In typical 37signals fashion, the wisdom in these pages is edgy yet

CHAPTER
 
HIRING

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Do it yourself first
Never hire anyone to do a job until you've tried to do it yourself first. That
way, you'll understand the nature of the work. You'll know what a job well
done looks like. You'll know how to write a realistic job description and
which questions to ask in an interview. You'll know whether to hire
someone full-time or part-time, outsource it, or keep doing it yourself (the
last is preferable, if possible).
You'll also be a much better manager, because you'll be supervising
people who are doing a job you've done before. You'll know when to
criticize and when to support.
At 37signals, we didn't hire a system administrator until one of us had
spent a whole summer setting up a bunch of servers on his own. For the
first three years, one of us did all of our customer support. Then we hired a
dedicated support person. We ran with the ball as far as we could before
handing it off. That way, we knew what we were looking for once we did
decide to hire.
You may feel out of your element at times. You might even feel like you
suck. That's all right. You can hire your way out of that feeling or you can
learn your way out of it. Try learning first. What you give up in initial
execution will be repaid many times over by the wisdom you gain.
Plus, you should want to be intimately involved in all aspects of your
business. Otherwise you'll wind up in the dark, putting your fate solely in
the hands of others. That's dangerous.

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Hire when it hurts
Don't hire for pleasure; hire to kill pain. Always ask yourself: What if we
don't hire anyone? Is that extra work that's burdening us really necessary?
Can we solve the problem with a slice of software or a change of practice
instead? What if we just don't do it?
Similarly, if you lose someone, don't replace him immediately. See how
long you can get by without that person and that position. You'll often
discover you don't need as many people as you think.
The right time to hire is when there's more work than you can handle for
a sustained period of time. There should be things you can't do anymore.
You should notice the quality level slipping. That's when you're hurting.
And that's when it's time to hire, not earlier.

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