance the UX.
Unfortunately, a developer is not a singular solution for an e-commerce business. Many more skill
sets are required as starting, building, and growing an e-commerce business takes an entire team.
Why One Person Can't Do It All
Most non-technical clients make the mistake of trying to find one person to run their entire e-commerce business. Why is this a mistake? Development, programming, graphic design, marketplaces, social media, marketing, SEO, content writing, & data administration require different skills sets so it is unrealistic to expect one person to handle these tasks. Even more unrealistic at any monthly salary under $5,000.
With AOC you get an entire team of college educated, experienced professionals for less than the price of one person in house.
We do strongly encourage to have an e-commerce manager in house.
The tried and true outsourcing model is a dedicated staff who work directly for one company
throughout the life of the contract.
This is great for large Enterprises as the cost savings vs. hiring
in-house is substantial. However, SMB’s still cannot afford to hire
multiple full time positions even
at outsourced rates.
The below rates were provided by a reputable BPO in the philippines for junior level positions.
The below rates are using the average monthly hours from a high performing AOC client using our
hybrid staffing model. Employee cost = hourly rate.
While this is not a fair apple to apple comparison as the workload of the
dedicated staffing model
is far greater than AOC’s hybrid staffing model.
This is a great example of how we save SMB’s
money as we distribute
your work to multiple skill sets which allows your staffing cost to scale
with your business.
Our hybrid staffing model is the result of 8+ years of trial, error, and by
learning through our own
e-commerce business that we manage every
day. It’s called a hybrid as it provides SMB’s the best.
High employment costs for skilled workers plus high overhead on additional expenses means US based agencies charge between
$125-$150 an hour. The work is fantastic and these agencies and others like them are some of the best in the business.
For SMB’s this is simply not an option
As even a light workload of 50 hours a month would total a monthly
agency fee of $6,250 to $7,500. This leads to spot work where a client
only uses an agency partner sparingly instead of a monthly ongoing
basis.
To start, build, and grow an ecommerce business continuous team
work is needed.
It is not feasible for a SMB to hire one experienced skilled position for anything less than
$3,000 USD a month before taxes. Hiring on a part-time basis is even less practical.
Can require recruitment fees, set-up fees, and security deposits on top of full
time salaries. See below real quote from another reputable BPO in the Philippines.
Many compare AOC to freelancers. However, AOC cannot be compared to freelancers
both in terms of rates and production. See why below.
Staff Salary: AOC pays wages, holiday pay, insurance, health coverage, 13th month pay, leave
entitlements, redundancy pay provision, government mandated costs, & benefits.
Additional Overhead: AOC pays recruitment, training, facilities, equipment, office space, office
security, administration, performance & time monitoring apps, legal retainer, IT support, cleaning,
premium internet, redundant ISP, fingerprint monitored attendance, operations management,
infrastructure, utilities, company outings, travel, and account manager salaries.
More Productive: AOC’s longest tenured developer left us after a few years to work as a freelancer
at much higher rates. Why did he come back to work for lower hourly rates?
Jaybee: “Unstable source of income, unrealistic client expectations, no benefits, no holidays or
holiday pay, no 13th month pay, no work colleagues, no company outings, no office environment,
no professional growth, and not a career I could be proud of.”
Top talent do not work as freelancers. We have rejected many freelancer applicants. What may
seem like cost savings in the short term will end up costing more in the long run.
