Starting a Recruiting Agency

If you are interested in how to start a recruiting agency of your own, below is a basic introduction that will get you started down the right path.

The first thing you will need is a solid understanding of just what that entails. What does starting a recruiting agency mean and what are the steps you will need to take to get there?

If you are starting a recruiting agency, it simply means you are an Independent Recruiter (which is someone who finds "employees" for "employers") and you work for your self (as opposed to being a recruiter for a specific company or agency - which would be a corporate recruiter or perhaps a military recruiter). As an Independent Recruiter, you will pick up you own clients (employers) and find candidates (employees) for those clients who need help filling their job openings.

There are many advantages (and some disadvantages) to starting a recruiting agency and being an Independent Recruiter. On the advantage side, you are self-employed so you can make more money and work when you want to. On the disadvantage side, you are self-employed so you will pay more taxes and you will work more hours even when you don't want too, so you can make more money. In other words, the positives can be negative and the reverse is also true depending on how you look at it.

Starting a recruiting agency and being an Independent Recruiter is not a "get rich quick" scheme. Although the process is fairly simple, it does require several hours of work each day and, as with most things, the more time and effort you put into it, the more success you will have. However, for those who are willing to "do the time", being a Recruiter can be very rewarding both financially and personally. There is nothing better then knowing you helped someone land their dream job while at the same time making $10,000 $20,000 or even $30,000 dollars in cash. No, that is not an exaggeration.

First thing you need to think about when starting a recruiting agency of your own is where are you going to do this? Ideally, you need a quiet location with some privacy so when you are talking to clients, you are not getting interrupted by noisy pets or family members (mine is dogs and grandchildren). You will need at least enough space for a laptop but if you can setup a space with a regular and a comfortable chair, that is even better. Remember, the more you enjoy your work space and the more comfortable you are spending time in it, the easier it is to discipline yourself to put in the hours you will need to be successful working at home on a computer. This is great advice for anything you choose to do online, not just recruiting.

Next, let's go over some of the very basics you will need as far as equipment.

The 'Must Have' Equipment List

Working desktop or laptop computer with internet access and email. For the computer, the "faster the better" of course but don't feel like you have to go buy a new computer when starting a recruiting agency. Honestly, my wife normally gets the new computers in my home (and I use the ones she gets rid of). Internet connection is another thing however, and while a dial-up connection will work to start with, high-speed internet is highly recommended. Also, I use Microsoft Word for almost every document (and resume) I send out and I use Outlook for my email client. While neither is necessarily required for starting your own recruiting agency, I very much recommend them since both have spell check and every client you work with will have them as well and because of that, won't have any problem opening up the candidates resumes you send them.

Inkjet or Laser Printer & Scanner. Any good quality printer/scanner combination will work fine. There will be times when you have to print out contracts or forms that must be scanned and faxed back.

Dedicated Phone Number (land line or cell phone) As far as a phone line goes, it is very important that you have a separate phone number when starting a recruiting agency. If you don't want to add another land line to your current residence or office, you are, at the very least, going to need to have a cell phone that you can dedicate to recruiting. In other words, you need a number that when candidates and clients call you, they get you personally with a professional greeting like "good afternoon, this is Jane Doe with ACME Agency, how may I help you". Another big plus when starting a recruiting agency is an 800 number. If you shop around, you can usually get one pretty cheap and it will enable candidates to contact you from work. One other inexpensive alternative is signing up for a VoIP number (internet phone number) such as through Vonage or Skype. The only requirement with those is you must have a high speed internet connection and you will want to test the service to be sure you are getting a quality signal.

Answering Machine or Voice Mail When you are not able to answer your business line, you will need a voice mail system or answering machine/service.

Efax Number (Fax number that uses your email) You must have an Efax number if you are seriously considering starting a recruiting agency (or, if you have a fax machine, feel free to continue to go 'old school'). Many of your clients still use fax machines and will want to fax you the signed fee agreement. I currently use fax.com which provides me with a toll-free fax number (which comes to my email in PDF format) and also allows me to send faxes using my email program. At the time I wrote this, the service was just $9.95 month.

Agency Name (what are you going to call yourself?) This may seem to be an easy matter but you may be surprised. When I was starting a recruiting agency of my own, I wanted American Engineering Corp to be the name of my company, and indeed, that is what I go by in my email and dealings with my clients. However, when I went to register myself as an LLC with my state, I was told the name was already taken (by a Japanese company of all things!), so I ended up having to add USA to the beginning of my name to get registered.

Another thing to consider when starting a recruiting agency is whether you can use certain words in your name. I found out later that there are many states (fortunately not mine) that require you to have a licensed PE (professional engineer) working for the company to be able to have the word "engineering" in the name.

If you don't want to go with engineering at all, some common add-on names include; associates, staffing, enterprises, solutions, group, etc.

Once you have your office setup, you are ready to get started. 95% of what I do is online and through email. If you can cut & paste and have at least a basic understanding of the internet and using email and programs like Word, starting a recruiting agency should not be difficult or even cost much money to get started.

Deciding How to Start a Staffing Agency

Deciding how to start a staffing agency will depend on two very important yet highly distinct variables. These two variables will determine how you should begin and or expand your staffing agency.

Let me explain

First: Let's assume you do not have a lot of money and you need to budget.

You will need to create a virtual office to include an online fax line. Also look into getting a toll free number that allows you to save all your messages directly to your email address. Look into creating your own website, something simple and not complicated, simply away to allow people to contact you. You may want to think about using a Factoring company to pay for your invoices.

Hopefully you are starting a staffing agency that you can actually work for while you develop the market place. Print out some business cards, get incorporated get a staffing contract as well as insurance and you are ready to go.

Second: Let's assume you do have money and you can afford a larger budget.

Get incorporated and begin looking for a small office. Get all your marketing material and make sure everything has your logo, business name. Hire someone to answer phone during the day and contract with an after hour company to take your after hour calls.

Make sure you have all the documents needed to meet the needs of both state and federal regulations.You may want to hire a recruiter and or a business developer to help you get started faster. If you cannot afford it then you will have to do the marketing yourself.

Whatever you decide or however you decide to start a staffing agency understand that depending you can start a staffing agency with far less money than you think.

How To Grow Your Recruitment Agency: The 2 Things You Must Focus On

How to grow a recruitment agency is a common question when a group of recruitment business owners get together. The industry is filled with many high performing recruiters who decided to try their hand at running there own recruitment company only to find that they are now stuck. Everything is going OK and yet the growth and profits are not happening exactly as they wanted. This is usually because of a lack of attention to two key and vital things.

People and process. As any company reaches a critical mass attention must turn to these key areas.

People

The biggest overhead in any business and also potentially the most lucrative when it comes to impacting on your bottom line. In honesty recruitment company growth and success is led by the performance of your recruiters. A high biller can potentially make you millions. Logically then training recruiters is an important key step.

A recruiter's role is to bill as much as possible. Let's not beat about the bush. To do that they need to have amazing selling and influencing skills with everyone they come into contact with. From the candidates they attract in to the clients that they work with to ensure that the highest quality candidate fulfils the role.

Diplomacy, patience and drive are all needed in abundance. An important factor that still comes into play is the Management and coaching of your high billers. By their nature sales people (aka) recruiters are a bit different. They are used to persuading people. So your recruitment team leaders must make sure that they can handle this. An official performance management process will make sure that your recruiters deliver consistently. Hiring and firing is a waste of money. As recruiters you will know that. Having specific performance measures helps. A famous saying is what gets measured gets made,. Add into this a dash of motivation and additional advanced training and you will soon have a high performing team that does literally work like a well-oiled machine.

Process

Having a process in any business works. A systematic plan to follow works wonders. Have you noticed that some of the biggest employers in the UK use systems, checklists and processes? Imagine turning up at your local hospital to be surrounded by a surgical team that has no idea what is happening next. This might sound an outrageous example and yet think of how this can translate into your own business. A life may not be at stake though a number of livelihoods will be. Creating a system approach and way of thinking will impact in many areas of your recruitment business and is a great clue in how to grow your business. Any repetitive task need to be written down. Success leaves clues. Imagine have a defined process where you can pinpoint exactly what needs to happen to produce predictable results. This process style of thinking can work at all levels in your recruitment company. From your marketing, lead generation, people management, and employee reward and development system.

If you are stuck about how to start a recruitment agency. Sit down with a paper and pen and walk through exactly what is and is not working in these two areas and you will have a first start action plan for success. In summary if starting a recruitment agency is your goal, have a plan and make sure the first three things you explore are the 3 M's.

Starting A Recruitment Agency The 3 M's That Lead To Success

Starting a recruitment agency is something that crosses the mind of most recruiters at some time or another. It is understandable particularly for recruitment consultants who are high performers. A quick look at billing's delivered and take home salary has motivated many any ambitious recruiters to go it alone.

The reality of starting your own successful recruitment agency is somewhat different. Sitting in an office with a backup team and resources around you is very different t from picking up the phone and selling your new agency without a track record. Add to that the new business process's you will be involved with and managing a team on a shoe string and you can see where the cracks soon appear. The truth is that success in the recruitment business boils down to three main categories. The 3 M's. Money, Mentoring and Mindset.

Money

Yes I know this might sound obvious and yet many new recruitment business owners overlook this. If you have financial backing from an investor, a bank or your own savings. This would be a sensible start. Like the famous saying about holidays. Always have more money than you think you will need. Costs can be minimised if you start with a plan and focus on the areas that are a must have verses the nice to have. For instance ensure you have enough to pay your own home bills and expenses for at least three months. The buying cycle of your customers will make a huge difference to your cash flow in the early months. The sad fact is not everyone pays on time. That 5K commission check you were promised might take four weeks longer to land than your originally anticipated. If that is the case do you have enough in reserve to live and develop your business?



Mindset

An overused term in all walks of life at the moment, and yet totally valid. Look at any high achiever and you will notice that they in general are pretty ordinary. So special qualifications or abilities. So what is the difference that makes the difference? Look at any successful athlete and they will share with you how their individual mindset works in their performance and results. As you watch a group of athletes running around a track they all look physically pretty similar. Something else is going on. The mastery of your inner game will produce outstanding results if that is what you want. The simple process was discovered many years ago and has been expanded on through the study of Neurolingustic programming and similar advanced thinking technologies. You have a thought, that thought creates a feeling you then act on that feeling and this produces a result. This can work for or against you. The good news is you can get help to work out how this process works individually for you, and then how you can change it to produce the results you want.

Mentoring

Leading on from mindset is mentoring. It is a recommendation many successful business owners will suggest if you are serious about starting a recruitment agency. Using a mentor will guarantee results at a faster pace provided you listen learn and then act. The advice will often help in the money part of the equation as well. Have you ever noticed that when you are really buzzing with a 'can do' invincible attitude the funds do seem to appear? How can that be? The power of focus will produce results. Working with a business mentor will ensure that you can short cut the process by helping you avoid unnecessary diversions to your actual goal.

In summary if you want to know how to start a recruitment agency, have a plan and make sure the first three things you explore are the 3 M's.

How To Start A Recruitment Agency: 3 Mistakes Most People Make

Starting a recruitment agency might seem like a good idea. Let's face it how hard can it be? Companies need employees so logic says it would be sensible to outsource the grunt work to someone else and then just pay them for the service they deliver as a recruitment agency.

As a recruiter then, all you need to do is match up the client and the candidate and then hey presto you send out a large invoice. In fact over the month you send out many and everyone is happy, especially your significant other, and your bank manager. The reality though is a little different.

Yes the rewards for those ambitious entrepreneur's that do start a recruitment agency can be potentially huge, as long as you don't make these classic new start up mistakes.

1. Not Doing Your Market Research

This is one of the biggest reasons that most businesses fail. They simply do not adhere to the ancient premise of wants and needs and supply and demand. Let me explain, if you do not have something that people want and there is a market for, you will struggle to even achieve a decent cash flow let alone make any profit.

You must research your market well. In the recruitment market some sectors are better than others to enter. This can depend on anything from the area of the country you are based to the growth of an individual market. Have a look on Google. Who is advertising and who is appearing on page one? Buy an industry trade magazine, and read it from cover to cover. Read what is being said. What are the issues and upsides? Take the bull by the horns and offer to buy a recruiter a beer or glass of wine and pick their brains. This will give you a lot of the information you need.

If you have never worked in recruitment before I would respectfully suggest you get a job as a recruiter. Now you may have stacks of cash and just want to manage a team. That might be OK and yet my experience is that the really successful recruitment business owners have all worked at one time or another as a recruiter. So what next?

2. Not planning your first Six Months Cash Flow

When you are considering how to start a recruitment agency, your initial cash flow will be vital. You don't need a swanky office when you first start hitting the phones though you do need 'enough' to cover your expenses. Remember many organisations particularly the larger ones only pay on invoice which can be anywhere between 30 and 180 days. Yes some companies can make their suppliers wait up to six months before they pay them. So even if you are well trained as a recruiter it is going to take you at least 3-6 months to get regular cash flow coming in so make sure you plan for that.

3. Being Disorganised Without A Marketing Plan

When you are thinking about starting your recruitment agency, you will need a marketing plan. This does not have to be a long drawn out document with everything covered. It does need to have the key elements. This would include who you market is, what your offer will be, how you will approach them, how you will generate sales leads etc.

Your business plan is something a little different and would be a useful document to show your bank manager. Here you would highlight your cash flow, how fast you will grow, when you will bring on board other recruiters, and how you will put in place recruitment consultant training for them.

How to Start a Recruitment Agency: 3 Steps You Must Take

How to start a recruitment agency? A good question. Recruitment agency owners are usually driven, full of ambition and embodied with enough self-assurance to make good snap decisions about anything related to employment. Sound like you? Well, the good thing is that you don't need to be born into this job. With technology and the need for more skilled workers something which is never likely to slow down, starting your own recruitment training is something within the grasp of many people, and a vocation which can be as rewarding as any other top-flight profession. The key is how you do it, and to get a good idea you could do much worse than consult these 3 steps to success:

1) Research and training: if you're looking at how to start how to start a recruitment business then consider your skill-set. If you have good inter-personal skills and the uncanny ability to see things from the employer's perspective then this is definitely the job for you! Begin by researching how other company owners did it, then look for courses in your area which train you in all the areas necessary to make an impact. These include understanding staff PAYE and general duties, as well as tax, VAT and relevant legislation. Alongside this you'll be unravelling the legal, commercial and ethical responsibilities of starting a recruitment agency and online recruitment training. Finally, with professional help you'll develop a business plan and create a structured concept which will work seamlessly with people who know they have the skills for their required job but need your assistance to make it happen. Recruitment consultant courses are everywhere, and at all budgets too!

2) Once you've completed your training you'll be in the perfect position to move swiftly forward. Your first stop is to read up even more on the Recruitment Agency subject. Following that, you'll need to consider your finances before you go and see the bank manager about your new venture. If your computer skills are lacking, and you have little experience of managing people and HR, don't panic! There are countless courses and books out there, along with computer resources which are available at an instant. Thank goodness for search engines.

3) Now it's time to start thinking about a location for training in recruitment. This is where you'll gather all the knowledge you've amassed over the past few months and use it to get a venue which works in your favour. Parking is great if you can find it, and once you've done this you'll need to consult an accountant - if you don't have one, get one - to make sure that all your paperwork is in order and your business is starting on a clean slate. Finally, it's time to start thinking about your very first Recruitment Agency marketing campaign. Good at social networking? Fancy a go at direct mail or an email campaign with an innovative twist? In that case, it's quite possible that you'll be able to network your business efficiently enough that you'll never struggle to find clients. If you'd rather hire a professional then that's no problem either - there are literally thousands of companies up and down the UK who specialise in promoting businesses both on and offline. Once you've done all that, it's time to take that final leap of faith and open your company doors to the world. If you haven't got any Recruitment Agency stationary or business cards in-hand then getting them sorted now is a very good idea!