What steps should I take to own my own permanent place and/or temporary staffing firm?

Question

I am working on a business plan and I have some exp in the business.

Answer 1

For the purpose of this answer I am presuming you are seeking to open your own placement firm vs. opening a franchise of an established placement agency.

I am in Human Resources and have used temporary staffing and direct placement firms for various openings. The main thing you need to develop is a reputation.

To do this, you will need to get a job actually working for a temp agency in their office as a recruiter who interfaces directly with hiring companies. This should allow you to establish a relationship with mulitple companies / hiring managers who like dealing personally with you. These could be potential customers for your placement agency.

You certainly want to start small and only take jobs you know you can fullfill. You will have to spend money out of your own pocket to place advertisements and if these are temps, you will have to be able to pay your employees and invoice the employer to be paid yourself which could take some time... What if you had to pay an employee for 4 weeks before receiving your 1st payment from an employer? Thus direct hire/ permanent placement may be the way to go - especially at first.

This is a tricky business and competition is steep. If you specialize in a particular area this could help. Especially if you specialize in a very high demand technical recruitment area.

You could also watch for ads being placed by some of the companies you recruited for and then present them with a candidate you have screened, since they already have a good relationship with you - it may be much easier to present one of your candidates.


Good luck!