How many hours a week does managing a business Instagram really take?

For most local businesses, doing it well is closer to a part-time job than a lunch break — there's filming, editing, writing captions, posting on a schedule, and replying to comments and DMs, plus the harder part: figuring out what's actually worth making. It's less the minutes per post and more that it has to happen every single week without a gap.

Why is being consistent on social media so hard?

Because the work is easy to skip the exact week you get busy with the actual job — and that's when your feed goes quiet and the momentum resets. Consistency, not any single viral post, is what the algorithm and your audience reward. The businesses that win aren't the most creative; they're the ones that never go dark.

Is it cheaper to just do it myself?

In cash, yes. In hours, it's the most expensive option once your time is worth anything — and it's the first thing that gets dropped when work picks up. Whether that trade is worth it depends on how much your hours are worth and whether you'll actually keep it up; there's an honest side-by-side below.

What are my options if I don't have the time?

Three, honestly: keep doing it yourself, hire a person (an editor or a videographer you manage), or use a service that handles it end to end. None is 'right' in the abstract — each fits a different situation. The comparison below lays out when each one actually makes sense.