When is the right time to bring on staff? I get asked this question all the time and I have two scenarios that I would love to share with everyone to make this decision easier. The true answer is that it depends on who you are as a person. These answers are not cut and dry until you understand yourself. This is why it’s so important to know why you want to be in business and what drives you to excel at what you do.

The first scenario is a very driven person. This type of person thrives under stress. You know you are this type of person because you seem to think clearer when the odds are stacked up against you. It is almost like if you purposely stacked the odds against you, you would grow incredibly fast. That’s not smart to do, but that’s how you are wired. I am this type of person.

This type of person can add staff just about whenever they want. This is the person who will grind until their knuckles bleed to make something happen. The addition of staff will only further motivate this person to innovate their success. While I’m never one to encourage pushing forward without a clear plan, I’m reminded of a quote from General Patton.

A good plan, violently executed today, is better than a perfect plan next week

The second scenario is a person that thrives in the planning and execution of a plan. This person has to have an idea of why they are making the decision they are making. They have to make financial sense of these concepts and have proof of the model before executing a risk. There is nothing wrong with this type or person. They just need to be more methodical.

When you’re the second type of person you need to make sure that you have yourself on payroll and have a clear grasp of your business numbers. Honestly, both types should have that grasp, but the first will smash through like a bull in a China shop even if they are clueless to their numbers.

When you are a methodical thinker you have to justify the cost. This type of person should be thinking about what tasks they will be able to accomplish if they can delegate 50% of their workload. Imagine freeing up 50% of your #1 salesman time…wow right! The impact on the business is huge when you can get the methodical thinker free to think.

In conclusion, there is no magical sales number or gross dollar per month that answers this question. There are folks that start their business with teams and go into deficit to build. There are others who start as sole owners/operators and grow into staffing. The simple fact is this…it’s time to add staff the moment you decide to add staff. From there, it’s time to justify the decision with action and growth.