Stop Being the Smartest Person in the Room: Why Small Business Owners Must Hire People Better Than Themselves

If you’ve ever hesitated to hire someone who knows more than you, someone with deeper expertise, more experience, or a resume that feels a little intimidating then you’re not alone. Many small business owners worry that hiring “too senior” or “too skilled” will backfire.

Some fear the investment.

Some fear the loss of control.

Some fear being “found out” or overshadowed.

And some, thanks to questionable advice floating around podcasts and social media, have been told they shouldn’t hire people more qualified than they are until they hit $30M, $40M, or even $50M in revenue.

Let’s cut to the chase:

If you only hire people who know less than you, your business will always be limited by what you know.

In this blog, we’ll unpack why top talent matters, when to hire for expertise, how to avoid “bad hire” scenarios, and what most small businesses get wrong when they onboard experienced employees.

The Myth: “Small business owners shouldn’t hire more experienced people.”

A recent podcast episode sparked this entire conversation. A guest boldly claimed that small business owners should never hire more experienced people, at least not until they hit tens of millions in revenue.

This thinking is not only flawed… It’s dangerous.

Your job as a Owner/CEO is not to be the most qualified person in every discipline.

Your job is to surround yourself with people who excel in the areas where you don’t.

World-class entrepreneurs like Stephen Bartlett and Alex Hormozi openly preach this:

• Your talent determines your growth trajectory.

• A-players cost more, and they’re worth it.

• When you invest in the right expertise, your business scales faster.

They’re right.

The Reality: Leaders often oversee functions they’ve never personally done

When I became COO, I was an expert in operations and tech, but suddenly I was overseeing:

• Cybersecurity

• Procurement

• Vendor management

• A full project management office

I had never worked in any of these disciplines. I had zero credentials in those domains.

And yet they reported to me.

That’s how leadership works. The higher you rise, the less you do and the more you lead.

My role wasn’t to out-execute my team. My role was to:

• Hire the right experts

• Trust them

• Remove roadblocks

• Set direction

• Create clarity

• Ensure outcomes

And it worked, we had a 95% retention rate and promoted half the team within three years.

You don’t need to know how to do every job. You just need to know how to hire people who do.

The Real Hiring Problem: It’s rarely “skills”—it’s expectations

Small business owners often say:

• “They’re not moving fast enough.”

• “Their work isn’t high quality.”

• “They don’t get the brand.”

• “They’re not a culture fit.”

Most of the time? The issue isn’t talent.

It’s one of these:

1. You didn’t clearly define expectations.

People can’t meet expectations they don’t know exist. You must articulate:

• Core values

• Communication expectations

• What “quality work” means

• What “fast” means

• How decisions are made

• What autonomy looks like

• How deadlines actually work

2. You didn’t close the loop.

Employees, like AI, learn through feedback.

If they submit work that misses the mark and you quietly fix it yourself, they assume they did it correctly.

3. You didn’t integrate them into the ecosystem.

Every new hire disrupts the existing team.

A-players disrupt it even more.

If you don’t guide the transition, the team may reject the new hire, even sabotage them, because their roles, identity, or influence feel threatened.

That doesn’t mean the hire was wrong.

It means the integration was poor.

Why hiring people who know more than you accelerates growth

Here’s what happens when you bring higher-caliber talent onto your team:

1. Your decision-making improves. They’ve “been there, done that.” They help you avoid expensive mistakes.

2. You get leverage. You don’t have to be the bottleneck or the brain for every decision.

3. Your business becomes scalable. Middle managers and executives build systems, processes, and accountability.

4. Your business stops depending solely on you. This is the difference between a job and a company.

5. You expand far beyond your personal expertise. No entrepreneur is a master of everything. Except, many try to be.

When to hire senior talent and when not to

I’m a strong believer in hiring from the bottom first:

• Admin support

• Coordinators

• Task doers

These hires get work off your plate quickly.

Then, as the team grows, you add:

• Managers to oversee doers

• Directors to oversee functions

• Executives to oversee departments

You shouldn’t hire a CMO if you don’t yet have anyone to manage. You shouldn’t hire a COO if you’re not ready to delegate leadership. And you shouldn’t hire directors when you only have one or two doers.

But when you are at the point where expertise is required, you must hire for it, even if it feels uncomfortable.

The Bottom Line

If you want to scale: Stop trying to be the smartest person in the room.

Hire people who know more than you. Hire the ones who have been there before. Hire the doers, the managers, the directors, and the executives when the business needs them, not when your ego feels ready.

And when you do hire them…

• Set expectations

• Integrate intentionally

• Close the loop

• Lead, don’t micromanage

Your business will grow faster, stronger, and with significantly more stability when you surround yourself with people who bring expertise you don’t have.

Because the biggest risk in business isn’t hiring someone more qualified than you.

The biggest risk is staying the ceiling of your own company.

Want help with hiring or growing your business? Book a call.