A founder handles customer support, sales, product meetings and invoices. Hiring feels like the obvious next step. It might be. But an undefined role can add management work without removing the constraint that is slowing the company.
Before writing the job description, I would identify what important outcome is repeatedly delayed and why.
Keep a short record of the work
For a week, capture the tasks consuming your time. Mark which require founder judgement, which follow a repeatable process and which exist because the process or product is unclear.
Repeatedly explaining the same onboarding step may point to a customer-support need. It may also reveal a product problem that should be fixed. A lack of sales meetings may reflect insufficient outreach capacity, an unclear offer or a poorly chosen segment.
The aim is to distinguish a capacity problem from a decision the founder has not made yet.
Write the ninety day outcome
Describe what should be different after the person joins. For example: eligible new customers complete onboarding through a documented process, with clear ownership and less founder involvement.
Define the current baseline and the evidence you will review. Avoid assigning a numerical target simply because it makes the job description look precise. Use the company’s actual volumes and constraints to set expectations.
Add the decisions the person may make, the resources available and the person they report to. A role with responsibility but no authority will repeatedly return decisions to the founder.
Compare ways of doing the work
The hiring discussion should include doing less, improving the product, using a contractor for a bounded project, adding part-time support or creating a full-time role.
Consider a hypothetical facility-software company. The founder spends several hours preparing each data migration. A time-limited operations project could document and improve migration before the company hires someone to operate it. If the work is then sustained, predictable and central to customer success, the hiring decision has a clearer basis.
Price the commitment realistically
Include more than salary or the contractor’s fee. Recruitment, equipment, applicable employer costs, onboarding and management time can all matter. Put the cash timing into the company’s current forecast and test a slower revenue scenario.
A person cannot deliver a ninety-day outcome if the company cannot fund the role long enough, supply the required tools or make time to support them.
Delegate an outcome with boundaries
When the person starts, agree how they will escalate issues, which customer promises need approval and how progress will be reviewed. Provide context about the customer and the company’s priorities.
Check early whether the founder still has to approve the same decisions. If so, the handover may be incomplete even when tasks are being completed.
This week, write a one-page brief for the hire you are considering. Include the constraint, ninety-day outcome, authority, total cash commitment and a credible alternative. If the brief remains vague, work on the definition before recruiting.
What would stop moving forward if you could not hire for another three months? Your answer may identify the role more clearly than its title.