Top 7 Reasons To Set Up A Recruitment Business

Earn more money

Nothing in life is guaranteed, however employed recruiters only get to keep on average around 33% of what they bill. As a self-employed recruiter, you should be taking at least 70% of your placements, even taking account of the running costs of your business. That’s well over a 100% pay rise!

Look forward to Mondays!

I can speak from the personal experience of my first recruitment business, on Sunday nights I couldn’t wait for the next day to get back into work again. The buzz of being my own boss, building MY business, and the massive high I got when every placement landed, knowing how much more I’d earn, meant Mondays become the best day of the week!

The freedom of working the best way for you

I must have interviewed hundreds of recruiters for my own and other businesses, and more recently recruiters who want to own their own recruitment companies, and the vast majority of recruiters feel they could work so much better given the freedom to work their way. From not having to hit pointless KPIs, working different hours more productive for their market or their personal circumstances, using different strategies they’re told won’t work, and access to the latest recruitment tools their current business won’t entertain, included.

Changing some of these things and working YOUR way should make you far more productive and will take away a lot of the day to day frustrations. The job will then feel easier and a lot more enjoyable, another great reason to become your own boss.

Build a business you wish you worked for!

Most of the recruiters I meet tell me stories of the things they don’t agree with in their current job, how they’re managed, the incentive schemes, how the culture feels etc. I explain that working for a bad employer is actually a great place to learn how to grow a business. I turn it round and ask how they would do things differently for each example, and there’s the start of your business plan!

Bill more per hour!

It’s amazing how much difference extra motivation and increased focus makes on landing those placements, and you’ll quickly see how much more you can bill on per hour.

In my first year as a self-employed recruiter, my pounds per hour shot up. In any recruitment agency start-up, you will have things that drag you away from recruiting. I could’ve billed twice as much in my first year if I’d not lost so much time working on things I’d never done before – IT set up, accounts, building a website etc. However I still billed the same as I did in my best year as an employed recruiter. This had the knock on effect that I earned 150% more in my first year than I’d ever done before.

Make your dreams achievable

We all do it, have those moments where you fantasize about the future, having a villa abroad, owning a super car, retiring early, whatever it is you’d do if you won the lottery. If you own your own recruitment agency, these dreams become real achievable goals. If you stay employed, you will always be relying on a lottery win, but build a successful recruitment business and you can actually make those dreams come true.

Love your job again!

Being your own boss makes your job stops feeling like a ‘job’.

Richard Branson has a great view on enjoying work.

“I don’t think of work as work and play as play, it’s all living” and

“80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home why shouldn’t you have fun at work”

I found the difference between being an employee and being self-employed was amazing. It was so much more fun, rewarding and fulfilling being your own boss. The years of recruiting my first staff for myself and actually building a business were by far the most enjoyable I’ve ever had in work and pretty close to outside work too.

I made my business a great place to work, a goal I’d always had for my business. We all loved billing big together, celebrating together and all enjoyed working for the good of the business, not solely ourselves. The pride I felt in my team was something I can’t put into words.

That’s why I now focus all my business hours on working with recruiters who want to achieve the same success I had, if not more. I’m now reliving some of that buzz of the early years seeing those I’ve helped set up enjoy growing a recruitment business just as much as I did!