Published: [DRAFT] | Last Updated: 2026-06-17 | By: Scott Sylvan Bell | Location: Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii
What Does Hire The Best Cry Once Mean For Your Business?
Direct answer: Hire the best, cry once means you pay more upfront to get the right vendor, consultant, or designer who has the skills, talents, and capabilities to deliver the outcome — and you only feel the cost pain one time. The alternative is to hire the cheapest option, watch the project go sideways, and have to rehire to fix the problems the first person did not know how to handle. When you compare quotes for any business project, you will see one person all the way up in price and another all the way down — and the gap looks huge. But if the higher-priced person can shortcut time, collapse the revenue it takes to complete the project, and let you move faster, you are looking at the investment the wrong way by treating it purely as a cost. The right question is — is it only about the money, or is it about the outcome? When the outcome matters more than the investment, hire the best the first time. Hire the best, you cry once. Hire the not-so-good, you cry a lot — and your business valuation suffers along with you.
This concept anchors to the BENCH Framework inside the Exit Ratio 360™ system — talent and team quality decisions are exactly what BENCH measures, and hiring the best vendors and consultants is a BENCH discipline that shows up in your valuation at exit. The concept also connects to the LEAD Model for evaluating whether a hire is the right hire. For the related hiring conversation about employees rather than vendors, see How To Grow Your Business Faster With A Better Hiring Process. For the broader Maui exit-preparation series filmed on the same trip, see Why Investors Purchase Your Business History Before Your Future, 3 Ways To Prepare Your Business To Sell And Increase Valuation, How To Increase Your Business Valuation With First Party Data, How To Increase Your Business Valuation With MRR, and How To Increase Your Business Valuation With Positive Reviews.
Cheap Hire Versus Quality Hire — The Real Comparison
| Dimension | Cheap Hire | Quality Hire |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Lower price tag, attractive on the quote sheet | Higher price tag, gap from the cheapest can look huge |
| Skills, talents, capabilities | May not know what they are doing, learning on your dime | Has the skills, talents, and capabilities to deliver the outcome |
| Effect on time | Project drags, mistakes pile up, you spend time fixing problems | Shortcuts time, collapses the revenue cycle, lets you move faster |
| Rework risk | High — you may need to rehire to fix the problems | Low — the project gets done right the first time |
| True total cost | Cheap hire price PLUS rehire price PLUS fix-the-problems time | Higher quote, but no rework, no rehire, no fix-the-problems time |
| Emotional outcome | Cry a lot — across the whole rework cycle | Cry once — only at the moment of writing the check |
5-Step Process To Vet A Vendor, Consultant, Or Mentor Before You Hire
- Define the outcome before you talk about the price — what does success look like, what is the deliverable, what does done mean. Outcome first puts price in proper perspective.
- Get a couple of quotes for different perspectives, different prices, different information — comparison is genuinely useful for understanding the market and the disparity.
- Look at the price gap and ask what it represents — is the higher-priced person just charging more, or do they have skills, talents, and capabilities that justify the difference by shortcutting time?
- Ask the consultant or coach directly — how do we know we are going to get there? A good one will say something like — hey, I have my secret sauce, and they might give you a couple of examples, and they will name the mile markers they put in place.
- Choose based on the outcome, not just the money — if the outcome matters more than the investment, hire the best the first time and only cry once. Hiring the not-so-good means crying a lot.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hire The Best Cry Once
Direct answer: These ten questions and answers cover the most common topics business owners raise about the “hire the best, cry once” principle, including what it actually means, why cheap hires often cost more in the long run, how quality vendors shortcut time, the “I just wanted to help the guy out” trap, what questions to ask consultants before hiring, and how hiring quality connects to business valuation at exit. Each answer runs 40-60 words for voice search and AI citation extraction.
What does the phrase “hire the best, cry once” mean for business?
The phrase “hire the best, cry once” means that paying more upfront for the right vendor, consultant, or talent is cheaper in the long run than hiring the cheapest option and dealing with the consequences. You only feel the cost pain one time when you hire the best. When you hire the not-so-good, you cry a lot — across the rework, the delays, the fix-the-problems time, and the rehire cost.
Why does hiring the cheapest vendor often cost more in the long run?
Hiring the cheapest vendor often costs more in the long run because the low price typically reflects lower skills, talents, and capabilities. The project drags, mistakes pile up, and you spend additional time, energy, and effort fixing problems the first person did not know how to handle. The true total cost ends up being the cheap hire price plus the rehire price plus the cost of the time you lost.
How does a quality vendor or consultant shortcut time?
A quality vendor or consultant shortcuts time because they have the skills, talents, and capabilities to deliver the outcome directly. They collapse the revenue cycle it takes to complete the project. They let you move faster because they are not learning on your dime — they already know what they are doing. Time saved compounds into revenue gained on the other side of the project completion.
What did Scott Sylvan Bell see when he was brought in to fix a previous vendor’s work?
Scott Sylvan Bell shares that a couple of years ago he was brought onto a project where the previous vendor started it but did not know what they were doing. Their price was amazing, which is what attracted the business owner to hire them. The cleanup took a lot of time, energy, and effort to fix all the problems the first vendor did not know how to handle. The savings disappeared in the rework.
How should business owners think about cost versus outcome when hiring?
Business owners should think about cost versus outcome by asking themselves directly — is this only about the money, or is it about the outcome? If the outcome matters more than the investment, the right move is to hire the best the first time. If the budget is the only consideration regardless of outcome quality, expect to pay for that decision later in time, rework, and missed business results.
What are common mistakes business owners make when choosing vendors?
Common mistakes business owners make when choosing vendors include picking the wrong person, picking the wrong skill level, picking someone whose offer sounded like a good deal but did not match the actual project requirements, and choosing based on price alone without evaluating skills, talents, and capabilities. Each mistake puts the project at risk of needing a rehire to fix the problems the first vendor created.
What is the “I just wanted to help the guy out” trap in hiring?
The “I just wanted to help the guy out” trap is when a business owner hires an under-qualified vendor because they want to give someone a break or help them get started. Sometimes it works. Often it does not — and you may end up putting a million-dollar project in line because you wanted to help. Generosity has a place, but not on the project that determines a business outcome.
What questions should you ask a consultant or coach before hiring them?
Before hiring a consultant or coach, ask directly — how do we know we are going to get there? A good consultant will explain their secret sauce and give you a couple of examples of how it works. They will name the mile markers they put in place along the engagement. Vague answers signal vague execution. Specific answers with examples signal a consultant who has done the work before.
How does hiring quality talent connect to business valuation at exit?
Hiring quality talent connects to business valuation at exit because the talent and team quality is part of what investors evaluate when they look at the business. A company built on quality hires shows up in clean financials, consistent execution, and lower rework costs. A company built on cheap hires shows up in the messy financials, missed deadlines, and the kind of operational chaos that suppresses the multiple a buyer will pay.
Is it possible to hire the best and still get the wrong outcome?
Yes, it is possible to hire the best and still get the wrong outcome if you defined the outcome wrong before you started, or if the project itself was not viable. Hiring the best protects against execution failure but does not protect against strategic mistakes. The outcome question goes deeper than the hiring question — define the right outcome first, then hire the best to deliver it.
Full Transcript From the Video
Direct answer: The full cleaned transcript appears below for depth and accessibility. Scott Sylvan Bell explains what “hire the best, cry once” means for business, why the cheapest vendor often costs more in the long run, how quality talent shortcuts time, the personal story about being brought in to fix a previous vendor’s work, the “I just wanted to help the guy out” trap, and how to evaluate a consultant by asking about their secret sauce and mile markers. Location recorded: Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii.
If you are a business owner or entrepreneur, what does the phrase “hire the best, cry once” mean for you and your business, and why does it matter? This is a fantastic question. I am Scott Sylvan Bell, coming to you live from Kaanapali, Maui on a perfect day to talk about sales and business and a fantastic day to talk about you for Consulting Secrets.
There is going to be a time where you are in your process of looking at a vendor, you are in your process of looking for a consultant, you are in your process of looking for a designer — something you do in your business. You talk to a couple of people, which is cool. Get some different perspectives, get some different prices, get some different information.
Then you look at the disparity of what is going on. One guy is all the way up here in price, and one person is all the way down here. You are like — man, I know that this person may be charging more and may have more for what they are offering, but there is a gap. There is a huge gap.
If that person who is all the way up here has the skills, the talents, and the capabilities, that is going to shortcut time, collapse time, collapse the revenue that it is going to take for you to make a project happen, or even allow for you to move faster — you are looking at the cost or the investment the wrong way. Hire the best, cry once means that you can get the person that you need instead of having to rehire for that project.
A couple of years ago, I was brought on to a project where somebody in front of me had started it and they did not know what they were doing — but their price was amazing. They had this just super amazing price, and that is what attracted the business owner to hire them. But it took a lot of time, energy, and effort to fix all the problems that they did not know how to do.
So my question for you is — when you look for a skill, a talent, a person, is it only about the money? Is it about the outcome? And if it is about the outcome, does the outcome become more important than the investment? That is really the question that we should be asking.
The reason I bring this up is there are a lot of times where I get brought in to solve problems inside of an organization, and it was the wrong choice. It was the wrong person. It was the wrong skill level or the talent. It sounded like a good deal. These are all things that business owners have told me.
I just — I kind of wanted to help the guy out. He was just getting started. Look, you just put a million dollar project in line because you wanted to help. I get it. I get it.
But hire the best, cry once, and these are things that you do not have to worry about. These are issues that you do not have to deal with. These are some strategies, some things that you could use to get a couple of steps ahead, a couple of cheeseburgers ahead in life, where you are not having to try to figure out — okay, what do we do here? What is going on?
There is nothing wrong with asking that consultant, that coach, that mentor — how do we know that we are going to get there? They might say — hey, I have got my secret sauce, and they might give you a couple of examples. We are going to put these mile markers in place.
Just know — when you hire the best, you can cry once. When you hire the not-so-good, you can cry a lot.
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