Thinking about starting your own Recruitment Agency?

You are thinking about starting your own recruitment agency?

It could be exactly the right time. Huge opportunity. (Read how my Agency start-ups worked after a recession!)

But you need a plan!

And lots of moving parts can go wrong.

Many who try are ill-prepared. Some have a chance of making it. All need help.

Most leap into the fray without a clear strategy, and with little idea of the resources needed.

The failure rate is depressingly high.

But the rewards of getting it right are life-changing!

So I wrote this 13-point business plan strategy guide for you.

(BTW, experienced business owners will find this helpful too.)

But there is so much more.

I am able to offer you a brand-new eBook from my friends at APositive, where they have curated the work of 14 experts with deep knowledge of how to make sure your business succeeds.

And of course, it’s free. Because we are just like that at The Savage Truth and at APositive

Download the eBook here.

But now, read my bit!

Starting a business is fraught with risk. Most new business owners simply set out to ‘work hard’ and ‘do their best’. That attitude is essential but adding planning to your preparation is key. Planning provides the leader with great clarity and offers milestones to measure progress. No doubt success in business is the perfect blend of strategy and implementation. You need both. This checklist will be a great platform for starting the planning process:

Setting goals and developing a business strategy.
The 13-point plan

1) Sanity check your aspirations

Do you really want this? For the right reasons? Are you up for the challenge? What do you want? A job? Autonomy? Build an empire? Money?

2) Know what you want to build

Lifestyle business? An asset you can sell? A legacy?

3) The power of planning.

A big mistake for most new owners. “Work hard but no plan’. Planning builds hunger and resolve. It brings clarity to outcomes sought, decisions faced, and progress made. Plan every plank of business success. Client acquisition, candidate sourcing, technology, people, quality, marketing, performance.

4) Understand ‘sustainability’

Annuity revenue, foundation clients, deep client relationships, multiple revenue-earners, processes and ‘servitisation’, the second tier of management.

5) Clarify your target market

Your specialisation and sweet spot, where we have something to offer, where you can stand out, where you have leverage. With both clients and candidates.

6) Identify your differentiators. Define your offer

What sets you apart? Your WOW factor? And it must matter to clients and candidates. What problem do you solve? Access to unique candidates and unique jobs.

7) Build your Candidate Acquisition Strategy

You must be able to access candidates clients can’t. So relying only on job boards and LinkedIn is a recipe for failure, or at best mediocrity. Use of database, social sourcing, branding, events, talent communities, what else?

8) Set A ‘Christmas day’ Goal

12 to 18 months. Nail the pathway. What will we look like and how will we get there?

9) Pin down your 100 Day Sprint

Short term, clearly defined goals. Action Plans. Must hit. Around activities, initiatives, people and revenue

10) Set your ‘Dashboard metrics’ to guide the way

This guides you. Keeps you on track. Covers financial and operational imperatives. (See Savage Truth Blog for details)

11) Build a full (simple) financial kitbag

Get help. Clear monthly P&L. Budget. Cash flow and balance sheet. Understand them and use them as a forecaster and prompter of pre-emptive action. Not just historical retrospective.

12) Garner your mentors

Build your network. Don’t abuse it, but look for wise counsel. Repay the favour where you can. Listen a lot. Beware hubris. Eventually, hire skilled advisors.

13) Examine your ‘Leadership scorecard’.

The business will hinge on this. Your leadership style. Your EQ and CQ. Remember, leadership is action. It’s what you do that counts. Not so much what you say.

Get the full EBook, ‘A Positive Start’ from APositive here!

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