Can your business actually afford that hire?
The average month says yes. The question is what February says.
Take your median monthly profit and subtract the full monthly cost of the hire: wage, taxes, and the software seat or gear that rides along. What is left is your cushion. Then re-run the same subtraction on your worst honest month. If the cushion survives the worst month, the hire is affordable. If it survives only the median, the hire is affordable on average, and average is where hiring mistakes live.
A worked example
Kiln & Co. clears a median $3,050 a month with a worst honest month of $2,050. A part-time hire at $1,400 all-in leaves a $1,650 cushion in a normal month, and $650 in a bad one. That is a real yes, with a visible floor. If the worst month had been $1,200, the same hire would be a coin flip wearing a yes costume.
Three honest add-ons
- Ramp time is a cost. Budget 4 to 8 weeks where the hire costs full price and produces half value. Your cushion pays for that gap.
- Revenue swing belongs in the test. If your months swing 30%, stress the cushion at median minus 30%, not just at the historical worst.
- Rehearse it before you sign it. Stack the hire against your actual history: how many of your last 12 months would have carried it? Eight of twelve is a different answer than twelve of twelve, and both are better known in advance.
The hire calculator runs this exact test with your numbers.
Common questions
Should I hire before or after the growth?
The honest framing: a hire is affordable when your existing months can carry it, and strategic when the work it unlocks is already being turned away. You want both true at once, not either alone.
What about contractors instead?
Same math, better exit. A contractor converts the fixed cost into a variable one, which effectively raises your worst-month cushion in exchange for a higher hourly price.
Connect Square, Stripe, Shopify, Etsy, QuickBooks, or your bank. Every answer carries a receipt: the method, the sample size, and the confidence. When the math is not conclusive, it says so.
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