Do You Want Fries With That Custom Sticker?

We often assume that when you hire an "expert" in a certain field that the work will come at a premium price. After all they are the best at what they do, they have specialized equipment, they are in demand... they must cost more. In some cases this is true but often it is far from the truth.

We recently bid out a project at my house - we needed a fence built, trees removed, some driveway work, some wood cut and moved and other assorted groundskeeping tasks. I was very tempted to hire a capable friends business who could do all of these projects with his hard working crew. But out of interest for other opinions (and frugality) I got separate estimates from a fence builder, a professional tree service, and a gravel road contractor. All the prices from the specialized services came in well below my friend's estimates for the different tasks needed.

The fence done by Gallup Brook is now complete (and is awesome), and came in below the estimate, despite them taking down a few trees along the way themselves. When the tree service comes in that project will be easier or can be expanded to include some additional work. The thing we often forget about specialized services is how much more focused and efficient they can be. No need to rent equipment or figure out how to use something. No down time coordinating extra workers - just attacking the job that you do every day and getting it done well.

In our sticker business we often get asked; "do you guys do t-shirts?" or "can you do my business cards?". Our reply is usually "unless it's a sticker business card or a sticker with a t-shirt on it, no" and we'll try to direct them to someone else that can help. At Websticker.com we focus on things that stick (stickers, decals, magnets, labels). Over the last 20 years we have been able to focus on improving our systems, our design and the value of our finished products. We have had opportunities to sell other promotional items and other design services but we've made the choice to stay focussed and do one thing (stickers) extremely well. Does dealing with the sticker experts cost more? No. Just like the fence maker who cranked out a beautiful fence on our property, we add value-added services (like design and marketing), work efficiently with the best factories and equipment, and use our years of experience to get the best product for our customer's needs at the best value.

So, remember, you don't always get what you pay for and often the best value is in using the most experienced and niche focussed expert for a given job. Of course reputation, recommendations and reviews are always important as there are many self proclaimed "experts" and "specialists" that may cause more damage than just being a bad value. Do your homework, check your references but don't be afraid to spend money with the most reputable and knowledgeable experts - that is probably your best value over the long run.