When Should You Hire Someone?
This is a big question.
As a business owner this question is super debatable.
Some people say hire when you know for sure people will take over for a certain role, when you’re super busy. To quote a mentor “when you work more than 10 hours everyday wearing a specific hat you know you’ll be profitable if someone wants it”.
Other people say that the best time to hire is before you need someone that way you can “expand faster”.
A true business builder focuses on just that, building the business, finding everyones best role/position.
Here’s My 2 Cents
My new answer is different the older I’ve gotten. This answer is…(drumroll)…
When do you think the payoff will be worth it?
What will the ROI (return on investment) with the hire?
What is that risk? How do you reduce the risk?
If I pay 10k a month, will this person instantly make me 20k a month in profit that first month? — Gold do it :-)
OR
If I pay 5k a month, will this new person free me up to generate more profit? Ding Ding Ding! Winner :-)
OR
Is this the position we need because we know other companies have them — Wrong! Don’t do it! I’ve done it and made a mistake. I hired a project manager waaaaaay to early…our sales process wasn’t hammered out, we didn’t know what their day to day should’ve looked like…I had to fire them.
Write Up The On-Boarding Process
The less you have figured out about how this hire will quickly onboard the riskier this process will be. This is of course why hiring for old positions is easier than brand new roles.
So — what does their first week look like? What about week 2? What about their 30 days? How will you insure they learn everything there is to know about you to crush it?
Once you have all your questions answered you’re set :-)
You should also have a standard onboarding procedure.
Once you write up the onboarding process for them…here’s a fun test (I’m gonna do)…does onboarding for this position look easy and clear? Can you imagine what they’d do day to day? OR…is it blurry!?….red flag!
Clearly Measure Performance For Profit
You see all the good, but what happens if things go wrong?
We like to put in a 30 day, 60 day and 90 day goal to insure we do not have the wrong person in place.
Sometimes for early hires we even have clear expectations for 2 week trials.
Candidates always show the best sides of themselves, as if it’s a first date in a way bringing their best self.
If things go wrong this is exactly when you should quickly fire them and it should be clear to them why.
Now this is a big decision, which is why you should check out the book: Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath. They have a really good decision making framework and this is one of the most important decisions you’ll make at every role on your journey.
