Julian,
We have been going for just over 4 years, I started off by myself when I was made redundant, I now have 6 lads working full time, 3 vans and a fourth on the way.
If you want to have something to retire on and if you are building up a good reputation and struggling to keep up with demand, then employing staff is the ONLY way to go.
There are always going to be extra costs and more hassle, but you need to look at your long term plan, where do you want to be in 5 - 10 years.
Drop me a line if you want to have a chat.