When a client asks why I do not just import a starter template into Elementor and customise it, my answer is always the same: I have tried, repeatedly, and it costs more time than it saves. Generic templates come with global styles, widget configurations, and CSS overrides you spend half the project untangling.
Instead, I build a small library of my own reusable Elementor global sections — hero variants, service cards, FAQ blocks, testimonial layouts, CTA bands — and assemble every page from those. Brand colours and typography live in global Site Settings. New project, new colours, same trustworthy building blocks.
What you actually save
Three things, in this order: predictable performance (no abandoned widgets bloating the DOM), consistent responsive behaviour (every block has been QAed at three breakpoints before), and faster client revisions (because nothing is mystery CSS).
The first project takes longer. The fifth one ships in half the time of the equivalent template-import workflow.