THE DIRECT ANSWER
Use an agency when you need external delivery capacity, an in-house team when you can hire and manage the required roles, and a transfer model when you need delivery now plus a defined path to internal ownership. Compare named responsibilities, account control, ongoing costs and the ability to operate without a specific supplier.
01
Define the work before comparing providers
List the recurring decisions and tasks across acquisition, conversion, reporting and customer follow-up. Name the person responsible for each today. Separate missing capacity from missing expertise. A recruitment plan, an agency scope and a system build solve different parts of that problem.
Decide which knowledge must stay inside the business. Customer definitions, commercial priorities and budget authority need accountable owners even when external specialists do the work. Buying execution does not remove the need to manage decisions.
- Which channels or workflows need someone to operate them immediately?
- Which tasks need senior judgement, and which repeat a stable process?
- Who approves spend, customer communications and changes to the offer?
- Which capabilities should the company operate itself next year?
02
Compare three operating models
None of these models guarantees lower cost or better results. Compare the same scope, decision responsibilities and service levels. If one option excludes creative, systems maintenance or management time, include those requirements before comparing totals.
| Question | External agency | In-house team | Run, build and transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who delivers? | An external team under an agreed service scope. | Employees managed by the business. | Operators deliver while building and teaching agreed internal workflows. |
| What must you supply? | A business owner, decisions, access and feedback. | Hiring, management, tools and development. | An internal owner, working time and acceptance decisions. |
| Where is the dependency? | Partner capacity and any knowledge kept outside the company. | Key employees, hiring gaps and specialist coverage. | Build quality and the team's readiness to accept the handover. |
| What should you price? | Delivery scope, exclusions, tools and exit support. | People, management time, tools and specialist support. | Management, discovery, approved builds, software and optional support. |
| How do you prove control? | Company access, portable assets and a tested exit plan. | Documented processes and coverage beyond one person. | The internal owner completes the agreed operating and recovery tests. |
03
Use an ownership test in every model
An account login alone is not operational ownership. The team also needs the knowledge, time and rights required to use the assets. Clarify these points in the agreed scope and with the people responsible for commercial and legal review.
- The company controls administrator access to critical accounts and domains.
- The team can export the data and retrieve current working assets.
- The process has written steps, known dependencies and an exception owner.
- A second person can run the work if the usual operator is unavailable.
- Software subscriptions, third-party licences and support needs are documented.
- A planned handover includes a real operating test and a recovery test.
04
Illustrative transition: keep expertise, transfer repeated work
Consider a company with a strong commercial lead but little time for channel management. External operators can run the agreed channels while the business documents its customer definitions and review process. A first build might connect reporting inputs and create a review draft for human approval.
The internal owner then learns to run the reporting workflow, check the source data and recover from missing inputs. Channel strategy can remain with the specialist while the repeat reporting task transfers. This makes the transfer specific and testable instead of promising to replace the entire function at once.
Illustrative operating example. It is not a customer case, a staffing promise or a claim that AI replaces a role.
05
Ask these questions before the next renewal
Tenth's Managed Growth model separates management from approved AI builds. As agreed work transfers, the managed scope and retainer reset at renewal. The practical question is which work can transfer safely, and what support the company chooses to retain.
Use the model when the company wants outside operating support and is ready to develop internal owners. If no one has time to learn and accept a workflow, solve that ownership gap before commissioning the build.
| Question | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| What work did the company take over? | A task list, named owners and completed acceptance tests. |
| What work still needs the partner? | A current operating scope and specialist dependencies. |
| What changes in the fee? | A written renewal scope with inclusions, exclusions and separate costs. |
| What happens if we leave? | An asset and account handover plan, timing and support terms. |
PUT THE GUIDE TO WORK
Map the work you want to own.
Discuss the current growth scope, the work your team should take over, and the support it will still need.
Explore Managed GrowthAbout this guide: Tenth provides growth management and AI engineering for private equity firms and their portfolio companies. The checklists are editorial recommendations. Adapt them to the company's evidence and agreed responsibilities. Send a correction or discuss the work.