Start A Recruiting Agency - Business Ideas
Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.
The global online recruitment market size was $29B in 2019 and is projected to reach $43B by 2027.
The best way to assess the success of a Recruiting Agency is to review what their clients say about them and the results achieved for those clients.
As a recruiter, you dream of landing your first client, but once you do, you realize it’s only the start of what you hope will be a successful business. Have you ever wondered how to start a recruiting agency business? There’s so much you can learn from books, but nothing beats getting real-world experience.
Starting a recruiting agency requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell recruiting service, or selling recruiting service online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Key Stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
|
Office Space Expenses |
$0 |
$7,000 |
|
Employee & Freelancer Expenses |
$151 |
$352 |
|
Website Costs |
$223 |
$7,215 |
|
Business Formation Fees |
$5,600 |
$20,400 |
|
Software Expenses |
$162 |
$3,094 |
|
Advertising & Marketing Costs |
$0 |
$2,300 |
|
Training & Education Expenses |
$0 |
$1,000 |
|
Total Startup Costs |
$6,136 |
$41,361 |
Case Studies
•
$290K/mo
•
$40K/mo
•
$85K/mo
•
$170K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Employment Development Department |
edd.ca.gov |
251 |
|
|
SEEK |
seek.com.au |
1,314 |
|
|
ZipRecruiter |
ziprecruiter.com |
1,336 |
|
|
Staffing Agencies & Recruiters |
roberthalf.com |
9,639 |
|
|
PNet - Jobs in South Africa |
pnet.co.za |
13,043 |
|
|
Recruit.net |
recruit.net |
29,212 |
|
|
Aerotek Recruiting and Staffing |
aerotek.com |
37,925 |
|
|
Jobs, Staffing, & Workforce Solutions |
randstadusa.com |
40,691 |
|
|
Creative Staffing Agency |
aquent.com |
57,397 |
|
|
Etcareers Jobs in Ethiopia |
etcareers.com |
70,041 |
|
|
Michael Page |
michaelpage.com |
93,471 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
|
Flexibility |
You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
|
Rewarding work |
Starting a recruiting agency can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about. |
|
Meaningful business connections |
You never know who you will meet as a recruiting agency. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
|
High customer retention rates |
Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
|
Pick & choose the clients you work with |
Recruiting Agencyes have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients! |
|
Control of workload |
With starting a recruiting agency, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
|
Motivation of employees |
If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
|
Low margins |
The gross margins for your recruiting agency are typically around 30%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability. |
|
High employee turnover |
In the recruiting agency, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment. |
|
Taxes |
As a recruiting agency, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it. |
|
High overhead expenses |
With starting a recruiting agency, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below. |
|
You may need to charge sales tax |
If you are selling your products in various states, you may be required to charge sales tax. Although this may not impact your financials specifically, it can be a headache to create a process and procedure for this. To learn more about sales tax, check out this article |
Marketing Ideas
-
1
Affiliate Program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.
Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.
-
2
Direct Sales
Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.
For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.
-
3
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.
Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.
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