The truth about strategic hires

Strategic hires aren’t expensive.
Non-strategic hires are.

I ran a strategy session earlier this week with a professional services firm. The surface-level issue wasn’t cash, clients, or competition - it was service quality.

- Clients were being let down.
- Outputs were late, low quality, or simply forgotten.
- Reputation was taking a hit.

At first glance, it looked like a delivery issue. But digging deeper, the real problem became clear:

Work had been offloaded to low-cost subcontractors overseas. It worked at first - but as service levels scaled, quality couldn’t keep up.

There was no upskilling. No alignment. No long-term thinking.

The system had hit its ceiling - and started to crack under pressure.

I see this all the time. Virtual assistants, outsourced support, subcontracted labour...

It works in the zero-to-one stage.

But when you're scaling and service quality matters - you need real operators.

Strategic hires. People you can build around.

And yes - that usually comes at a cost. For founders whose income is tied to dividends, bringing in a six-figure hire can feel like a personal sacrifice.

But here’s the truth:
✅ One strategic hire unlocks bandwidth, scalability, and growth.
❌ Ten non-strategic hires just create noise, drag, and overhead.

In a few weeks, I’m running a workshop with a construction client to work through this exact dilemma - when to make a strategic hire, how to structure the role, and how to build for long-term ROI, not just short-term relief.

This is where real growth begins.