An article by Business in Vancouver showed a compelling survey last month which I believe is important to take a close look at.
The article states: "For most businesses, wages are the top operating expense". Understandably this makes sense as labour is an essential input that typically drives production output, services, and administration of any business.
This BIV survey also indicated that the top two challenges facing the business community after the pandemic are attracting customers (revenue), and cash flow.
In today's world, hiring expert contractors with specific objectives can be a fast solution to generating new business or solving problems without a large sunk wage cost. Hiring full-time business development specialists makes the most sense when you can maximize this labour over the long term.
Peter Drucker once said that sales and innovation (R&D) create revenue; all the other functions are costs. If your business forecast is looking to be a challenge, it can be worthwhile to invest in new sales development that will pay dividends to your business!
https://biv.com/article/2020/04/nearly-half-bc-businesses-may-not-or-will-not-re-open