The Hiring Sequence
Hire in this order: first subcontractors, then your first full-time hire, then specialized roles. Each step requires the previous step to be working. Agencies that hire full-time employees before they have stable revenue and a delivery process fail at the hiring stage.
Role 1: AI Developer / Chatbot Builder
First hire for most agencies. Does the implementation work. Skills: Voiceflow or Botpress, OpenAI/Claude API, basic Python or JavaScript, integration experience. Cost: $80,000-$130,000/year full-time, $50-100/hour subcontracted. When to hire: when you're turning down work because you don't have capacity.
Role 2: Project Manager / Account Manager
Frees you from client communication. Skills: clear communicator, detail-oriented, experience managing technical projects, comfortable with clients. Cost: $55,000-$85,000/year. When to hire: at 6-8 active clients when client communication is consuming most of your time.
Role 3: Business Development / Sales
For agencies ready to scale beyond founder-led sales. Skills: B2B sales, ideally in tech or SaaS, comfortable with 3-6 month sales cycles. Cost: $60,000-$90,000 base + commission. When to hire: when you have a documented sales process you can teach and the margin to support commission.
What Not to Do
Don't hire a generalist "who can do everything." For agency work, specialists outperform generalists at every level. Don't hire someone with impressive credentials for a role that doesn't match the work — a machine learning researcher isn't what you need to build chatbots. Don't hire anyone before you can articulate exactly what success looks like in their role.