Can I afford to hire my first employee?
You can afford a hire if your runway still lasts long enough after adding their fully-loaded cost — salary plus roughly 25-30% for employer taxes, tools and overhead. The real question is not the salary; it is how many months of runway the hire costs you, and whether the revenue they help create arrives before your cash runs low.
What a hire really costs (it is not the salary)
The headline salary is only part of it. Add employer taxes, tools, software seats, benefits and equipment and you land at a "fully-loaded" cost of roughly 1.25-1.3× the salary. A €40,000 salary is really about €50,000 a year, or ~€4,200 a month, leaving your account.
Budget the loaded number, not the salary. Founders who plan around the headline figure are consistently surprised by how much faster their cash drops.
The real question is runway, not salary
A hire does not just cost money — it costs you months of runway. Say you have 18 months of cash. Add a hire and you might drop to 11. The decision is whether the revenue that person helps create closes the gap before your runway gets tight.
If the hire pushes your runway under about 6-9 months without a clear path to more revenue or a raise, that is the signal to wait, or to line up cash first.
How to check before you commit
Put the hire into the full Viability Model — their role, salary and start month — and it shows your runway before and after, how your break-even month moves, and whether you stay default alive. You see the exact months the hire costs you, not a guess.
That turns "can I afford this?" from a gut feeling into a number you can decide on.
FAQ
How much does a first employee really cost?
Budget the fully-loaded cost: salary plus roughly 25-30% for employer taxes, tools, software, benefits and equipment. A €40k salary is closer to €50k a year in real cash out.
Should I hire or stay solo longer?
Hire when the work is clearly bottlenecking growth and your runway can absorb the loaded cost with margin to spare. If the hire drops you below about 6-9 months of runway with no clear revenue or raise ahead, wait.
Check your own numbers.
Startkeel tells you in minutes whether your SaaS holds up.
Last updated: June 25, 2026. For information only — not financial advice.