Don’t Hire Too Soon—Use This 3-Part Test Before Adding to Your Team

"Mareaka, I’m considering adding another crew or office staff for 2026. But I’m not sure if the timing’s right. How do I know if we really need more people or if we’re just overreacting to the workload?"

Many contractors get caught in the trap of hiring too quickly.

It’s easy to think that if you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, more hands on deck will solve the problem.

But hiring out of stress or ego instead of data is the fastest way to bloat your overhead and create a bigger problem down the road.

The real issue isn’t the workload—it’s that you’re not sure where the bottleneck is.

Without tracking the right metrics, it’s easy to fall into the habit of hiring people just because it feels like the solution.

But once you’ve got bloated payroll and no clear system for growth, you’re stuck in the same position you were before.

What You’ll Learn in This Article

Why contractors tend to over-hire and how to avoid it
The 3-part test to determine if you actually need more staff
How to manage workload stress with systems, not just more people
When to optimize before hiring: delegation, training, and process

Before we dive into it, let me introduce myself if we haven’t met yet.

I’m Mareaka from Bunch Accounting, and I specialize in helping roofing and HVAC business owners like you make confident, profitable decisions.

Hiring too soon not only puts a strain on your bottom line, it can also lead to inefficiency.

Without a clear understanding of your revenue-per-employee metrics and workload balance, you could end up paying for someone who’s only adding to your overhead.

And when slow months hit, that unnecessary headcount can burn a hole in your cash flow.

Real Money on the Line

One roofer hired a new office assistant in March, only to realize by June that the work was actually being delayed by a lack of systems, not staff.

They ended up paying $45K in salary and benefits for a position that wasn’t needed.

That mistake took a huge chunk out of their seasonal profit.

Step-by-Step Fix

Before you hire for 2026, answer these three key questions:

Revenue per Employee (or Tech): What’s your revenue per headcount? If your team is struggling to keep up but revenue per employee is low, this points to inefficiencies in your processes or a lack of systematization.
Admin Load vs. Systems: Are you drowning in paperwork or chasing down clients because you lack systems? If your administrative workload is out of control, consider automating processes or delegating tasks before adding a new person.
Job Pipeline Consistency: Is your pipeline full year-round, or are you feeling pressure only during busy months? If your business is seasonal or unstable, adding another crew member might be premature. It’s better to optimize with your existing resources until you see consistent growth.

How to Avoid Bloated Overhead

The goal isn’t to hire more people—it’s to optimize what you have.

Before pulling the hiring trigger, consider:

Better Training: Can you increase productivity with better employee training or cross-training?
Process Improvements: Can you streamline operations or improve efficiency with new tools, like job scheduling software or cloud-based systems?
Delegation: Look at how much of the workload could be handed off to existing team members instead of hiring new staff.

An HVAC business owner in Texas, realized her team was burning out, but not from lack of people. After we started tracking revenue per technician and job pipeline consistency, she found that one crew member wasn’t hitting efficiency targets. Instead of hiring, she used the data to invest in training for that tech and optimized her scheduling process. This allowed her to take on 15% more jobs without adding overhead.

Get Your Free Guide