Recently, a client faced a decision that will resonate with many business owners. Their trusted VA handles everything—research, admin, client communication. She’s professional, reliable, and they have an excellent working relationship.

But a service provider offered them something tempting: a “bank” of specialist VAs in design, social media, and bookkeeping, at lower hourly rates with broader coverage.

The question:Should they switch to the cheaper option, or stay loyal to someone who’s served them well?

This conversation revealed a bigger issue: In today’s business landscape, is being a generalist enough, or is it time to specialise?

The Economic Reality for Generalists

The numbers tell a clear story. Generalist VAs in the US charge $20–40/hour, while specialists command $40–75. Specialist teams offer scalability, built-in coverage, and distributed expertise.

As business requirements become more complex, this pricing gap widens, and it’s not just affecting VAs. The same squeeze is happening to consultants, coaches, and service providers across industries.

Why Specialists Are Winning

Specialist teams consistently outperform generalists in three key areas:

Quality: Deep expertise in narrow areas produces better outcomes than surface-level knowledge across many.

Speed: Specialists work faster because they’ve solved similar problems countless times.

Credibility: Markets increasingly trust focused expertise over broad competence.

The integration of multiple specialisms within a team beats a single broad skillset almost every time.

The Positioning Trap

Here’s where many professionals get stuck. In their marketing classic Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, Al Ries and Jack Trout made a critical observation: “Once a mind is made up, it’s almost impossible to change it.”

If your market sees you as a generalist, that’s the mental box they’ve put you in. Changing that perception is extraordinarily difficult. A discount retailer will struggle to be seen as premium, just as a generalist will struggle to be seen as a specialist.

The question becomes: What do you want to be known for?

The Path Forward: Four Strategic Moves

1. Audit and focus your strengths: Identify what you do exceptionally well, not just competently. Then excel at it. Explore how emerging AI tools can amplify your expertise rather than replace it.

2. Rebuild your positioning: Learn to communicate your speciality clearly. Being a solo generalist is increasingly difficult, so consider strategic partnerships with professionals whose skills complement yours.

3. Understand problems, not just solutions: Become more invested in your clients’ problems than in your current service offerings. What keeps them awake at night? What would success look like for them?

4. Choose your future deliberately: Where do you want to be in five years? A replaceable generalist competing on price, or a trusted specialist who commands premium rates? Your choice determines your investment strategy.

The Reality Check

The middle tier of broad-skill generalists is shrinking rapidly. AI and specialist teams have raised the bar for what “good enough” looks like. But this isn’t a death sentence, it’s a decision point.

You have two viable paths:

  • Stay broad and accept you’ll compete primarily on price and relationships
  • Specialise and claim a specific category in your clients’ minds

What won’t work is staying broad while hoping to be paid like a specialist.

The Bottom Line

As Ries and Trout remind us, changing minds is hard. The time to decide what you want to be known for is now, before the market decides for you. When you know your value and can articulate it clearly, you’ll attract clients who need exactly what you offer and are willing to pay for it.

The question isn’t whether you should be a generalist or a specialist. The question is whether you’ll make that choice intentionally or let market forces make it for you.