Electrical How-To & Lessons · Contractor Owner
Learning objective: Define the capacity gap, cost the role and plan supervision before hiring an electrician.
Before hiring an electrician, define the work that needs an owner, verify job-related qualifications and budget for supervision, tools and training.
You are answering calls between jobs. Estimates are waiting. The schedule is full. Another customer wants to know when you can start.
“I need another electrician” can feel like the obvious answer.
Sometimes it is. Sometimes another installer gives the business more work to coordinate while the problem that made you overwhelmed stays exactly where it was.
Before you fill a role, ask a harder question: what problem am I actually paying to solve?
In my public conversation with Jobber, I described a period when I had work but the money was not coming in. I was buying materials on credit and assuming the activity meant the business was moving forward. Later, reviewing the paperwork exposed problems in my own process: incomplete payment documentation and poorly documented invoices and changes. Working harder had not fixed those gaps. Hear Wilson Betances' business story on Masters of Home Service.
That is a systems lesson, not a story about one bad hiring decision. But it matters when we think about growth.
Adding capacity to a broken handoff can multiply the work passing through that handoff. Before spending more, understand what is getting stuck.
Our original Calculate the Cost graphic puts these choices beside each other. They all look like growth. They solve different problems.
A helper may add support while creating a real training responsibility. Someone must give direction, answer questions, and make time for development. The wage is not the whole investment.
An experienced electrician may increase field capacity, but experience does not eliminate onboarding, coordination, tools, or supervision needs. The role must match verified qualifications and the work the business can actually assign.
An office manager may address scheduling, invoicing, and paperwork. That can be valuable even though the role does not install anything. The question is whether administrative work is the constraint, and whether there is enough ongoing responsibility to support the position.
A vehicle may solve a transportation or equipment problem. It will not solve unclear assignments, late purchasing, or missing customer information.
Do not choose the most visible purchase. Choose the investment that addresses the constraint you can describe.
Complete this sentence: “Work is getting stuck at ______ because ______.”
Then test it against actual jobs. Are projects waiting for installation capacity? Are crews ready but missing materials? Are customers waiting for estimates? Is completed work waiting for invoices?
Here is a hypothetical example, not a client case: a contractor thinks another installer will shorten a backlog. A review shows that existing crews repeatedly wait for materials and scope clarification. Another installer might still be needed later, but the immediate improvement is a reliable preparation and handoff process.
If the evidence does support hiring, define the responsibility clearly: “This role will own ______, with support from ______.” A person cannot succeed against expectations that only exist in the owner's head.
Use your own figures for compensation, employer costs, tools, vehicle needs, onboarding, training, and supervision. Separate one-time setup costs from recurring commitments. Do not copy a wage or cost percentage from another company and assume it represents yours.
Include the time your existing team will spend helping the person become effective. If your strongest field leader is also the trainer, that time belongs in the capacity plan.
Then look at timing. When does payroll need to be funded? When are customers expected to pay? What happens if work starts later or a payment arrives later than planned?
This is a planning exercise, not a promise that a certain revenue level makes a hire safe. Use appropriate accounting support to review the assumptions before making a commitment the business must sustain.
The original graphic asks whether you can sustain the investment for at least six months. Treat that as a prompt to look beyond today's pressure, not a universal hiring rule.
Compare the work already committed with work you only hope to win. Consider a slower scenario as well as the expected one. Name the responsibilities the new person will handle, who will support them, and what useful progress will look like.
For hiring, keep the evaluation tied to the actual role and consistent job-related evidence. Verify relevant qualifications through the appropriate authority. A title alone does not authorize independent electrical work, and no graphic replaces required supervision or a qualified assessment.
The original artwork is preserved unchanged. Its comparison of helpers, journeymen, office support, and vehicles is a decision prompt, not a guarantee of immediate returns or permission to work independently. Bring your own workload, cost, qualification, and supervision details to the discussion.
Use it with the person who manages your numbers and the person who will manage the work. Decide what problem you are solving, what the investment requires, and what would tell you the decision needs another look.
Growth should make the business more capable, not just more committed. If you want help connecting those decisions to daily operations and team responsibilities, explore BULD by Energize Us EDU.
I’m Wilson Matthew Betances, and my mission is simple: Building the People Who Build Things. Take one thing from this lesson and put it to work. If it helped, keep learning with us.
Download Calculate the Cost: PDF edition of the original Energize Us EDU graphic.
Keep learning: How to price an electrical job.