CASE STUDY
Toronto Agency Frees Up Team Workload With a WLA Developer
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Project focus achieved by redirecting all ad-hoc maintenance and security updates to WLA.
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Interruptions for the core team, eliminating the “one- to two-hour” tasks that derailed builds.
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Tier support providing a dedicated developer and an account manager for seamless communication.
ABOUT CUSTOMER
About Kobayashi + Zeitguys
Brent Kobayashi founded his company 30 years ago and transformed it into a marketing agency focused on website design & development and SEO & GEO, largely through acquisitions. The purchase of Zeitguys was particularly important, bringing both talented staff and a larger client base. That’s why the company now goes by Kobayashi + Zeitguys.
Working from Toronto, the team builds WordPress sites and provides comprehensive services from initial strategy and design to development and ongoing support. They take on clients from various industries, including healthcare, non-profits, manufacturing, and professional services.
Beyond client work, Brent, as the President and Owner of Kobayashi + Zeitguys, stays active in his community currently serving as VP, Digital of the American Marketing Association’s Toronto chapter.
THE CHALLENGE
When Small Tasks Create Big Interruptions
When Brent bought Zeitguys, he brought together two companies with different approaches. His original company had always handled maintenance and quick fixes as part of the business model. They had ticketing systems, support processes, and a steady stream of that work. Zeitguys, on the other hand, focused on larger projects and bigger clients. They’d handle urgent requests when clients asked, but it wasn’t really part of how they operated.
After merging the two, Brent wanted to maintain both strengths: the responsive maintenance work and the capacity for bigger client projects. But as the combined agency grew, these two streams started competing for the same resources.
“The biggest challenge we’ve had is in what my team calls ad hoc work, the consistency of it and turning that around. It’s usually a one-, two-hour thing. But it can interrupt the big projects that we’re trying to work on,” explained Brent.
Before partnering with White Label Agency, Kobayashi + Zeitguys tried different approaches to manage the workload. They had in-house developers. They occasionally brought in freelancers and experimented with outsourcing, too.
But none of these solutions fully addressed the core problem: how do you handle urgent, unpredictable client requests without constantly pulling your development team away from major project work?
The team experienced what Brent describes as “friction” around these tasks. Developers working on large builds didn’t want their flow interrupted for quick fixes. Yet these small tasks were often urgent from the client’s perspective and couldn’t simply wait until a project wrapped up.
“The biggest challenge we’ve had is in what my team calls ad hoc work, the consistency of it and turning that around. It’s usually a one-, two-hour thing. But it can interrupt the big projects that we’re trying to work on,”
Brent Kobayashi
Founder
THE SOLUTION
A Dedicated Developer Who Became Part of the Team
Finally, Kobayashi + Zeitguys partnered with White Label Agency to bring on a dedicated developer and handle their ad hoc work stream. That developer was Andrey, who worked with the team for about a year.
Andrey integrated directly into their team’s workflow. He worked in their communication channels, understood their processes, and brought knowledge that the team valued.
“The onboarding was great,” Brent recalls. “Our DevOps person who handles the ticket incoming really enjoyed and liked working with Andrey. He really, really dug into what we were trying to do and also even brought a level of knowledge that I know my team appreciated.”
What made the partnership work even better was having a dedicated account manager alongside the developer. “I had a developer and also an account manager,” Brent explains. “So if there was a problem, I didn’t have to have an uncomfortable conversation with a developer. I could just talk to the account manager to sort it.”
The setup allowed Kobayashi + Zeitguys to redirect their maintenance tickets, security updates, and client change requests to Andrey. If a client needed something urgently, the team had a simple solution: send it to Andrey. Unlike a typical outsourcing, Andrey functioned as an extension of their team.
THE RESULT
Service Levels Improved While Projects Stayed On Track
The impact of working with Andrey showed up in two ways for Kobayashi + Zeitguys.
First, they could respond to client requests more quickly. Those urgent fixes that used to interrupt project work now got handled by Andrey.
Secondly, the problem with interrupting project work isn’t only time, but also about flow. When a developer is deep into building something complex, pulling them away for an hour costs more than an hour. They lose their pace and need time to get back into the work.
“When they’re working on project work, you don’t want to interrupt your flow for the week,” Brent notes. “But handling it through Andrey worked fine.”
During that period, Kobayashi + Zeitguys could service existing clients without sacrificing the team’s ability to deliver new projects on time. As the agency’s needs evolved, they’ve since outgrown this particular arrangement. But the partnership demonstrated how flexible outsourcing can be with WLA: available when you need extra capacity, and easy to scale back when you don’t.
Kobayashi + Zeitguys solved their ad hoc work challenge by partnering with WLA and hiring a dedicated developer. Your agency can take the same approach.
If you’re finding that client fixes are pulling your developers away from project work, a dedicated developer or a maintenance package might be exactly what you need. We can integrate with your team, work in your communication channels, and handle the urgent tasks that interrupt your project flow.
“I had a developer and also an account manager, so if there was a problem, I didn’t have to have an uncomfortable conversation with a developer. I could just talk to the account manager to sort it.”
Brent Kobayashi
Founder
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