12 Months and Counting: How to Ensure Your Recruitment Start-Up Breaks the 1 Year Mark

You are probably one of them. I bet you are.

You are one of the many exceptional recruiters out there. The REC tells us there is 119,000 people employed in the recruitment industry, so statistics tell us that there will be at least 10,000 exceptional recruiters!

Most of these exceptional recruiters will have developed a niche market that they are excelling in, through their own strong personal brand for delivering not just excellent candidates, but ongoing market intelligence, competitor info and so much more value add – they are true partners to their customers.

But do you know these key things?

1. That the landscape of the market has had a shake-up post-pandemic and there are now so many clients, especially the SMEs, who are open to building new relationships with recruiters who can give them what they need in their niche.
2. You can work independently, as you have proven to be the case over the last few years
3. You can access cloud-based tools from wherever you want to work from

So, what is stopping you from saying “to hell with me doing this for someone else, when I could be doing exactly what I am now but for myself!”?

Is it a fear of change and the failure that could follow?

We have all heard the stats (often inflated) of how many businesses fail in their first year. The reality is about 20% of start-ups across the UK at the moment are dissolved in year 1! Poor buggers! I reckon that must hurt!

However, why then have we seen 100% of the recruiters we support (most of whom have gone beyond that mystical 1-year anniversary) not just remain in business, but thrive as they build up their bank balance, recruit employees and start ticking off the goals they set themselves – whether that is as a stand-alone recruiter or to grow a bigger team.

How are they bucking the trend? Well, apart from the fact that we at Sunblink are involved (I had to get that in!), these are the reasons, I believe ensured their success;

1. Be honest about your own skillset. Not least your 360 recruitment skills, especially BD, as there is no database or existing company brand to leverage. Read this for more details on what attributes I think are needed.
2. Have a clear business plan in place that identifies your niche market. Yes, you have the advantage of being exceptionally agile as a stand-alone recruiter, but don’t try and cover everything. The old adage of ‘an inch wide and a mile deep’ is one to take note of as you build on your personal brand
3. Set yourself realistic goals, especially over the first 3 months. You have probably been billing £30k-£50k+ every quarter since you can remember, but don’t let it get to you when you don’t have a deal nailed in your first month. Fantastic if you do, but set goals over those first few weeks based around sales calls, jobs on and CVs sent. Positive, realistic things that you know will lead to revenue and will remind you that you’re on the right path
4. Build a support team around you. You may be the sole owner of your recruitment business but that does not mean you need to be on your own. Utilise support businesses like ourselves here at Sunblink, that can build a bespoke package of tools and support services that you know you’ll need, so that you can focus on recruiting and making those deals.
5. Not only that but ensure your support team understands you and understands recruitment. You need feel totally comfortable bouncing ideas off them, tapping into their knowledge & expertise of running a recruitment business as well as just talking about all of the other personal stuff that any normal person has going on in their lives.

That is what will ensure your success! That is what will enable you to focus on the most important thing – bringing in business and not only surpassing 12 months but many, many more years beyond that!

Let’s be honest, it’s still not an easy step to make, but I want you to know the facts are, you can massively maximise your chances of successfully building your own recruitment business by doing these few things.

You’re already doing 90% of it but to the benefit of someone else’s pocket so get in touch and I’ll happily listen to your thoughts on where you are and what you ideally want to achieve.