'Just Hire Someone' - That's Terrible Advice

You're drowning.

Too many tasks, not enough hours.

So you do what everyone tells you to do.

You hire someone.

A few months later, you're still drowning.

But now you're also managing someone who keeps asking you questions, needs constant direction, and somehow creates more work instead of less.

Sounds familiar?

Here's what nobody tells Hiring doesn't solve chaos.

It just gives you expensive chaos.

In this episode, I'm going to tell you why Just hire someone is the worst advice you'll get as a founder.

And more importantly, what to do instead.

Let's dive in.

Here's a reality check.

A founder is overwhelmed, buried in tasks, working nights and weekends just to keep up.

And someone says, just hire someone.

You can't do everything yourself.

So they do.

They post a job, they have an interview, they hire someone who seems great, and then nothing improves.

Because now they're spending half of their day explaining what needs to be done, answering questions, fixing mistakes, redoing work that wasn't done quite right.

I worked with a founder who hired three people in just six.

An operations manager, a marketing coordinator, and a customer success specialist.

On paper, perfect combination.

She should have had all this time back.

In reality, she was working more hours than before she hired anyone.

What was actually happening was that she was adding people to chaos.

She didn't have clear processes.

She didn't have documented systems.

She just had a lot of work and the hope that someone else could figure it out.

So every new person came in and said, how do I do this?

What's the priority?

Where do I find that?

Who's responsible for this?

And she had to stop and answer every single time.

You can't delegate what you haven't defined.

Here's the truth that most founders don't want to hear.

The problem isn't that you don't have enough people.

The problem is that you don't have enough process.

Think about it like you're trying to pour water into a bucket, but the bucket has holes in it.

Hiring more people is like adding more water.

It doesn't fix the holes, it just makes a bigger mess.

You need to patch the holes first and then add the water.

In episode six, we talked about getting processes out of your head and into a system that's a prerequisite for hiring.

Because here's what happens when you hire people before you're ready.

The new person asks, how should I handle this?

And you say, just do what feels right.

A week later, they did it wrong, or they did it differently than you would, or they're stuck waiting for you.

To tell them what to do next.

And you're frustrated, they're frustrated and nothing is better.

But when you hire, after you have a process, the new person asks how should I handle this?

And you say, here's the process.

Follow these steps and if you hit a decision point, here's how we make that call.

They do it, it works, and you both move on.

That's the difference between hiring into chaos and hiring into a system.

Alright, here's your move.

Step one.

You define the outcome.

Before you even think about hiring, you get clear on what results do I need.

That doesn't mean I need help with marketing.

That's too vague.

Instead, I need someone to publish three blog posts per week that drive traffic to our services page.

Or I need someone to respond to all customer inquiries within 24 hours and resolve 80% of them without escalating to me.

Step two.

Document the process.

Now take the outcome and write down how you currently achieve it.

What are the steps, what tools do you use, and what decisions need to be made along the way.

It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to exist.

Because if it only lives in your head, the person you hire will spend weeks trying to extract it from you.

One question at a time.

Remember, you can't delegate what you haven't defined.

Step three.

Test that process before you hire.

Hand the process to someone else.

A contractor, a part time helper, even a friend.

See if they can follow it without asking 10 questions.

If they can, great, you're ready to hire.

If they can't, the process needs work.

Fix it first.

Here are some warning signs you're not ready to hire yet.

1.

You can't explain what the person will do in their first 30 days.

2.

You're hoping that they'll figure it out or that they'll bring ideas.

3.

You don't have time to onboard them properly.

4.

The role is whatever needs doing instead of a clear outcome.

And five, you're hiring because you're desperate, not because you're ready.

Hiring out of desperation creates more problems than it solves.

Here's the order that actually first, define the outcome you need.

Second, you document how to achieve it.

Third, you test that process with someone else and then you hire someone.

Please don't do it the other way around.

Here's what I want you to Adding people to chaos just gives you expensive chaos.

You need systems first, then people.

I know you're overwhelmed and I know you need help.

But hiring isn't a magic solution.

The magic is in the process.

The documentation the clarity.

Do that work first, and then hire someone into a system that actually works.

And when you do, you'll finally get the time back you were hoping for.

So what's one role you've been thinking about hiring for?

And can you clearly define what success looks like in that role?

If you can't answer that in two sentences, you're not ready yet.

Define the outcome, document the process, test it, then hire.

That's the order, and it makes all the difference.