Are you booked and busy? Congrats! This is a great milestone to reach, but it’s not a place you want to stay for very long. When you find yourself in this stage of business growth—i.e., you can’t possibly take on any more clients unless something gives—it’s officially hiring time. Again, congrats! You’re on your way from founder to CEO.

If the thought of hiring employees fills you with more dread than anything – you’re not alone. Clients ask us ALL.THE.TIME. how best to go about growing their agency team, because it feels like an easy thing to get wrong. But we’re here to tell you that hiring doesn’t have to be as scary as you might think or assume. We’re also here to tell you that you really shouldn’t do business on your own. And don’t forget—you get to choose your team! 

Top 3 reasons hiring new team members is important

1. Support business growth. When you’re booked and busy, you cannot grow. You won’t be able to do all the things forever, unless you want to stay small. If growth is the goal, then your agency team must grow alongside your business.
2. Avoid burnout. It’s so exhausting to wear all the hats. Your mental health will be a contributing factor in your business’s long-term viability. Please take care of yourself and find some rockstar talent to support your growth so you don’t crash and burn. 
3. Get more time back to spend working on your business instead of in your business. Once you hire and delegate tasks to your agency team, you free up your time to focus on growing the business even more! Hiring employees also allows you to step back and delegate tasks you don’t really like doing or that you aren’t super great at doing.

When you’re ready to hire but don’t know which roles to prioritize, here are five positions to consider filling first. 

5 key team members to support your growing agency:

1. Sales Associate. A sales associate is responsible for lead generation, sales calls, and those all-important follow-ups. Sales associates start at $15/hour plus commission.
2. Social Media/Content Manager. This team member manages your agency’s online presence. Plan to start a social media/content manager at $20-$25/hour.
3. Account Manager. Your account manager leads client calls and serves as a project manager to other team members who handle implementation. Account managers start at $20/hour and may also earn performance bonuses based on client retention.
4. Bookkeeper. If you hate bookkeeping, this is an employee to hire stat. This person tracks your day-to-day financial transactions but is different from an accountant. Bookkeepers often start at $350/month.
5. Marketing Coordinator. A marketing coordinator supports the implementation of client projects. Start your marketing coordinator at $20/hour.

And there you have it, our top reasons for hiring an agency team, plus the five employees you should consider hiring first. As you grow and scale your business, this list gets longer and you can start to hire multiple employees in certain categories, depending on your needs.  

Need some more guidance growing your agency team? Book a sales call!