Changes the symbol only. No conversion.
What hits the card today (blank or 0 if none).
Ads, briefings, checking work, fire drills. Not counting agency management, which goes below.
Status, feedback, asset chasing: not zero even with a good agency.
Sets how much of the work software can take on: 70%, 50% or 25%.
Placeholder range for operator tooling.
Judgment, creative direction, approvals: we don’t pretend zero. The model uses this or the non-replaceable share of your hours, whichever is higher.
If you keep humans for brains only. Blank counts as 0.
Illustrative model for operators. Inputs stay in this browser and in the page link. Not accounting advice. Hybrid is often the adult answer.
How the model works
Full agency path = retainer × 12 + (your growth-ops hours + coordination hours) × your hourly value × 52. Coordination hours are the hours you spend managing the agency, lifted by a load factor of 6% per extra store and 4% per extra channel, capped at 40%. This is the cost that never appears on an invoice.
Software-led path = software fee × 12 + software hours × your hourly value × 52. Software hours are the higher of the floor you enter and your growth-ops hours × (1 minus replaceability). Replaceability comes from what you buy: mostly execution and reporting is 70% replaceable, a balanced mix 50%, mostly senior strategy 25%. A strategy-heavy agency therefore leaves you more of the work and a smaller gap.
Hybrid path = strategy retainer × 12 + software fee × 12 + hybrid hours × your hourly value × 52, where hybrid hours are the lower of your current hours and software hours plus 2, plus half the coordination hours (you still manage a smaller relationship).
Break-even software price = (full agency path minus software-path time cost) ÷ 12: the monthly fee at which the two paths cost the same. If the software path costs more than the agency path even at a fee of zero, the tool says so rather than printing a zero gap.
Worked example (the defaults). A £5,000 retainer is £60,000 a year. You spend 12 hours a week on growth ops at £80 an hour (£49,920) plus 4 hours managing the agency, lifted 8% for three channels to 4.32 hours (£17,971), so the full agency path is £127,891. With a balanced mix, half the work is replaceable, so the software path keeps 6 hours a week (£24,960) plus £299 a month (£3,588): £28,548. Hybrid keeps a £2,000 strategy retainer, the software, 8 hours of your time and half the coordination: £69,854. The break-even software price is £8,578 a month; if your hour is worth £40 it is £6,789, and at £160 it is £12,155.
What “smart” means here
- Separates invoice cost from your time cost and from coordination cost.
- Models coordination load from stores × channels (not a flat guess only).
- Adjusts the software path when the agency is strategy-heavy vs execution legwork.
- Shows three paths side by side, a break-even software price, and how that price moves with the value of your hour.
vs agency · what a retainer buys · ecommerce agency cost in the UK · Shopify retainer cost: what to expect · agency vs software vs media buyer · all tools.
FAQ
What does the model count as the cost of an agency?
The invoice times 12, plus your growth-ops hours at the value you put on your hour, plus coordination hours: the time you spend managing the agency, lifted by 6 percent per extra store and 4 percent per extra channel (capped at 40 percent). Invoice line items are only part of the bill.
How does the work mix change the result?
Execution-heavy retainers are treated as 70 percent replaceable by software, a balanced mix 50 percent, mostly senior strategy 25 percent. The software path keeps the non-replaceable share of your current hours or the floor you enter, whichever is higher, so a strategy-heavy agency is harder to replace and the gap shrinks.
What is the break-even software price?
The monthly software fee at which the software-led path costs the same as the full agency path over a year, holding your software-path hours fixed. Above it the agency path is cheaper on paper; below it software is. The sensitivity strip shows how it moves when you value your hour at half or double the figure you entered.
Does the currency selector convert amounts?
No. It only changes the symbol shown. Enter every number in one currency and the model stays consistent; there is no exchange-rate conversion.