When Urgency Drives Hiring

In the middle of growing your startup, you realise finance is on fire. Compliance is overdue, investors want reports, and vendors are getting restless. So you make a quick hire: someone junior, available immediately, and affordable. For a while, it feels like the problem is solved. Reports go out, filings get done, and the inbox looks calmer.

Why It’s a Trap

The issue is that you didn’t actually solve your finance problem, you just paused it. A junior hire, no matter how hardworking, often can’t design robust systems, clean up legacy messes, or provide strategic advice on burn, runway, and structure. It’s not their fault; the role was set up for firefighting, not for building the foundation your business needs.

The Cost of Patchwork

Many founders spend the first year thinking finance is handled, only to spend the next year fixing the fixes. This cycle drains time, adds stress, and delays building the scalable processes that could have prevented the issues in the first place.

How to Avoid the Trap

If you are building to scale, don’t hire just to plug holes. Consider whether your first finance role should be strategic rather than purely operational. A strong finance lead or outsourced expert can set up systems, controls, and reporting that prevent future firefighting.

The Takeaway

Deliberate beats desperate. System beats panic. Long-term thinking beats patchwork. Build finance capabilities that grow with you, not ones you will need to replace in a year.

Review your finance setup today—are you investing in systems that scale, or just putting out fires? Make one decision this month that moves you toward the former.