When should I hire my first technician?

You're ready when you're turning away 4+ profitable jobs per month or working over 55 hours weekly despite high prices, you have 8 weeks of wages as cash buffer, and you have documented checklists for at least three core job types.

Should I hire an employee or use a subcontractor?

Hire a full-time employee when you need consistent coverage, a branded van, and customer-facing uniform. Use self-employed subcontractors for seasonal demand or specialist skills. Document your choice with pay rates, PPE provided, and insurance requirements.

How do I find technicians on a small budget?

Offer £300 referral bonuses split over 6 weeks, contact trade schools and apprenticeship boards, post in local Facebook and WhatsApp groups with screenshots of your organized workflows, and limit job board spend to 14 days on Indeed or Fish4.

Hiring your first technician in 2026

Handing jobs to someone else is the scariest step for a solo or 5-person service crew. This guide shows exactly when to hire, how to source affordable talent, and how to onboard them inside Toolfy so quality stays high.

1. Know when you’re ready

Capacity signal: you’re turning away ≥4 profitable jobs/month or working >55 hours/week despite high prices.
Cash buffer: you can cover 8 weeks of the new hire’s wages + employer costs (NI, PPE, van insurance). Track this in Toolfy Expenses to ensure cash exists before you post the job.
Playbook count: at least three core job types already have Toolfy checklists/photos so knowledge can be transferred.

2. Decide between W-2/employee vs subcontractor

Option	Use when	Toolfy setup
Full-time employee	You need consistent coverage, branded van, and customer-facing uniform.	Create a “Technician” role in Toolfy with limited admin access; track time-off via Scheduler.
Self-employed subcontractor	Seasonal demand or specialist skills (rewires, deep cleans).	Add as subcontractor contact, give them access only to assigned jobs via shared links, and tag jobs as “Sub” for margin reporting.

Document whichever path you choose in Toolfy Documents (pay rate, PPE provided, insurance proof required) so audits are simple.

3. Source on a micro budget

Referrals: offer £300 split (half on week 1, half on week 6) to existing customers or fellow trades for a successful hire. Track leads via Toolfy CRM → “Candidate” pipeline.
Trade schools / apprenticeship boards: email instructors with your starter pay, training plan, and Toolfy screenshots showing modern workflows.
Local groups: Facebook groups, WhatsApp communities, and Nextdoor posts with a short Loom of your Toolfy scheduler calendar showing how organized the gig is.
Job boards (under £100): post to Indeed/Fish4 with “Toolfy-managed routes” and “van provided” as differentiators. Limit spend to 14 days.

4. Interview + trial structure

Screening call (15 min): confirm right-to-work, licences, driving record, desired pay, and weekend availability. Log answers on the candidate card in Toolfy.
Ride-along day: pay a day rate, have them shadow two jobs, and note punctuality + customer skills in a shared checklist.
Skills test: use Toolfy Checklists to assign a mock service checklist (e.g., boiler tune-up). They upload photos/notes so you can gauge detail.
Reference + paperwork: collect IDs, insurance (if subcontractor), and bank details. Store encrypted copies in Toolfy Documents.

5. Onboarding in the first 14 days

Day	Toolfy task	Outcome
Day 1	Assign "Orientation" checklist (company story, safety brief, logins)	Everyone aligned on expectations and brand voice.
Day 2–5	Pair on jobs; tech fills Toolfy checklist, owner reviews nightly	Ensures they follow scripts and photo standards.
Day 6	Give them 1 solo callout with live support via Toolfy chat comments	Confidence boost + real data for performance review.
Day 7	Run pay/expense walk-through so they know how timesheets and mileage are logged	Avoids admin surprises.
Day 10	Review first-week metrics (jobs completed, checklist compliance) inside Toolfy dashboard	Adjust training plan quickly.
Day 14	Lock in recurring 1:1 cadence (biweekly) with agenda stored in Documents	Keeps feedback loop open so they don’t churn.

6. Compensation & incentives

Starter wage: benchmark using local data (e.g., £14–£18/hr London trades). Add 25% overhead for NI, tools, insurance—log total cost/job in Toolfy.
Performance bonus: add a “quality” and “upsell” field on Toolfy jobs. Pay £25 bonus when a tech hits 10 straight positive reviews or sells maintenance plans.
Tool/PPE stipends: track per-tech spend with job tags so you can claw back costs if they leave within 6 months.

7. Retention safeguards from day one

Win board: create a Toolfy dashboard tile that ranks technicians by review score + jobs completed. Celebrate weekly in WhatsApp or standup.
Fair rota: use Scheduler’s capacity view to balance weekends and on-call. Post rota 4 weeks out so nobody feels blindsided.
Feedback channel: add “Ops Feedback” form linked to Toolfy support tasks so techs can log broken tools, unreasonable customers, or process gaps anonymously.
Career ladder doc: map Apprentice → Junior → Lead with pay bands, training modules, and required certifications; store it in Documents and mention it during onboarding.

8. 30-day hiring sprint

Week 1: Confirm cash runway, publish job post, and kick referral offer live.
Week 2: Run interviews + ride-alongs, shortlist 2 candidates, and request references.
Week 3: Finalize offer, prep Toolfy checklists, and stage onboarding tasks + PPE.
Week 4: Execute onboarding plan, hold first 1:1, and review job quality metrics daily.

Once the first technician is productive, repeatability matters more than heroics. Clone the checklists, dashboards, and Documents folder so hire #2 drops into an existing system. Want the full onboarding template pack? Email support@toolfy.io and we’ll add it to your workspace.