[MrBusiness]

Hi there,

me and friend are looking to start a business venture within the recruitment field........we have researched indepth and are struggling to find out the last bit of info we need to proceed.........which is =

Prices for employer.........understanding and negotiating contracts.......do we need a licence? and how do we get the inititial clients?

if you can help or direct me to the right information it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

[castlelgr]

what sort of recruitment, what area and are you doinf contractors, perms or both?

[Lupy]

My best advice to you regarding contracts is to see a solicitor and get them to draw one up for you. Depending on what you are doing i.e. Temps or perms you will need seperate contracts for each of these.

It may cost a few hundred quid to get the contracts sorted but it will be worth is because, trust me, clients will try every trick in the book to not pay you!

With regards to rates, it is best to have a set percentage for perms in your contract (perm vacancies are usually charged at a percentage of the annual salary) but tell clients these can be negatiated and agree them in writing on a client by client basis. The only way you know what to charge is by finding out what your main competitors charge.

For temps, you need to decide on your pay rate and then add on around 23% for employers national insurance contributions and holiday pay, then decide how much you want to make on that person per hour (the mark-up depends on the industry). Again you will only know what the charge when you know what your competitors are charging.

The only way to get clients to use your agency is to ensure you have at least 3 unique selling points - something you do and your competitors don't. You will need to spend around 80% if your time 'selling' in your first few months. First of all, call all relevant employers and arrange to meet with them. Face to face is better than the over the phone. Once your in front of them, it will be easier to win the business!!

Just make sure you have researched thoroughly before embarking on this and you take professional advice. Recruitment may seem like an easy money earner but believe me it isn't.

I set up my own agency 5 months ago after woking in it for 7 years so to do it from scratch with no experience is very brave of you.

Good luck and let me know how you get on

[castlelgr]

Started my own begining of this year, and only starting to bill next month, so that should give an indication of the time it takes to get going.

[Lupy]

Are you doing perms or temps Castle?

[castlelgr]

Perms for now, maybe contractors later once we got some cash flow going. Would never do temps, did it for 3 years, to much work and very little gain.

[Lupy]

I started with perms to get some cash in and am now just starting on temps.

I find it harder work doing perms to be honest.

My industry is social care so i'm 24 hours as well now...Lucky me eh?

[castlelgr]

been there, done that not social though. Will never do it again, got tired of the 5am phone calls and then worrying if everybody is going to go into work alright

[Lupy]

I know what you mean, I have done it for the last 6 years too, always social care, so always on call but it feels part of my life now and hopefully I can employ someone to run it for me eventually anyway!!

[castlelgr]

One day, one day.

[MrBusiness]

hey guys,

thankyou for your input..............in regards to castlelgr - we intend to send people abroad for one of set fees per person. starting with permanent contracts.

Lupy - can you tell us.......how we could find out our competitors prices? im guessing pretending to be employer over the phone lol

in regards to business knowlegde me and my friend have alot of experience in managing/advertising. we are gonna start a small intro course in recruitment.....and have seen plenty out there would you be able to advise best one to go for? also is there any compulsory courses or certificates that we will need?

Are you glad you took the step in owning a recruitment agency?

[Lupy]

Hi

To find out about your competitors rates you can pretend to be an employer but this is a bit hard sometimes as generally we do not give info over the phone on the first phone call. Look through all the websites of your competitors to see whether they have their terms on there as some do.

I find the best way to be competitive is to talk to your potential clients. They always want to save a bob or two so they will let you know what they currently pay. Be aware though that they might exagerate somewhat to get you down even more!

I'm not really sure what type of recruitment you will be doing and with it being over-seas stuff I am even less sure but usually the fees are between 15% and 20%. In the current market place though, anything seems to go. You have to be willing to negotiate to win the business.

With regards to recruitment courses, I don't really know as I have always run in house ones relevant to the company i worked for at the time. I know the REC do some though so have a look on there.

Oh, and yes, I am very glad I took the leap to go it alone. You have to be willing to work hard and put in some hours but it is worth it.

Good Luck

[castlelgr]

Im glad now, shat myself the first few months though, still slightly shitting myself.

try looking at recruitment training online. If you have contacts in the the industry there, someone can give you an idea of fees. As a rule I never tend to go less thatn 15% on salary for perm staff and 20% on contractors

[lucyj2007]

when I was in recruitment I found a book/tape set by Bill Radin to be very useful, can't remember the name of it though.