Turning To Recruiting

[kaiser78]

Following on from this thread http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...ternative.html, have any of you contractors ever tried to give it a go in stepping into recruitment consultancy/ agencying ? And I don't mean becoming a recruitment agent employee for example, but setting up your own recruitment consultancy.

I know deep down that agents do more than just call candidates and either follow through the good fits or fob off those that aren't, but I don't see it as being too onerous a venture to get going ? Appreciate there are barriers to entry etc, but the numerous agencies you see these days will have started somewhere.

If for example - ignoring finders fees for now, if a contractor is on £500/day and the agency charges 10% ongoing run fee, this obviously equates to £50/day for not doing that much whilst the contract runs. And scaling this out can then become quite lucrative. And then adding in the finders fee each time adds to the income.

So have any contractors ever tried this and what are your/their experiences ?

[LondonManc]

Following on from this thread http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...ternative.html, have any of you contractors ever tried to give it a go in stepping into recruitment consultancy/ agencying ? And I don't mean becoming a recruitment agent employee for example, but setting up your own recruitment consultancy.

I know deep down that agents do more than just call candidates and either follow through the good fits or fob off those that aren't, but I don't see it as being too onerous a venture to get going ? Appreciate there are barriers to entry etc, but the numerous agencies you see these days will have started somewhere.

If for example - ignoring finders fees for now, if a contractor is on £500/day and the agency charges 10% ongoing run fee, this obviously equates to £50/day for not doing that much whilst the contract runs. And scaling this out can then become quite lucrative. And then adding in the finders fee each time adds to the income.

So have any contractors ever tried this and what are your/their experiences ?

Scale that back down - after company cut and tax, how much of that £50 would you expect you take home?

[sal]

but the numerous agencies you see these days will have started somewhere.

They are usually started by an agent who left one of the existing agencies with experience and contacts in the field.

Just you wait until your new practice gets bombarded with requests for holiday/sick pay and notice period payments and IR35 this, IR35 that requests, lawsuit threats and what not from your new flock of contractors.

And how are you going to find clients, with nothing to show for in your background.

It's not as easy as you might think.

[Lance]

They are usually started by an agent who left one of the existing agencies with experience and contacts in the field.

Just you wait until your new practice gets bombarded with requests for holiday/sick pay and notice period payments and IR35 this, IR35 that requests, lawsuit threats and what not from your new flock of contractors.

And how are you going to find clients, with nothing to show for in your background.

It's not as easy as you might think.

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

I worked once for an IT consultancy who thought it was crazy to keep paying agency fees.
12 months later, after the startup had failed 3 times they realised is was cheaper to pay an agency than kick-start a business they thought they understood and found out they didn't.
And this was in the 90s, before IR35 (and other regulations) made it difficult.

[uk contractor]

Good luck getting on the PSL anywhere without a long track record & healthy balance sheet!

[MrMarkyMark]

Good luck getting on the PSL anywhere without a long track record & healthy balance sheet!

There are other ways of doing it?
Obviously the PSL is the best way.

[DaveB]

Also factor in that you will need capital up front to factor invoices, unless you can get all your contractors to agree to only get paid when you do.

If you have 10 bodies on site at £500 per day then you need to have ~£100,000 in spare cash floating around every month around to guarantee you can pay everyone.

Good luck convincing everyone to not only opt out but also accept the payment terms.

[MrMarkyMark]

Also factor in that you will need capital up front to factor invoices, unless you can get all your contractors to agree to only get paid when you do.

If you have 10 bodies on site at £500 per day then you need to have ~£100,000 in spare cash floating around every month around to guarantee you can pay everyone.

Good luck convincing everyone to not only opt out but also accept the payment terms.

Obviously, you can get other parties to do the factoring, but it will cost you

[SueEllen]

They are usually started by an agent who left one of the existing agencies with experience and contacts in the field.

Just you wait until your new practice gets bombarded with requests for holiday/sick pay and notice period payments and IR35 this, IR35 that requests, lawsuit threats and what not from your new flock of contractors.

And how are you going to find clients, with nothing to show for in your background.

It's not as easy as you might think.

Added to that how are your networking skills?

You need to network with both clients and potential workers to find the contracts and fill them quickly. This means you will be working very long hours plus weekends. Even when you are sick or on holiday you will have to call people to ensure you don't miss an opportunity.

You will then have to take on staff to do what you can't do and will have to ensure they don't run off with either as other agencies and businesses e.g. consultancies will be trying to steal any of your good staff.

[Lance]

this thread is in danger of being supportive of agents and the hard work they put it to find us roles