If you don’t know what you really need, you’ll hire the person you like most.

I’ve read hundreds of small business job descriptions, and 95% make the same mistake: they’re more of a wishlist than a job description.

A typical one looks like this:

We want someone who can:

• Manage the calendar

• Write the newsletters

• Run operations

• Handle support

• Think like a strategist

• Execute like a machine

• And work across four time zones

What’s the problem with that?

It mixes six completely different skill sets: administrative, creative, operational, technical, strategic, and customer-facing. That’s not a job. It’s a fantasy.

If someone like that existed, they’d already be running their own business, not applying to work for yours.

Here’s what to do instead:
1️⃣ Write down everything you wish this person would do.
2️⃣ Circle the three most critical things.
3️⃣ Build a role around those, not all seventeen.

Once you’ve found that person and developed a good rhythm, go back to your list, see what’s still open, and hire the next person.

Hiring isn’t about finding magic. It’s about making trade-offs and slowly building a team that can cover all the tasks you want to delegate.

Focus beats fantasy. Every time.