AI Summary
5 min read“If you hire too early, you could create a cash flow nightmare. But if you wait too long, you could burn out or cap your growth.” That tension is the knot at the center of this episode of The EntreLeadership Podcast, where head coach John Felkins answers a question from Mark, a 39-year-old custom home builder with a PhD, a pregnant wife, two toddlers, and a business that has grown 100% year over year for three straight years. Mark’s business is on track to bring in $3–4 million this year, with profits of $350,000–$400,000 before he pays himself. He is the only employee. He knows he needs a project manager—market rate about $120,000—but the cost feels like a huge chunk of his profit, and he is not sure how many years of track record he needs to trust that his referral pipeline will keep feeding consistent demand. Felkins walks him through the psychology of the first real hire and the practical moves that make it work.
Pay yourself a living wage, not a reward
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:05) **The Core Dilemma** - A business owner making $4M feels stuck about making his first hire
- 2 (01:51) **Coach's First Principle: Pay Yourself a Living Wage** - The first financial move before hiring
- 3 (02:46) **Hire for ROI, Not Just Relief** - Why a project manager is the right first hire
- 4 (03:29) **The Smartest Compensation Strategy: Commission-Based** - How to reduce risk and attract the right person
- 5 (06:30) **The Pivotal Question: What Will You Do With the Freed Time?** - The real purpose of hiring
- 6 (07:34) **The Pathfinder Stage** - The verge of graduating off the treadmill
- 7 (08:08) **Final Encouragement and Resources** - Next steps for the listener
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
🎯 Not sure what to do next in your business? Let’s figure it out together. Book a free 30-minute consult call with the EntreLeadership® Team.
Hiring too soon can hurt your business. Waiting too long can stall it.
In this episode, John Felkins takes a question from a business owner and shares how to make your first hire with confidence by reducing financial risk and choosing a role that creates a fast return on investment.
Next Steps:
· 🎥 Watch our video The First 3 Hires You Should Make in Business.
· 📞 Have a question for the show? Call 844-944-1070 or send us a message.
· 📚 Order Dave’s most recent EntreLeadership book, Build a Business You Love.
· 📧 Get EntreLeadership’s free weekly newsletter: expert advice and practical tips from the same playbook we used to build Ramsey Solutions into a $300 million company.
· 🌎 Attend our world-class leadership conference, EntreLeadership Summit.
· 📝 Stop guessing. Get a plan built for your business and someone who holds you to it. Find out which coaching option is right for you.
· 📈 Take a deep dive into the EntreLeadership System™ at our Master Series event, where our Executive Team shares the exact strategies behind our growth so you can run your business the same way.
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