The UK recruitment industry is going rapidly, having seen a total revenue of £32.2 billion in 2017 – 88% of that was achieved through temp and contract roles. With the increase in the number of people choosing to freelance, and an increasing demand for contractors within a company, now may seem like the right time to grow your business.

However, there are some things to take into consideration before beginning your expansion plan.

Use this blog article as a mental tick box and, if you believe these five points ring true about your recruitment agency, then it is more than likely the right time to grow your business.

You’ve got the right team behind you

Without a good team behind you, growing your business will be an uphill struggle. You need their motivation, passion and drive to succeed because, without it, you just have a goal but no one to get you there.

Here’s how to tell if your team are behind you, every step of the way:

  • your recruiters have fully bought into your vision for the business, as well as for them
  • your CRM and back office are in sync
  • they are completely happy with the commission structure within the business, whether that will stay the same or change during the period of growth
  • the market they recruit into is growing, and they are feeling the positive effects of this – both in their professional experience and their paychecks

If your team aren’t currently providing the backbone your business needs to grow, have a look at these 10 ways to motivate your recruiters.

You can also work with your top billers and get their tips to help light a fire under the rest of your team.

You’re smashing all of your goals well in advance of deadlines

When goals no longer feel unachievable, it’s a clear indicator that your business is succeeding – that’s a given.

However, when you, your team and your business have reached a point where the goals are becoming repetitive and continuously too easy to achieve, it’s a clear indicator that you are ready to grow.

Knowing they’ll easily be able to hit their targets each quarter can make a team complacent and lazy. Growing your business means they will need to work harder and do more to achieve their goals, which will give them more motivation and determination – especially if there’s an incentive involved.

You’re passing up opportunities that are closely related to your core market

If a potential client comes to you with a new opportunity that is closely related to the core markets you already work with and you say no, you need to ask yourself why?

You already have a good team of recruiters behind you, knowledge of a similar industry to build upon and, most importantly, a company who has chosen you as the agency they want to work with.

Stepping out of your comfort zone, and working a new sector, is the perfect way to grow your business at a speed that works for you. You don’t need to publicise straight away that you now recruit for this industry.

You can do a soft launch of this branch of your business and get an idea of how it works. When you’re confident that you have the capability to go to market, you can advertise that your agency is now able to fill these roles.

You have access to a reliable cash flow

Without the cash flow in place to support the additional business coming into your agency, you’ll struggle to keep up and make ends meet.

So a reliable cash flow is key to the successful execution of your growth plan. It means you can pay any new staff you need to bring on board, it allows you to accommodate additional costs for things like better software to run our admin, etc. And it means you can pay your candidates on time, without having to wait for the money to come in from your clients.

The most opted for solution is the introduction of an invoice factoring provider. They give you the finance and back office you need to scale successfully.

However, there are a lot of different kinds of provider out there, and knowing which one will be the best fit for your business can be difficult.

If you already have a provider, here are five questions you need to ask before renewing your contract with them.

And, if you are yet to work with one, here are five things you need to know before choosing invoice finance.

Clients and candidates are seeking you out

Recruitment can definitely feel like a one-way street a lot of the time. You are always the ones to reach out to candidates and clients for work and to fill roles.

So, if you’ve noticed that more clients and candidates are coming to you, without you reaching out to them at all, this is a good sign that your business is ready to grow.

Word-of-mouth has always been one of the best forms of marketing and acquisition, and a positive review of a recruiter or agency means a lot – just type ‘Recruiters are’ into Google, and you’ll see a magnitude of reasons why candidates hate recruiters.

So, how do you introduce and increase this incoming traffic?

It’s a culmination of:

  • defining good recruitment practices, and making sure these are being used by your whole team
  • working on your brand awareness, both on and offline
    • share relevant news and information on your social channels
    • be good communicators
    • make sure your job ads are perfect
    • make sure you listen to your existing clients and candidates
  • build up an excellent reputation as an agency who can successfully fill roles

 

Growing your recruitment business takes planning, time and dedication. If you have all of the above in place, you’re in good stead to start putting your growth plan into action. Download our eBook below for more advice on how to grow your recruitment business.