The $60,000 Question Facing Brisbane Business Owners
I was sitting down with a landscaping business owner in Chermside last week. He’s doing well—trucks are out, the phone is ringing—but he’s drowning in the 'office stuff.' He needs someone to handle the Facebook posts, reply to basic enquiries, and keep the database updated.
He asked me: "Should I hire a local uni student for twenty hours a week, or is all this AI stuff I see on the news actually ready to do the job?"
Most marketing agencies will give you a fluffy answer about 'human-centric brand storytelling.' I won't. I’m going to tell you exactly what I told him: If you hire a junior employee to do basic tasks that a computer can now do for $30 a month, you are setting fire to your profit.
However, if you expect a piece of software to replace the 'brain' of your business, you’re going to end up with a mess of robot-sounding junk that scares customers away.
In this guide, we’re going to look at the cold, hard reality of AI versus a junior staff member. We’ll look at what costs you more, what gets you more jobs, and where you should actually be spending your hard-earned money.
The Cost: Salary vs Software Subscription
Let’s talk about money first. As a business owner, your biggest expense is almost always people.
The Junior Marketer
In Brisbane, a junior marketing assistant or a general admin person is going to cost you anywhere from $25 to $35 an hour. Even on a part-time basis—say 15 hours a week—you’re looking at over $20,000 a year.And that’s just the wage. You’ve also got: Superannuation (another 11.5%) WorkCover The cost of the desk, the laptop, and the coffee they drink The most expensive part: Your time spent training them.
The AI Alternative
You can get the 'brain' of the best AI tools (like ChatGPT Plus or Claude) for about $30 AUD a month. Even if you stack 5 or 6 different tools to handle your marketing automation, you are still looking at less than $250 a month.That is roughly $3,000 a year compared to $25,000+ for a human.
The Verdict on Cost: AI wins by a landslide. If your goal is purely to keep costs down while getting basic tasks done, AI is the clear choice.
Speed: Who Gets the Work Done Faster?
If you ask a junior employee to write five blog posts for your website, it will likely take them a full day (or two). They need to research, draft, edit, and find images.
AI can do that in about 45 seconds.
But speed isn't just about writing. It’s about responding to customers. If a lead comes in through your website at 9:00 PM on a Sunday, a junior employee won't see it until Monday morning. By then, that customer has already called three other businesses.
Using AI sales bots allows you to reply to those people instantly. In the world of local services—whether you're a plumber in Carindale or an accountant in the CBD—the business that replies first usually wins the job.
The Verdict on Speed: AI wins. It doesn't sleep, it doesn't take lunch breaks, and it doesn't get distracted by Instagram.
Accuracy: Can You Trust the Work?
This is where the junior employee usually starts to look better.
AI is famous for 'hallucinating'—which is a fancy way of saying it makes stuff up. If you ask an AI to write about the specific council regulations for deck building in Brisbane, it might give you information that applies to California. If you post that on your site, you look like an idiot.
A junior employee (if they are local and have half a brain) can double-check facts. They understand that 'The Gabba' is a stadium, not a type of sandwich. They have 'common sense,' which AI currently lacks.
However, humans make 'sloppy' mistakes. They forget to follow up. They typo your phone number. They forget to hit 'send' on an email.
The Reality: AI is 100% accurate at following a process, but 60% accurate on facts. A junior is 90% accurate on facts, but 60% accurate at following a boring process every single day.
What Should You Use AI For? (The Money-Makers)
Don't just use AI because it's trendy. Use it to fix the leaks in your business where you are losing money.
1. Instant Responses: Use AI to answer the basic 'How much do you charge?' or 'Are you open?' questions on your website or Facebook page. 2. Summarising Meetings: Don't pay someone to sit in a meeting and take notes. Use software to record and summarise the key points so you can get back to work. 3. Drafting Content: Use AI to get the first version of an email or a social media post done. Then, spend 5 minutes of your own time making it sound like a human wrote it.
What Should You Hire a Human For?
If you need someone to go to a job site and take photos of a finished renovation, you need a human.
If you need someone to build a relationship with a local real estate agent to get ongoing referrals, you need a human.
If you need someone to handle a high-value, angry customer who had a bad experience, you definitely need a human.
The "Hybrid" Approach: The Secret to Growth
The most successful small businesses I see in Brisbane aren't choosing one or the other. They are using AI to do the 'grunt work' so they don't need to hire a junior. This allows the business owner to stay on the tools or in the sales meetings where they make the most money.
Instead of hiring a $50k-a-year marketing person, they spend $5k a year on tools and maybe $10k a year on a professional agency (like us) to make sure those tools are actually working.
Is it a Waste of Money?
Most AI tools you see advertised on Facebook are rubbish. They are 'solutions looking for a problem.'
If a tool doesn't directly result in: 1. More phone calls 2. More time saved for you 3. More jobs booked ...then it is a waste of money. Plain and simple.
How to Start (Without Losing Your Mind)
Don't try to automate your whole business tomorrow. You’ll break everything.
Start with one thing. For many Brisbane tradies and shops, that's the 'missed call' problem. If you can't answer the phone because you're busy, use an AI tool to text that person back immediately. That one change alone can pay for the tool for the next ten years in just one week of saved jobs.
Final Thoughts
The 'Junior Marketer' role as we knew it five years ago is dead. Hiring someone to just 'do social media' is a luxury most small businesses can no longer afford and don't actually need.
AI is faster, cheaper, and—when managed correctly—will make you more money. But it needs a pilot. It needs someone who understands your business goals to tell it what to do.
If you’re tired of wasting time on tasks that don’t grow your profit, let’s have a chat. At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses set up the systems that actually get results—no jargon, no fluff, just more customers.
Ready to grow your business without the overhead? Contact us at Local Marketing Group and let’s see what we can build for you.