Hiring your first helper for handyman jobs: lessons from my screw-ups

Been running solo as a handyman for 5 years now, mostly doing drywall patches, deck repairs, and that odd assortment of fixes homeowners throw at you. Finally pulled the trigger on hiring a part-time helper last month because I'm turning down work left and right. Big mistake #1 was not checking his tool knowledge upfront; guy showed up with nothing but a basic hammer and no clue how to use a Milwaukee circular saw safely. I spent the first week just training him on basics like measuring twice and using levels properly, which ate into my time. Now we're getting through jobs faster, but I wish I'd started with a trial day on a simple fence repair to weed out the greenhorns. If you're thinking about it, interview them on a small project first and make sure they can handle basic power tools without turning it into a crap-show. Saw a post in Handyman Nation group where someone got burned bad by a lazy hire, so yeah, vet them hard. Oh, and watched a Tommy Mello video on scaling up that really opened my eyes to setting clear expectations from day one.