When to hire your first operations lead

Signs your business is ready for a dedicated operations hire, and how to set them up to succeed.

Diverse team of colleagues talking around a conference table

In short

Hire your first operations lead when you’ve become the bottleneck for routine decisions, the same problems keep coming back, and nobody owns the numbers. Set them up with a clear scorecard, authority over two or three processes and a weekly hour with you.

Founders often hire for operations too late, after the cracks are already visible to clients.

Three signals

You are the bottleneck for routine decisions, the same problems come back every month, and nobody owns the numbers.

Set them up well

Give your first ops lead a clear scorecard, real authority over two or three processes and a weekly hour with you.