Many of us are familiar with the concept of project management in some shape or form, whether it’s a recruitment campaign, marketing initiative or business planning – we invest time, thought and resources into planning how we go about securing success. But how many of us put the same amount of effort into planning our careers? Arguably one of the most important life decisions any of us can make and all too often we leave it in the hands of others.
It has to be said that for most people, working in established companies, following defined career paths is a perfectly satisfactory approach to live and work. But for some, it can feel constraining to be working for others, abiding by their rules and not having the creative freedom they need. Often with an entrepreneurial streak, these people don’t always fit the profile of a standard recruitment career path.
And that’s why working for someone else isn’t always the best approach. The profits you make go into someone else’s pockets. You have to work to someone else’s rules, with limits on your creativity and delivering someone else’s business plan. No matter how much you were involved in its design, it’s always going to be someone else’s plan.
And that’s where starting your own recruitment business can become a more attractive proposition for people that think this way. You can define the rules. You choose who you work with. You’re more personally invested in your own business, not least because the profits your business makes are your profits. You have more flexibility around your work/life balance and can take control of your future career path. So, if you’re thinking this is describing you and your situation then there are four options readily available to you.
Option one – you can take a financial hit and assume 100% of the risk to start up on your own, using your own money and usually in a spare room or bedroom at home, scaling from there. You get to make all of the decisions but have all of the administration, legal, marketing and financial burden.
Option two – you can seek out an angel investor or other source of funding and still do it all on your own. An angel investor might provide more advice and support (if they have experience in your sector) along with the funding, but you still have all the risk yourself and still need to manage the back office functions yourself.
Option three – of course, you can decide this all sounds like too much hard work… in which case, maybe starting your own business isn’t the right option for you.
Or, option four is to work with established investment companies in this sector – like Bluestones Group – that have a proven approach to identifying, investing in and growing recruitment agencies and staffing service companies. There’s no personal risk involved as finance costs and risks are taken on by the Group. And the instantly available infrastructure and back office support functions means that you can focus on doing what you do best: recruiting, winning new business and making your contract or permanent placements. The business is your own as you have an equity stake in the new company, retaining profits and building a successful future for yourself as you grow your business and brand with the support of a successful Group of recruitment companies behind you.
If option four sounds promising and you want to find out more about starting your own recruitment business, have a number of years’ experience in your sector and region, and an established network of clients and candidates, then please get in touch with Harrison Sands today for a confidential discussion.
