5 steps towards expanding your recruitment agency

With the UK recruitment industry booming, there is no surprise that that recruitment agencies are constantly looking to expand their business. Here we take a look at five steps businesses need to think about when looking to expand their agency. 

1. Consider why you want to expand in the first place:

At first this may seem obvious; if I add another couple of consultants then surely my business will make more profit? That certainly isn’t the case and the two don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Putting aside the immediate difficulties associated with hiring a good, hardworking, driven and ambitious consultant, your first and second hires are probably the most important to your business as these individuals will help you shape your young business – you need people that believes in your vision and company mission statement.

2. Consider whether now is the right time:

Any new additions to your business will inevitably be a distraction and will detract from your own billing. You need to ensure that you have established a good level of freelancers or temporary operatives that can sustain you spending less time business developing. You should also consider what the market is like currently and what may arise in the future. Are there any major economic uncertainties ahead, such as Brexit. There are obviously pros and cons for such times so don’t let this necessarily put you off. If you have the correct work ethic and are confident in your team’s ability should you have one, then economic difficulties can create opportunity as your competition fall by the way side.

3. Understand how your agency differs to competitors:

Your position in the market place will shape whether you can expand your business. Product positioning is a key factor of every business and you should consider what will make a client use you as opposed to your competitors. Its key to establish a key differentiator; it could be based on experience, knowledge or price. There are varying factors on how to position yourself but this needs to be in place prior to any expansion, you need to find it and take advantage of it. For example Quba Solutions has long established itself a market leader in invoice finance due to our recruitment experience.

4. Ensure you have strong relationships:

Take advantage of strong relationships with your clients and build you business off the back of them. Its always good to be cautious but the old saying of ‘speculate to accumulate’ is very true. If you have loyal clients then it’s the perfect time to start adding your own staff to your business.

5. Staff retention:

 As Richard Branson once said: “if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients”. This is very true, your business is only really as good as the staff you have within your business. A large turnover of staff will have a huge adverse effect on your clients and your ability to focus on other aspects of the business. They will not build trust in your brand and as we all know in recruitment, your consultants will only end up at one of your competitors.

If you are looking for a business to support your recruitment agency, schedule a call to discuss your required services with one of our team members, or fill in a contact form online.