Agency owners tend to be good at a little bit of everything — that’s typically how they ended up as owners in the first place. They’re used to rolling up their sleeves and digging into client work, business development, management, and just about anything else that’s needed.

As they staff up their teams, they often look for people who can check several boxes at once. Part of it is because that’s what they do, and part of it is because that’s what they need.

Most small agencies don’t have the budget — or need — to hire lots of individual specialists.

But it is important to recognize the must-haves vs the nice-to-haves with new hires since someone who checks every box you’d like is pretty rare indeed.