As the founder of 3X, I'm no stranger to hiring. My first company grew from zero to 5 million in just a few short years, which meant we were hiring new staff every few weeks just to keep up with the growth. There was constant pressure to stay ahead of the curve, but not too far.

I learned some important lessons during this time, especially when to hire and when not to. It is not an easy decision. If you hire too slowly, you can overburden your staff and lose your edge in finding new clients or maintaining the clients you already have. If you hire very quicklyyou can come out ahead in terms of profitability and cash flow. It's always a tightrope walk and there are no easy answers.

When founders seek my advice in this area, I recommend that they take a thoughtful approach and avoid making emotional decisions. While a new hire isn't necessarily a permanent decision, it can have permanent consequences if you have made the wrong choice. Before you start recruiting, interviewing and hiring more staff, I suggest you consider these five things.

Related: Avoid costly hiring mistakes with these five essential tips

1. Protect your bottom line

Entrepreneurs are usually risk averse. We go out on a limb every morning when we walk out the door. Ask yourself this simple question: Will the new employee immediately place you in one negative cash flow position? If so, it's probably best to wait. Without enough of a cash flow cushion to cover extra expenses, you could be in over your head in no time. Consider waiting until you have at least six months of cash in the bank to cover the expenses of any new hire. Otherwise, you risk putting too much financial pressure on the entire organization, and especially yourself.

2. Look closely at growth trends

You can avoid knee-jerk hiring decisions by taking a good look at your revenue growth trends—and not just in the past weeks or months, but over the past year or even longer. Are you experiencing steady growth or just a temporary spike in sales? Do some research and try to identify where you see sales going next quarter, the quarter after that, and for the next 12 months. Be brutally honest with yourself. Entrepreneurs can sometimes be too sure about the future (that's what keeps us going!), but don't be so sure that you're making blind decisions. Try to make one data driven decisionnot an emotional decision.

3. Assess the real need

Sometimes it's easy to believe that a new hire will solve all your problems. Try not to fool yourself into thinking so. As you and your team can feel overwhelmedbringing in new staff includes work. Interviewing, training and managing takes time. Creating new roles and positions also takes time – sometimes (but not always) more work than if you had done the work yourself. Again, it can be a tightrope walk as to how and when the decision is made. However, be thoughtful and don't rush into thinking that your problems will all disappear with a new hire. Take some time to assess where and why you need more help before hiring more help.

Related: Think you should hire? Think Again.

4. Talk to your team

Before making any new hiring decisions, spend some time talking to the people on your team who will be directly affected by the new hire. Try to get their honest feedback. Sometimes you find your best answers from those who are on the front lines of your business. It may be that you don't necessarily need more staff. Maybe you need a reorganization or better deployment of a technology, or you may find that certain members of your team need more training. You can never assume too much, and if you make hiring decisions without consulting your team, you're putting yourself and the team at risk.

5. Remember that you are dealing with human beings

In the day-to-day hustle and bustle of running a business, it's easy to forget that you're hiring human beings, not resumes. Every employment decision you make affects human life. If you make the wrong decision and you're done letting someone godon't forget that job loss is a real hardship and affects entire families. Be careful about your hiring decisions. We have responsibilities as employers to the human beings who work for us. People are not numbers on a table. They are mothers, fathers, young people and others struggling to make ends meet. If you must hire, by all means hire, but don't forget to consider the lives of the people you hire.

Related: 5 Signs You're Hiring Wrong (and How to Fix Them)

Business growth always requires you to hire more staff and sometimes you need to scale things up a bit to achieve your goals. I know I certainly did. But do your best to be informed, data-driven, and cautious employment decisions that will benefit both your organization and the people you employ.