The agency quoted 5 weeks, we did it in 5 days

Their main agency quoted 5 weeks before anyone could even start on it, and priced it like a big project too.

A small job still carries the full account service layer. Same producer, same review cycle. None of it scales down. So a large agency's quote on a small project arrives carrying all of it, and that ends up wasting precious budget that could be smarter spent.

We built it in 5 days, at one third of the quote. That difference was a five figure sum on a single small project, and it did not stay in an account.

How it was done: one senior lead, AI handling production, a fixed price and a live date agreed before anything started. Human review before it went to the client. Built as a module inside their own templates, no iframe, so their own team could deploy it without waiting on anyone.

Their words when they got it:

"This module has been built well, and we can use it immediately without any adjustments"

They put the money back into media and consumer engagement.

Hiaitus is a small, skilled, nimble team, and we free up client capital by doing small well specified projects, so big agencies and their clients can spend more capital on bigger creative or media to drive more sales impact.

Most brands have a list of features and functions waiting to be built as part of a rollup of 5-6 small projects into one or two Sprints, which can take weeks to materialise. Sometimes, the cost often prohibits them ever coming to light.

Here is the test. Take the next small piece of work you have parked, then ask what the quote actually covers. Then ask what the same money would do in market instead.

If the second answer is the better one, the problem was the quote, and the shape of the agency that produced it.

We've found the big agencies actually embrace our capability as it feeds more budget fuel towards what they're famous for - exceptional creative delivered with higher media frequency.

Got one parked? Send me the scope and I will come back with a fixed price and a date, in one reply. stusheridan@hiaitus.ai

Small work does not need a big agency wrapped around it.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a small build cost so much at a large agency?

Because it carries the same overhead as a large one. Account service and a review cycle. Real work, priced in, and none of it scales down to a job this size. That quote ends up describing the agency more than the piece of work in front of it.

Why does a small job take weeks to start?

It queues. Whoever runs the large accounts has to touch it, and those accounts go first, so a 5 day build waits behind work with more revenue attached. Hiaitus quotes a start date and a live date up front, because on small work the wait usually costs more than the build does.

How can a small team deliver in days?

One senior lead runs the job end to end. AI handles production, a person owns the judgement, and nothing reaches the client without human review. No account layer to brief. No internal handover. Scope is fixed and approved before the work starts, so nothing gets rebuilt halfway through.

Does a lower price mean lower quality?

Should not, and delivery is where you check. On this project the module was built inside the client's own templates, with no iframe, and their team used it as delivered with no adjustments. Fixed scope, human review before handover, and code their own developers can maintain.

What counts as a small project?

A new feature on a page. A landing page module, an eDM template set, a data clean up. The dashboard someone in finance rebuilds by hand every month, usually the one that has annoyed people longest. The integration that never made the sprint. Small in scope, and parked because the quote came back too high.

What can the saving actually pay for?

On this project it went into media and consumer engagement. A five figure difference on one small build funds a hero creative shoot or a burst of paid media, and it usually clears 2 or 3 more small jobs off the parked list at the same time. None of that matters unless the money gets redeployed, and the client makes that call.