Start a business with the right business support.

Have you ever thought, “I could do this for myself”?

An independent start up is a huge decision in one’s career, and certainly isn’t for everyone. This time of year there is often a lot of reflection as we wind down and spend time relaxing with loved ones. Is this really what I want? Could I have more? Does it need to be this hard? Are just some of the questions you might ponder.

Many people working in a recruitment agency will, at one time or another, have given thought to how they would do things differently if running their own show; or at the very least (and probably quite often upon receiving a payslip!), would have thought ‘Why am I lining someone else’s pockets when this is what I am taking home?’

Historically recruitment is an industry with a very high level of employee turnover. I believe the reason for this is that the grievances one feels at one agency are ultimately also experienced at the next. Strong recruiters are often enticed by promises of fantastic bonus structures, flexibility, friendly and open door cultures etc etc, often however the reality is very different.

So why don’t more successful employees take the plunge into self-employment? In our experience the answer is one of the following: Lack of start-up capital, inability to survive financially until the business is profitable, lack of business knowledge or not wanting to do all of the back office tasks involved in running an agency – and these things don’t produce revenue.

But perhaps the dream isn’t as unobtainable as you think. Often a lot of these concerns can be alleviated with planning and the right support. Have you really crunched the numbers on cashflow. To get to where you want to ultimately go there might be a period of sacrifice – this just means, what is the bare minimum that you and/or your family can survive on for an 8-12 week period. You might already have this in the bank. All you need is that first placement to start and providing you still put in the work the financial burden does not need to last long.

A lack of business knowledge and trying to undertake all tasks on your own can be the undoing of a start up. A good mentor and some back office support though can completely change the success rate. It might seem like a cost saving exercise to cover every role in a business when you first start up, but are you considering what it costs in your time and energy? Is that time better spent trying to sell and bring the dollars in

Now consider the following – this will help establish if you are ready for self-employment.

1. What motivates you? Are you just trying to escape another agency, or is self-employment a lifelong goal / something you have seriously considered in order to make a better life for you and/or your family?
2. Do you have the skills to do this on your own? Would you back your own ability? You need to be confident in not only your ability to recruit, but generate business and look after you clients – self-employment is a total end-to-end situation.
3. Can you self-motivate? You need to be someone who can get up in the morning and do the hard work without someone driving you to do so.
4. Are you prepared to make short-term financial sacrifices? Someone who wants to be seriously successful on their own needs to accept that in the initial stages personal sacrifices of both finances and time need to be made – it takes a lot of hard work and determination build a successful business.
5. What are your goals – are you wanting to build a very successful one-man band, or is employing staff a goal you have for the future?
6. What’s your game plan? You need to have given a lot of consideration to how you would build your desk, how you are going to achieve your financial goals and get through the early days until you are profitable on your own.

Self-employment is a monumental and life changing step. It takes a lot of consideration and personal reflection about what you want to achieve and the lifestyle you ultimately want to create for yourself moving forward. You might find that the parts that scare you, the unknown, don’t need to be so scary after all when you have the right support around you –maybe 2019 is the time to start considering creating your own success and lining your own pockets!