For obvious reasons, any recruiter who’s spent enough time in the industry to start thinking seriously about starting their own agency must have a certain amount of specialised knowledge. At TBOS, we’d expect them to know:
· What to Say to Companies
You can approach a potential client and win their confidence, become part of their culture, someone they learn to rely on. You can show you understand their approach to business.
· How to Listen to Companies
You know what your clients leave out when they list requirements. You know what questions to ask, and what they mean then they’re not sure how to find the words.
· How to Read a Candidate
You know how to assess a CV, to see potential for roles a candidate wouldn’t consider for themselves, and how to read their suitability for the job.
· What to Say to a Candidate
You know how to explain the opening to a candidate, to prepare them for the company, and to present them in their best light to the company.
When you sum up all the skills involved like that, a recruiter has to know a lot. When that same recruiter starts up an agency of their own – even assuming all those skills, candidates ready to work with you, a network of client contacts in hand – you run into a whole new kind of challenge needing a whole new skill set, and it’s one most fledgling Directors haven’t thought about.
So what have you overlooked?
Setting up and Watching Over your Invoicing Process
Your work no longer ends when the contract is signed for the placement. Keep records and keep the invoices moving.
Managing Cashflow and Financing Arrangements
Your invoices need to go out in time, even if a bank holiday will get in the way. You need enough money to pay wages, taxes, etc., and to do so on time, every time.
Checking & Maintaining Timesheets
With some clients, this will be easier than with others, but you will always need a clear record of hours worked, pay earned, and taxes incurred, not just for compliance but also to ensure your invoicing is accurate. You may need to chase your contractors or their supervisors for timesheets – and you need them far enough ahead of time to process them.
Compliance with Statutory Requirements – PAYE, VAT, etc.
There isn’t room here for a full guide as there’s a lot to bear in mind and even more to consider while working with companies in specialist sectors. Even so, you need to know where compliance is called for and be prepared for it.
It goes without saying that there’s a lot of work in those questions, and all using a skillset outside the one you’ve trained – far enough away, in fact, you may not have thought about some at all, and not gone into detail on others.
What’s more, a new agency has to handle all this while still actually doing the job of recruiting for companies.
Handling back office and accounting issues like these is why TBOS was originally founded. We want our clients free to do what they do best, which is why we offer our TBOS Freedom and TBOS Complete services. If you want to know more, you can get in touch here.
