You Can't Build a Team Around the Wrong People (Just Like You Can't Build a Business Around the Wrong Clients)
You know that sick feeling when you realize your newest hire just isn't going to work out?
Maybe they showed up late three times this week. Maybe they're constantly asking questions you feel like they should already know. Maybe they're just... not getting it. And you're standing there thinking, "Shit. I did it again."
Here's what I see happening with so many business owners right now: You're applying the same starvation mindset to hiring that you apply to taking clients.
You're so desperate for help that you'll hire anyone who can fog a mirror and shows up to the interview. Then you spend the next six months building training systems, communication processes, and management structures around people who fundamentally aren't aligned with what you're trying to build.
Sound familiar?
The Desperation Hire Trap
Let me paint you a picture. Jessica runs a small construction company. She's drowning, working 60-hour weeks, handling everything from estimates to invoicing to jobsite management. She needs help.
So when someone responds to her job posting and seems semi-competent, she hires them. Fast.
But here's what happens next: This person doesn't share Jessica's work ethic. They don't understand her standards. They don't care about the client experience the way she does. And Jessica finds herself spending more time managing, correcting, and re-doing their work than if she'd just done it herself.
Now she's not just overwhelmed, she's overwhelmed and frustrated and second-guessing her ability to lead a team.
This is what happens when you build your business around the wrong people.
You create systems to manage problems instead of systems to empower people. Every process becomes about damage control rather than growth and efficiency.
Your Systems Reflect Your People
Think about it this way: if you hire someone who constantly needs hand-holding, your entire onboarding system gets built around hand-holding. If you hire someone who doesn't communicate well, all your project management becomes about chasing people for updates.
Before you know it, your entire business infrastructure is designed around managing the lowest common denominator instead of elevating everyone to their highest potential.
That's exhausting. And it's not sustainable.
Jessica tells me things like:
"My employees aren't taking this seriously"
"No one cares as much as I do"
"I'm scared to hire the wrong person again"
"It's faster to just do everything myself"
But here's what I want Jessica (and you) to understand: You can't delegate to misaligned people and expect good results.
When someone doesn't share your values, doesn't understand your vision, and doesn't naturally operate the way you do, delegation becomes micromanagement. Training becomes constant correction. Growth becomes impossible.
The Real Cost of Wrong Hires
Bad hires don't just underperform, they actively drain your business. Research shows that a single bad hire can cost up to 30% of that person's annual salary when you factor in everything: the time spent training them, the work that has to be redone, the impact on team morale, and the cost of replacing them.
But for small business owners like Jessica, the real cost is even higher. Because when you only have a few employees, one misaligned person can derail your entire operation.
Your best people start picking up the slack (and getting resentful). Your clients notice the inconsistency. Your stress levels skyrocket because you're constantly putting out fires instead of building something solid.
And here's the kicker: you start to believe that "good employees just don't exist."
You begin thinking that caring about quality, showing up on time, and taking pride in the work are unrealistic expectations. So you lower your standards, accept mediocrity, and build your entire business around managing problems instead of creating excellence.
What Changes When You Hire with Clarity
But what if you flipped the script? What if, instead of hiring whoever's available, you hired people who actually aligned with your values and vision?
When Jessica gets clear on what she's actually looking for, not just skills, but work ethic, communication style, and shared values, everything changes.
Suddenly, her onboarding systems can focus on empowering people instead of controlling them. Her project management becomes about coordination rather than constant check-ins. Her training builds on natural alignment rather than fighting against fundamental mismatches.
When you hire the right people, your systems can actually support growth instead of just managing chaos.
Think about the difference:
Wrong hire: You spend weeks teaching someone basic professionalism, why quality matters, and how to communicate with clients respectfully.
Right hire: You spend that same time teaching them your specific processes, introducing them to your clients, and showing them how their role fits into the bigger picture.
One is exhausting. One is energizing.
One makes you want to give up on having employees. One makes you excited about what you can build together.
The Resonance Factor
Here's what I've learned working with business owners in the trades: The same people who will love working with you are often the same people who will love working for you.
If your ideal clients value quality, reliability, and clear communication, guess what your ideal employees probably value too?
If your ideal clients appreciate honesty, respect deadlines, and don't nickel-and-dime you, your ideal employees likely operate the same way.
This is about resonance. When you're clear on your values and how you want to operate, you attract people, both clients and team members, who naturally align with that energy.
But when you're in starvation mode, taking whoever shows up, you end up with a mismatched team serving mismatched clients. And wonder why everything feels like such a fight.
Building Your Business Around the Right People
So how do you break this cycle?
Start with clarity. Just like you need to know who your ideal clients are, you need to know who your ideal team members are.
What work style energizes you? What values are non-negotiable? What kind of communication makes projects flow smoothly versus what makes you want to pull your hair out?
Then hire for alignment, not just availability.
Yes, this might mean waiting longer to fill positions. Yes, it might mean saying no to people who seem "good enough." But the alternative: building your entire business around managing mismatched people: is so much more expensive in the long run.
When you hire people who naturally align with your values and work style, delegation becomes collaboration. Training becomes development. Growth becomes sustainable.
Your business becomes something that supports you instead of draining you.
The Missing Piece of Business Clarity
This is why I'm so passionate about the work we do in Find Your Damn People. Most business owners think clarity is just about clients: who to serve, what to charge, how to talk about your work.
But that same clarity work applies to everyone you invite into your business ecosystem. Your clients, your subcontractors, your employees, your vendors: all of it.
When you're clear on your values, your vision, and how you want to operate, you stop building around survival and start building around alignment.
(And because this keeps coming up in our conversations, I'm actually considering adding an "Aligned Employee" bonus module to help you apply this same resonance framework to hiring. Because the clarity you gain about your ideal clients translates directly into clarity about your ideal team.)
Stop Building Around Problems
Look, I get it. When you're drowning, any help feels better than no help. But building your business around people who don't align with your values and vision is like trying to build a house on a foundation of sand.
It might hold for a while, but eventually, everything starts shifting and cracking under the pressure.
You deserve a team that supports your vision, not sabotages it. You deserve employees who care about quality, show up consistently, and make your work easier: not harder.
But that starts with you getting clear on who those people are and having the courage to wait for alignment instead of settling for availability.
Your business, your sanity, and your future self will thank you for it.
Ready to get that clarity? Start with Find Your Damn People and discover who you're really meant to serve: and who's meant to help you serve them.
