Should I Hire? Calculator
The scariest decision you'll make. Run the numbers before you run the ad, and find out how many hours your new guy has to bill just to pay for himself.
What would this person cost you?
Be honest here. Optimism is what makes hiring go wrong.
What if they're slower than you hoped?
This is the table to stare at. Everything above assumes your guy bills the hours you planned. Here's what happens when he doesn't.
| If he bills... | Revenue / month | Cost / month | You make / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 hrs / week | -- | -- | -- |
| 25 hrs / week | -- | -- | -- |
| 30 hrs / week | -- | -- | -- |
| 35 hrs / week | -- | -- | -- |
Fill in the boxes above and this fills in with your numbers.
What this calculator can't tell you
The math above is the easy part. These are the costs that don't fit in a box, and they're the ones that sink people:
- Your hours. You'll spend 5 to 10 hours a week training, checking work and answering the phone for him. Those hours used to be billable.
- The ramp. Nobody bills 30 hours in month one. Budget three months of him being half as productive as you need, and make sure you can carry it.
- The redos. Early on you will go back and fix things on your own dime. That's tuition, and everyone pays it.
- The floor under you. Payroll goes out whether the work came in or not. You need cash in the bank for the slow month, because it's coming.
None of that means don't hire. It means hire on purpose, with a number you've checked and a cushion you've saved, not because you're drowning and a warm body sounds like relief.
Hiring is where most handymen either build a business or burn out.
There's a right order to this: get your pricing right, get your systems written down, then hire into something that works. Do it backwards and you've just bought yourself a more expensive job.