The number that tells you when your next hire is safe
Most foundation owners don't have a leads problem. They have a hiring-confidence problem. The work is there — it just doesn't show up evenly, so the truck stays a man short and you turn down jobs you could've run.
This worksheet gives you one number: the booked-inspection rate at which your next hire stops being a gamble. Fill in five inputs, and the math tells you when to pull the trigger.
The problem
Hiring on gut feel — too early or too late.
The outcome
One number that says hire or wait.
The asset
5-input worksheet + the sheet formulas.
The mental model
You don't hire when you "feel busy." You hire when your booked backlog reliably clears the cost of the new person and still leaves profit — and you're turning away work you could've done.
The worksheet answers two questions:
- How many booked inspections a month does the new hire need to pay for themselves, plus margin?
- Are you consistently booking above what your current team can run?
If the answer to #2 is yes for 6–8 weeks straight, the hire is safe.
Step 1. Gather your five numbers
A — Average job ticket ($) e.g. $8,000
B — Inspection → sold close rate (%) e.g. 35%
C — Gross margin per job (%) e.g. 45%
D — Fully-loaded monthly cost of the hire e.g. $7,500
(salary + truck + fuel + tools + overhead — not just pay)
F — Booked inspections per week, trailing 8-week average
e.g. 9
Step 2. Run the math
Revenue per inspection = A × B
= 8,000 × 0.35 = $2,800
Gross profit per inspection = A × B × C
= 2,800 × 0.45 = $1,260
Break-even inspections/mo = D ÷ gross profit per inspection
(just to cover the hire) = 7,500 ÷ 1,260 ≈ 6 / month
Safe threshold (2× for ramp + real profit)
= 6 × 2 ≈ 12 / month
≈ 3 inspections / week that the
new hire would run
Step 3. Read the decision
Your current team can comfortably run ~6 inspections/week.
You're booking 9/week (trailing 8-week average).
That's ~3/week ABOVE capacity — exactly the safe threshold.
→ VERDICT: the hire is safe. You're already turning away
~3 inspections of work a week.
The rule in one line: when your booked inspections sit 3+/week above what your team can run, for 6–8 weeks straight, hire. Below that, fix the backlog first — don't add payroll to a calendar that isn't full.
Step 4. Build it as a living sheet
Set up a Google Sheet so it updates itself:
| Cell | Label | Formula |
|---|
| B1 | Avg ticket | (you enter) |
| B2 | Close rate | (you enter) |
| B3 | Gross margin | (you enter) |
| B4 | Hire monthly cost | (you enter) |
| B5 | Booked/wk (8-wk avg) | (you enter) |
| B6 | Profit per inspection | =B1*B2*B3 |
| B7 | Break-even/mo | =B4/B6 |
| B8 | Safe threshold/mo | =B7*2 |
| B9 | Safe threshold/wk | =B8/4.3 |
| B10 | Verdict | =IF(B5>B9,"SAFE TO HIRE","FILL THE BACKLOG FIRST") |
Tip: run this every month with your trailing 8-week booked number, not your best week. The best week is what makes owners over-hire. The trailing average is what keeps the new person busy.
Go deeper
This worksheet is one tool inside the Backlog Blueprint — the owner math, qualified-inspection definition, hiring triggers, and benchmarks behind a full calendar.
Get the Backlog Blueprint →