4 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Starting Your Own Recruitment Agency

Growth looks promising for the recruitment industry in the UK, with agencies being responsible for much of last year's bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis. So, there's no time like the present if you're thinking about going it alone and partaking in all this success with an agency of your own.

However, starting a recruitment agency by yourself is a bit of a gamble, with employment legislation changes, new work restrictions on EU migrant labour, and unstable inflation rates. Despite this, if you're dreaming of starting up a recruitment agency, 2021 is as good a time as any.

Here Are 4 Common Mistakes You Should Avoid When Starting Up a Recruitment Agency Business:

1) Vague USP

Half of start-ups fail in under 5 years in the UK, and competition is fierce for small recruitment businesses, facing stiff opposition from established national brands. A Unique Selling Point (USP) is the only proven way to gain and keep a competitive advantage. So, when starting up a recruitment agency UK-friendly differentiators are a must. For instance, you may wish to focus on temporary workers and contractors from the EU who are most likely to be part of the next wave of visa passes, or you might consider specialist skilled workers from further afield who seek more permanent jobs and are more likely to commit to a specific kind of job – e.g. construction specialists and doctors.

2) Overspending.

Nowadays, permanent premises tie up too many assets to be a viable option for someone who's starting a recruitment agency business for the first time. Consider alternatives that can free up your cash flow and reduce overheads. For instance, you might be able to save by renting venues for the meetings you want to host on a case by case basis. On the other hand, why not share premises with a non-competing company? Other overhead costs include utility bills, software bills, and insurance. You can often save on all three by comparing their rates online. Finally, despite what you may have heard, salaries are not overhead costs, but they do add up. Starting a recruitment agency only takes one person, but it may take an entire team to run it. To minimise costs, you might want to put off hiring additional staff for as long as the workload is manageable. It’s easier to hire people than sack people, after all.

3) Scrimping On Ads.

Most companies think online advertising is beyond their capabilities when they're starting out, but you don't need to create and host your website on your own server when you're starting up a recruitment agency business. It can all be done for a modest monthly fee using online templates and an SaaS (software as a service) style platform, such as Squarespace. The same goes with your online domain and your social media pages – the cost is minimal.

Be sure to set aside a decent budget for your marketing and PR initiatives. These require some testing and tweaking before you find that 'sweet spot' where your promotional campaigns pay off and your website traffic is manageable.

4) Back-Office Burnout.

How long do you see yourself burning the midnight oil on tedious back-office tasks?

Filling out spreadsheets, doing the ledger, filing tax reports, working out bookkeeping errors, and chasing up payments is more than anyone person can and should take. Thankfully, TBOS can take this aspect of starting up a recruitment agency business off your hands for good. Why throw any more time, money, and effort at the problem, when you can outsource your back-office duties to the experts? For round-the-clock, reliable, and consistent back-office services, TBOS is the solution.

Next Steps

We offer a range of tailored admin support services to recruitment businesses in every sector and every level of experience, including start-ups. To find out how our services can free up the resources you need to establish and grow your new business, please give us a call.

Image Source: Pixabay


Stewart Roberts

Written by Stewart Roberts

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