Rushing the Hire Cost Me $10,000 (and Almost My Sanity)

There’s a moment in every founder’s journey where you feel like hiring is the only way forward.

Or at least is the solution to your problem.

You’re drowning in tasks. Leads are piling up.

You tell yourself: “If I just had someone to take this off my plate... I’d finally have space to grow.”

So I hired fast.

And I paid for it. In cash, time, and sleepless nights.

The $10,000 Mistake

It started with good intentions.

Revenue was up. I needed help. And someone, on paper looked “good enough.”

I didn’t vet properly…

Didn’t test real-world skills.

Didn’t clearly define success.

I just wanted to move fast.

Three months later:

• I was fixing their mistakes

• Projects were delayed

• Clients started getting frustrated

• And I was more stressed than before

Cost?

~$10,000 in salary and missed opportunities.

But the real damage?

Lost trust. Lost momentum. And a creeping fear of delegating again.

Why It Happened

Here’s what I got wrong:

❌ I hired out of urgency, not strategy
❌ I assumed experience = fit
❌ I skipped clear onboarding
❌ I didn’t set expectations (or boundaries)

Speed felt productive.

But clarity would’ve saved me.

What I Do Differently Now

Here’s my new rule: slow to hire, fast to fire.

🧠 I define what success looks like before I post the role
📋 I test on real tasks before I interview
📣 I communicate culture and KPIs during onboarding
📈 I review their first 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days with a clear checklist

If you do not know what you want, don’t expect others to know.

This Week’s Challenge:

Before your next hire, do this:

Write out exactly what a successful 30-day outcome would look like.
Then ask:

• Can I document this as a process first?

• Can I test this skill before I trust it?

• Am I hiring a solution or avoiding a hard decision?

If you would like to connect on a deeper level, feel free to REPLY to this email and I’ll get in touch with you.

Be unstoppable,

Amos - Founder of The16hourclub