Mistake #21: Hiring Before You Have Systems(And Not Constantly Refining Them)

One of the most common mistakes founders make as they grow is hiring people too early—before they have clear systems in place. But there’s a second mistake that often follows: building systems once and never refining them.

Systems aren’t “set it and forget it.” They should evolve as your business grows. Hiring without systems creates chaos. Hiring into outdated systems creates frustration. Both slow you down.

People Don’t Fix Broken Systems

Founders often hire because they’re overwhelmed. Orders are piling up, emails are constant, operations feel messy. The instinct is to bring someone in and hope they’ll figure it out.

But without clear processes, new hires are forced to guess. And when systems are unclear—or outdated—every person does things differently. That leads to mistakes, delays, and confusion.

Hiring doesn’t remove chaos.It exposes it.

Systems

Systems Must Evolve as the Business Evolves

What worked when you were doing 50 orders a week won’t work at 500.What worked for DTC won’t always work for retail.What worked with one SKU won’t work with ten.

If you don’t continuously refine your systems, they quietly break—and your team feels it before you do.

Refinement means:

• updating workflows

• improving checklists

• removing unnecessary steps

• automating repetitive tasks

• clarifying ownership

• adjusting timelines as volume grows

Good systems reduce friction. Great systems grow with you.

Why This Gets Expensive Fast

When systems aren’t clear or current, the cost shows up everywhere:

• onboarding takes longer

• mistakes increase

• accountability disappears

• founders micromanage again

• good hires get frustrated

• turnover increases

The business doesn’t scale—it strains.

What to Do Instead

1. Do the Work Yourself FirstIf you haven’t done the task end-to-end, you can’t systemize it properly.

2. Document SimplyChecklists, SOPs, Loom videos—simple beats perfect.

3. Hire Into StructurePeople should step into clarity, not confusion.

4. Refine Systems RegularlySchedule time monthly or quarterly to ask:

• What’s breaking?

• What’s slow?

• What’s confusing?

• What can be automated?

5. Let Feedback Shape the SystemYour team will tell you where systems fail—listen.

The Takeaway

Hiring is not the solution.Systems are.

And systems only work if they’re alive—reviewed, refined, and improved constantly. When you build strong systems and keep evolving them, hiring becomes leverage instead of liability.

💡 Founder’s Reflection (Mayer):I used to think systems were something you build once. I learned the hard way they’re something you refine constantly. Every growth phase breaks something. Once I started treating systems as living tools—not static documents—everything became smoother, faster, and far less stressful.