When Should You Make Your First Hire in Government Contracting?

One of the biggest transitions in government contracting is going from doing everything yourself to building a team. 

Most small business owners wait too long to hire because they're trying to save money. The problem is that eventually the business reaches a point where you become the biggest obstacle to future growth.

If you want to win more contracts, you eventually have to create more capacity.

Here are some of the most common questions I get about making your first hire.

When is it time to make your first hire?

The right time isn't based on revenue.

It's when managing your existing contracts starts preventing you from winning new ones.

As the owner, your most valuable responsibility is growing the business. If you're spending all of your time managing projects, answering emails, solving daily problems, and putting out fires, you're no longer spending enough time building your pipeline and winning future contracts.

That's usually the signal that it's time to bring someone in.

The goal isn't simply to reduce your workload. It's to free yourself up to keep growing the business.

Why is it so important to hire support?

Because the owner eventually becomes the biggest bottleneck.

Every decision runs through you.

Every proposal.

Every customer.

Every project.

Every problem.

That works when you're first starting, but eventually it limits how much the business can grow.

The businesses that continue scaling are the ones where the owner begins replacing themselves in operational tasks so they can focus on higher value activities like business development, relationships, and strategy.

Growth almost always requires creating capacity.

What should your first hire do?

If I were making my first hire, I'd look for someone who could serve two purposes.

First, they should be able to function as a Project Manager who helps oversee existing contracts.

Second, they should also contribute to business development.

I like this type of hybrid position because part of their time can often be billed to existing contracts while the rest of their time is helping the company grow.

Instead of hiring someone who only creates overhead, you're bringing in someone who contributes to both current operations and future revenue.

That's a much stronger position for a growing government contractor.

Should you hire someone with experience or train them yourself?

I usually prefer to train them.

Experienced government contracting professionals can be expensive, especially for a newer business that's still getting established.

More importantly, training someone forces you to build systems.

You can't teach someone else if everything only exists in your head.

Documenting your proposal process, contract management procedures, and business development activities creates consistency throughout your business.

In the long run, those systems become just as valuable as the employee you're training.

What makes a good government contracting employee?

I look for someone who's self motivated.

Someone who wants responsibility.

Someone who enjoys solving problems.

But there's another characteristic that's just as important.

I want someone who doesn't necessarily want to own a business themselves.

Some people want the freedom, responsibility, and autonomy that comes with growing something, but they don't want the risk of running their own company.

Those people can become incredible team members because they want ownership over their role while helping build someone else's business.

Give them the opportunity to grow, and they'll often exceed your expectations.

How can you pay them without creating too much overhead?

One of my favorite structures is creating a position that's partially billable.

If they're helping manage existing contracts, part of their salary can often be covered through contract performance.

Then pay them a competitive base salary and create incentives tied to company growth.

That might include commissions for helping win contracts or bonuses tied to business development goals.

When employees share in the success they help create, everyone wins.

The employee has an opportunity to increase their income, and the business benefits from having someone who's motivated to help it grow.

Final Thoughts

Your first hire isn't just another employee.

It's the beginning of building a business that can grow without depending on you for every decision.

Hire when your existing work starts limiting your future growth.

Build systems before you build a team.

Find people who want responsibility, and create incentives that align their success with the success of the company.

That's how you build a government contracting business that continues growing long after you've stopped doing everything yourself.

About Derek James

Derek James is the founder of GovKidMethod. By age 30, he had won 32 federal contracts worth more than $15 million. Since then, he's helped small businesses win more than $75 million in government contracts by teaching practical proposal writing, positioning, and bidding strategies that contractors can actually apply.

Ready to Go Further?

Reading about government contracting is one thing. Knowing exactly how to write winning proposals is another.

That's why I've made the first modules of my GovRFP Proposal Writing System available for free. They'll walk you through the foundation every contractor should understand before submitting bids.

Access the free GovRFP Proposal Writing System here:
www.govkidmethod.com/govrfp