No matter where you are in your recruiting career or the recruitment business you are developing; you have to start at the beginning and do what is necessary and invest in you and your business. Nothing mind-blowing you might say and that is true; at some level. Let’s explore this one a bit more.
A well know billionaire called Bill Gates is reported as having uttered the famous phrase; “we totally overestimate where we will be in one year and underestimate where we will end up in 10”.
My own observations when working with recruitment business owners, managers and independent recruiters bear this out time and time again. Here is the thing; amazing things can happen in just a few short years; provided you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and invest in areas that will give you a return…..hint you are one of them.
Free Business Checkup Reveals…
“How Fit Your Recruitment Business Is For Growth…
Though we often don’t do that……do we? Stuff comes up for us and we can sabotage our own success. Do you recognise any of these patterns showing up in your own business life?
- You cut corners and ‘try’ to make things happen overnight
- You don’t invest at a level that brings results (especially in you)
This might be bold and I know you will, at some point in your life, have experienced all of these scenarios. The nasty bit is they are often unconscious and it takes someone else to point them out!
Cutting Corners
We have all done it. Sent out that CV without reading it properly, responding to an email saying yes when it should have been no. “Act in haste and repent at leisure” is a well-known saying that many recruiters don’t think applies to them. If you want to build something amazing it will need good foundations and that will take time. A classic example is when a recruiter decides to set up on their own – Go independent. A common occurrence is after the first exciting few months they start to flounder; why? No system or structure is in place. No KPI’s decided on, let alone measured. No friendly recruitment manager supporting and guiding you either. Sad really because independents have the opportunity to get it right from the start. A SMART goal, a plan, support and accountability is what is needed.
Let’s do it on the cheap or not at all………..
The nurting side of me might forgive you this one; though not for long. Whether we like it or not the world is set up in such a way that:
- we can learn a lot of skills over time ( hint this could be years)
- just because you can doesn’t mean you should
- we get what we pay for
- eventually you have to take action
- you can’t physically do everything
Many of you reading this blog post probably have the latest smart phone. Perhaps you drive a lovely car and wear the best gear. But you refuse to spend money on outsourcing functions in your business or recruiting someone with expertise in an area that you know needs attention; yet if you did you would increase your revenue so you could buy even more toys or send your children to private school; you get where this is going ?
When you first started your recruitment agency you probably did a lot of things yourself. You were the classic super hero. Sorry to burst your bubble……and it has to stop my friend; because pretty soon you will run out of bandwidth-unless you do something about it. Yes it is a great idea to understand all the elements of your business from; marketing to motivation. That way you make informed decisions. Having a good profit margin is a good goal to aim for.
Think about it, if you want a bigger business you will need to invest if you want more profit and some of that needs to be on you! Training, mentoring and coaching works. Period. It will accelerate your results. Fellow business owners rarely reveal that they have coaching or mentoring; though we all suspect and some of us know it happens, consistently. It is a phenomenon that works in all areas of life. Have a look at Andy Murray’s reaction to losing Ivan Lendl. Why? He appreciates the difference it has made to his skill level and his bank account!
I rest my case; well almost. You know my own guarantee; which is obvious all over this website on the return you can achieve from my programmes. It is the same for other areas of your business too.
Free Business Checkup Reveals…
“How Fit Your Recruitment Business Is For Growth…
Always ask yourself; “is this the best use of my time, what else I could be doing that I am more skilled at and get better results?” An idea a mentor shared with me was to look at my hourly rate and then factor that into the services I might want to hand over.
It is an easy calculation; remember to factor in your holidays, bank holidays, probably at least one day a week where you might be otherwise engaged. There are a couple of other things to consider and to make it easier for you assume a £100,000 salary; which I respectfully suggest should be your minimum starting point. With these figures your hourly rate is going to work out at about £90-100 an hour. That is a starting point for you. Be honest here, some of the tasks you are doing can probably be ‘done’ better and faster by someone else. Trust me I know. As general rule of thumb recruitment business owners are not that creative; your skills are in other areas. Imagine then ‘trying’ to come up with ideas on marketing campaigns or emails you can send is unlikely to fill your heart with joy and will; I guarantee, take you ages.
So today’s take away? Reframe investing in you and your business; it might just be the block that is holding you back.
Warm Regards,
If you want to learn how to set up your business, so that it stops under-performance once and for all, then join my free webinar: The 5 Secrets Our Clients Use to Build 7 & 8 Figure Recruitment Businesses
