I strongly recommend that you start your agency as a specialist recruiter – targeting clients in a market that you have a level of knowledge and understanding. This enables you to build your business in a niche sector so that you can operate as a specialist in your chosen field, which in turn allows you to command higher fees for your service.
When a client is talking to you, they want to know that you have a level of understanding of their industry which will enable you to provide the candidate with the right skills for their business. Promoting the fact that you are a specialist recruiter shows your clients that you’re well connected in your field and not only have an enviable database of skilled candidates but more importantly know exactly where and how to source suitable candidates for their business.
The added benefit is that you’ll be trying to fill vacancies for a variety of vacancies with the same candidates who were not hired for another vacancy. In fact, operating this way allows you to send the same candidate to several clients, which in turn greatly increases your success ratio of candidates interviewed to placements.
Be sure to choose a speciality that is growing – or at least is stable and recession proof.
Outlined below are a number of industries that tend to perform well in good times and bad.
* Public services
* Social housing
* Oil and gas
* Risk and compliance
* Internal audit
* Credit control
* Purchasing