Hire Earlier Than You Think You Need It

The real cost of waiting

Here's what nobody tells you about the 70-hour weeks: they're not 70 hours of client work. They're client work plus business development, networking, marketing, updating your website, sorting out your billing system, and every other thing that keeps a firm running but never shows up on an invoice.

When you're doing all of that at once, you're not just busy. You're stuck. You've lost the time and mental space to do the things that actually move your business forward. You're maintaining what you've built, not building toward what you want.

Hiring early protects that space before you lose it.

Why the financial discomfort is worth it

The hesitation is real. Bringing someone on before you feel the full pressure of needing them means paying for capacity you haven't quite filled yet. That feels counterintuitive. It feels like a risk.

But think about what happens when you wait. By the time you're at capacity, you're too overwhelmed to onboard someone well, too busy to train them properly, and too burned out to give the process the attention it needs. The cost of hiring late shows up in ways that are hard to measure but very easy to feel.

The earlier you bring someone on, the more time you both have to grow into it together.

The hire that changed things for me

My first hire started at 10 hours a month. She was a former college roommate, a trained accountant who had stepped back from the workforce and was looking for something flexible to ease back in. She was a little rusty. I invested time in her early on.

Today she works 70 hours a month and runs her piece of the work largely on her own.

I'll be the first to say my situation had some luck in it. Not everyone has a former accountant in their contacts who's ready to grow with them from the ground up. But here's what I've come to believe: the accounting industry is actually well-positioned for this kind of hire. There are a lot of skilled, experienced people out there, often people who stepped away during a chapter of life and are now looking for something meaningful and flexible. They're not looking for 40 hours a week. They're looking for exactly what a growing firm can offer.

The match may be closer than you think.

What to look for in an early hire

• Someone willing to start small and grow with you, not someone who needs a full workload from day one
• Relevant experience, even if they've been out of the workforce for a while
• Flexibility as a genuine priority, not just a preference
• Someone you can invest real time in early, because that investment pays off

How to think about the timing

In the beginning of a firm, you have time to market and network because you don't have many clients yet. Then the clients start coming in and you have less time. That window closes faster than most people expect.

The goal is to hire before you hit that wall, not after. Not when you're drowning. Not when you're too stretched to give a new person the attention they need. The right moment is when you can still see it coming and have time to prepare.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Waiting until burnout forces your hand. By then the cost of hiring is much higher.
• Assuming you need a full time employee. Many strong hires want part time, flexible work.
• Underestimating the time it takes to train someone. Build that into your plan from the start.
• Hiring for immediate need only. The goal is someone who can grow with you over time.
• Skipping the investment phase. The early hours you spend with a new hire shape everything that comes after.