What Your Recruitment Agency Business Plan Should Include

A start-up recruitment agency business plan is very much a document to demonstrate to others the path of your future business. It doesn’t need to be overly complicated, long or outlandish, just concise and professional. Think of it as a blueprint to build your business upon.

Your recruitment agency business plan should include the following but not limited to:

• Service
• Your market and competitors
• Sales Forecast
• Financials

Your Recruitment Agency Business Plan – 4 Steps

Step 1 – Service

This section of the recruitment agency business plan would normally contain the services you are planning to offer. It would be a description of the business functions. This can include permanent, temporary, contract, executive search, etc. and what sectors you plan to cover.

Will it just be you or will there be more than one person involved from the start? What are your USP’s? Are you niche in a particular marketplace, as you have experience within a sector, or do you plan on generalising? Why are your clients going to be using you rather than your competitors? 

Recruitment is not complicated, but it is best demonstrate your knowledge of relevant legislation and your obligations in this section of your recruitment agency business plan.

Step 2 – Market and Competitors

Who do you plan on targeting? This should be the next thing to clearly identify in your recruitment agency business plan. Mostly, this will be a particular sector that you have worked with in the past, where your knowledge and experience lie. 

What’s the opportunity? How large is the market sector, is it growing or declining? Talk about trends in recruitment in your sector or area – what is happening and what is predicted? It’s also key to have a good understanding of your competitors and exhibit that in the business plan.  It demonstrates you’ve done your market research, that your pricing will be competitive, and that there is an opportunity for your new recruitment business. That you fully understand the sector you’ll be working in.

Step 3 – Sales Forecast

It should be relatively easy to write a sales forecast, it needs to be realistic and one that demonstrates the minimum you think you’ll bill. That is important as it’s key not to run out of cash in a few months.  Whilst invoice factoring firms like Quba Solutions can help with your cash flow by paying 100% of your profit weekly, it doesn’t help if you don’t have enough work on to pay the bills. The bare minimum is important in planning your cash flow forecast. 

Its sometimes helpful to create a ‘punchy’ forecast – one you feel you can hit if there is wind in the sail – always helps the motivation seeing what you could create and how successful you can be if it all goes to plan.  6 to 12 months is fine – any further ahead is really beyond realistic predictions. 

Step 4 – Financials

Once you have a Sales Forecast and you know what you’ll bring in you can create your cash forecast – a sheet of your profit versus your costs.  Most start-ups have little in the way of start-up costs. For example, a mobile phone, a database of sorts and a laptop to run it from.  Some start-ups like to have a base if there is more than one person involved, so there are increased costs there, otherwise, keep it simple and have a low base.  Most recruitment consultants want to start their own recruitment business to make money for themselves rather than lining someone else’s pocket, so it’s important to make sure you’re earning.

Practical planning to consider

When you sit down to create your recruitment agency business plan, consider the following:

1. Set Up for Focus: Find a quiet space and eliminate distractions.
2. Engage Stakeholders: Consult with colleagues, partners, or advisors to gain insights to ensure your recruitment agency business plan is comprehensive.
3. Initial Brainstorm: Create a mind map to outline services, goals, and differentiators.
4. Conduct Market Research: Identify competitors, market trends, and client needs. Consider surveys for additional data.
5. Write It Out: Organise your findings into a formal document.
6. Prepare for Presentation: Create a PowerPoint if pitching to investors, highlighting key insights and projections.

Recruitment agency business plan: a summary

A recruitment agency business plan acts as a roadmap for launching and growing a successful agency. It defines your services, outlines your target market, and includes sales forecasts and financial projections to guide decision-making. By mapping out permanent, contract, or temporary staffing services and researching market demand, you create a clear strategy for attracting clients and staying competitive.

Strong financial planning is critical for recruitment startups. Your business plan should detail realistic sales forecasts, calculate startup and operational costs, and include funding options to cover cash flow gaps. Solutions such as QUBA Solutions’ temp business funding can help agencies pay workers on time while waiting for client invoices to clear.

Ultimately, a well-structured business plan helps recruitment agency founders stay focused, adaptable, and financially prepared. By minimising expenses, planning for growth, and securing reliable funding, your agency can launch with confidence and scale sustainably in the competitive recruitment industry.

Here at Quba Solutions we can help you with funding the temp element of your business, for more information on how we can support your business, or contribute to your recruitment agency business plan, contact us today, call on 01305 233 178 or email [email protected] to find out more.