Your first hire changes everything. You go from solo practitioner to manager overnight, and almost nobody is prepared for what that actually means.
When to hire
The conventional wisdom is to hire when you're drowning. That's too late. By the time you're turning away work, you've already lost revenue and burned goodwill.
A better signal: when your realization rate drops below 80% for two consecutive quarters, and the cause is capacity — not pricing or scope management. That means you have more work than you can do well, and the overflow is costing you money.
What to hire for
Your first associate should not be a clone of you. They should be strong where you're weak. If you're the rainmaker, hire a grinder. If you're the technician, hire someone who can manage client relationships while you do the work.
- Define the role by the work you need to delegate, not the person you want to hire
- Write down the five tasks you spend the most time on — the hire should take at least three off your plate
- Be honest about whether you need an associate or an admin
The economics
A first-year associate in most markets costs $60K–$90K in salary plus 20–30% in benefits, taxes, and overhead. They need to generate 2.5–3x their fully-loaded cost to be accretive.
That means a $75K associate needs to generate roughly $200K in collected revenue within their first 18 months. That's aggressive but achievable if you have the work and the systems to support them.
The management cliff
The hardest part of your first hire isn't finding the right person. It's becoming the kind of leader who can develop them.
You will spend more time in your first six months managing than you expect. Budget for it. Block time for training, feedback, and review. If you hire someone and then ignore them, you'll lose them — and you'll deserve to.