HIRING ON YOUR OWN — HARD, SLOW AND COSTLY
Can you hire a head of sales yourself? Of course.
But you'll face a number of problems.
2–6 months of searching (dozens of hours of CVs, calls and interviews)
3 months of onboarding — and no guarantee they'll stay
$2,500 to $5,000 — for a turnkey hire via a recruitment agency
$1,100 to $2,400 — if you spend 30–60 hours of your own time (at an owner's $380/hour)
From $630 — for a freelance recruiter, if you take on all the other work yourself
Most CVs don't reflect real skills.
Can you assess a candidate's real competence?
Do they know the market and sales model?
Can they build processes?
Can they hire and train a team?
A strong head of sales picks from dozens or hundreds of jobs — why should they pick yours?
Can you sell your vacancy in the first interview?
- A staffing crisis — strong managers are very hard to find
- You have to choose “from what's available” — and overpay for mediocre skills
- Fierce competition — top specialists already work for competitors
- Expensive — a good in-office manager costs a premium
Related costs ($6,700–$13,600 a year)
Payroll taxes for an in-house manager = +30–40% of salary, $3,800–$7,600 a year
Vacations and sick leave = 2 months of idle pay, $1,900–$3,500 a year
Office rent for the manager = $1,000–$2,500 for 8 sq m a year*
*not counting one-off costs for equipment and furniture ($880–$1,500)
Lost clients and reputation due to incompetent management
Repeat search costs if the head of sales quits
Losses during downtime (no management → sales fall)