For decades, businesses have compared employees to consultants based purely on hourly rates—a flawed and outdated approach that ignores the true cost of inefficiency in the workplace. Over the past 20 years, the cost of employees has dramatically increased, not just in wages but also in lost productivity, reduced effective working hours, and rising overhead costs. Meanwhile, consultants—particularly those at Bluprint —are redefining efficiency, delivering results in a fraction of the time without unnecessary delays.

The Hidden Costs of Employees

Many businesses believe that a full-time employee is more cost-effective than hiring a consultant at a higher hourly rate. However, this fails to account for several hidden costs:

1. Paid Downtime & Reduced Efficiency

• Research shows that the average office worker is productive for only 2 hours and 53 minutes per day (Inc. Magazine).
• A Bluprint study found that 8 in 10 office employees reported having nothing to do for at least 3 hours each day, even after sitting in meetings for an average of 72 minutes per day.
• 6 in 10 employees admitted to purposely stretching tasks to fill their time, further reducing effective work hours.
• Water cooler chats, unnecessary meetings, excessive emails, and low-priority tasks reduce effective work time.
• “Quiet quitting” and workplace disengagement have further impacted efficiency.

2. Fixed Costs Beyond Salary

• A full-time employee’s salary is just the beginning. Employers must also cover:
  • Payroll taxes (FICA, unemployment, workers’ comp)
  • Health insurance & benefits
  • PTO, sick leave, and holidays
  • Retirement contributions
• These non-wage costs add 25-40% to an employee’s base salary (Small Business Administration).

3. Longer Project Timelines

• Employees have no incentive to be highly efficient—many stretch out work to maintain job security.
• One study found that 30-50% of meetings are considered unproductive (Harvard Business Review).
• Slow internal processes mean businesses waste weeks on work that could be completed in days.

The Consultant Advantage: Paying for Results, Not Hours

Hiring a consultant eliminates these inefficiencies. Unlike full-time employees:

Bluprint consultants are trained to work with laser focus, completing tasks accurately and quickly. No wasted time—no unnecessary meetings, no office politics, no distractions. Businesses only pay for productive work—not vacation days, benefits, or empty hours. They’re incentivized to do this by being more highly compensated and having a clear path for growth. While this seems like the straightforward answer for companies to employ, this isn’t always possible for smaller companies with in-house employees, because the work itself is often not sufficient to fill a full-time employee’s day. Getting the right person with the right experience and education in the role you’re staffing is difficult for small to mid-size businesses.

Real-World Cost Comparison: Employee vs. Bluprint

Let’s break this down with a realistic scenario:

Hiring an In-House Director of Accounting
Annual Salary: $125,000
Hours Worked Per Month: 160
Total Monthly Cost (Salary + Benefits): ~$13,000
Effective Hourly Cost: ~$81/hour (but only ~2.9 hours/day are fully productive!)

Hiring Bluprint for the Same Role
Monthly Fee: $5,000–$7,000
Hours Worked Per Month: ~40 (10 hours/week)
Effective Hourly Cost: $125–$175/hour

Why the Higher Hourly Rate Doesn’t Matter:

• Bluprint completes work in 40 highly efficient hours vs. 160 employee hours.
• Total monthly cost savings: $6,000–$8,000 per month!
• Our costs are all inclusive. No hidden fees, no extra employee rates or people to pay for. Just the one transparent monthly rate.

Breaking Free from the “Time-Based Pay” Mentality

For decades, businesses have conditioned themselves to believe:

“More time worked = more value created.”

This is an outdated industrial-age mindset that no longer applies. In today’s economy, value should be measured by the quality and impact of work—not the number of hours spent.

Would you rather have a consultant complete critical financial work in 40 hours or an employee drag it out over 160 hours?
Would you rather pay $7,000/month for expert financial leadership or $13,000/month for an in-house employee who could be wasting your valuable time and money?

The truth is: businesses should prize effectiveness over effort. Whether a consultant completes a high-value project in 5 hours or 50 hours, the work itself is what holds value—not the time spent.

It’s Time to Shift the Mindset

Instead of focusing on hourly rates, businesses need to ask:

Is this work getting done faster, better, and with fewer distractions?
Am I actually saving money by paying for results rather than hours?
How much time, energy, and overhead am I saving by hiring an expert consultant?

At Bluprint, we don’t waste time.
We get results.