You started your trade business to do great work — not to spend every waking hour doing it alone. But somewhere between your first job and your 500th, you hit the wall: the phone won't stop ringing, your backlog is three weeks deep, and you just turned down a $12,000 job because you physically can't be in two places at once.
Sound familiar? That tension — too much work, not enough hands — is the universal growing pain for solo plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, and general contractors. Making your first hire is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make for your business. Get it right, and you double your capacity overnight. Get it wrong, and you've added stress, cost, and liability without the payoff.
This guide walks you through exactly when to hire, what it costs, where to find great people, and how to set them up for success from day one.
5 Signs You're Ready to Hire
Hiring too early burns cash. Hiring too late costs you growth. Here are the concrete signals that it's time:
Your revenue consistently exceeds $150K/year
You need enough margin to cover an employee's full cost — wages, insurance, tools, and overhead — without putting your own pay at risk. For most trades, $150K in annual revenue is the threshold where a hire starts making financial sense.
You're turning down work regularly
If you're saying "no" to two or more jobs per week because you're booked solid, that's revenue walking out the door — often to a competitor. Those lost jobs are the salary for your first hire.
You haven't taken a real vacation in over a year
If your business stops the moment you stop, you don't own a business — you own a job. A first hire gives you the ability to step away without everything falling apart.
Your response time is suffering
Calls going to voicemail, estimates taking days instead of hours, follow-ups slipping through the cracks — these are symptoms of a one-person operation at capacity. Clients notice, and they'll call someone else.
Your backlog keeps growing
A healthy backlog is 1–2 weeks. If you're consistently booked 3–4 weeks out, clients are waiting too long. That's a retention risk and a sign you need capacity yesterday.
What It Actually Costs
The biggest mistake solo contractors make is thinking "hiring someone" means just paying a wage. The real cost is significantly higher. Here's a realistic breakdown for a junior technician or apprentice:
Annual Cost Breakdown: Junior Technician
- Base wages: $35,000–$45,000/year ($17–$22/hr)
- Workers' compensation insurance: $3,000–$6,000/year
- Payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA): $3,500–$4,500/year
- Tools, equipment, and uniforms: $2,000–$4,000 (first year)
- Training and supervision time: $1,500–$3,000 (your lost billable hours)
- Vehicle costs (if providing): $0–$5,000/year
Total first-year cost: $45,000–$65,000
That said, a productive junior tech can generate $80,000–$120,000 in billable work per year — making the ROI very strong once they're up to speed.
Where to Find Quality Trade Workers
The skilled labor shortage is real — but good candidates are out there if you know where to look. Cast a wide net across these channels:
Trade Schools & Community Colleges
Contact local programs directly. Many have job boards and are eager to connect graduates with employers. Attend career fairs — you'll meet motivated candidates face-to-face.
Apprenticeship Programs
Register with your state's apprenticeship office or union hall. You'll get access to vetted candidates who are committed to learning the trade long-term.
Supplier & Distributor Referrals
Your supply house reps talk to dozens of contractors daily. Let them know you're hiring — they often know techs looking for a change or recent grads looking for their first opportunity.
Job Boards & Social Media
Post on Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and trade-specific boards. Don't overlook Facebook groups for local tradespeople — a short, honest post about your shop can attract quality applicants fast.
Legal Essentials Before Day One
Before your new hire touches a wrench, you need the legal foundation in place. This isn't optional — getting it wrong can mean fines, lawsuits, or worse. Here's your checklist:
- Get an EIN (Employer Identification Number) from the IRS — free and takes 10 minutes online
- Set up workers' compensation insurance — required in almost every state for W-2 employees
- Update your general liability insurance to cover employee actions on job sites
- Create a written employment agreement covering pay, hours, duties, and termination terms
- Collect I-9, W-4, and state withholding forms before their first shift
- Register for state unemployment insurance and set up payroll (consider a payroll service like Gusto or QuickBooks Payroll)
Note: This is general guidance, not legal advice. Consult a local employment attorney or accountant to make sure you're fully compliant with your state's requirements.
The First 90 Days: Onboarding That Works
A great hire with bad onboarding becomes a mediocre employee. The first 90 days set the tone for everything that follows. Here's a proven framework:
Weeks 1–2: Ride-Along Phase
Your new hire shadows you on every job. They watch how you greet customers, diagnose problems, explain options, and close out work orders. They hand you tools, take notes, and start learning your standards. No independent work yet — this is about absorbing your methods and culture.
Weeks 3–6: Supervised Tasks
Start giving them simple, low-risk tasks to complete while you're on-site. Use a skills checklist — can they properly solder a joint, wire a circuit, or charge a system? Check off skills as they demonstrate competence. Give immediate, specific feedback after every job.
Weeks 7–12: Gradual Independence
Send them on straightforward jobs solo — with a phone call check-in before and after each one. Hold a weekly 30-minute sit-down to review their work, discuss challenges, and set goals. By week 12, a good hire should be handling routine service calls independently and contributing real revenue.
Common First-Hire Mistakes to Avoid
We've seen these patterns torpedo first hires over and over again. Learn from others' mistakes so you don't repeat them:
Hiring friends or family without clear boundaries
It feels easy and comfortable, but without written expectations, defined roles, and a willingness to have tough conversations, personal relationships make termination nearly impossible and accountability a nightmare.
Not documenting expectations upfront
If it's not written down, it doesn't exist. Create a simple one-page job description covering daily duties, quality standards, work hours, and what "good performance" looks like. Review it together on day one.
Skipping background checks and reference calls
This person will be in your clients' homes with access to their property. A basic background check costs $30–$50 and takes 2–3 days. Calling two previous employers takes 20 minutes. Don't skip this step.
Paying under the table
It seems simpler and cheaper — until someone gets injured on a job site and you have no workers' comp. Or the IRS comes calling. The short-term savings are never worth the catastrophic downside risk. Do it right from day one.
Scale Smart — Your Business Is Ready
Hiring your first employee is a leap of faith — but it's a calculated one. If the signs are there, the revenue supports it, and you follow a structured approach to finding, onboarding, and managing your new team member, the payoff is enormous: more jobs completed, more revenue earned, less burnout, and a business that can run even when you take a day off.
The contractors who grow from one truck to two — and eventually to five or ten — all started with this exact step. They hired their first person, built systems around them, and never looked back.
The right time to start building your team isn't when everything is perfect. It's when the cost of staying solo exceeds the cost of hiring. For many of you reading this, that time is now.