Recruiting permanent staff for your company

[doodab]

Gillsman, thanks a ton. A number of the points apply to me - worked with him, trust him and know that in the future, he will not just be a billable asset.

In terms of making them billable, my question was around the approach really - what is the method to find roles in cases where you don't have a sales team, not enough brand presence to find a job, and where there is no SPECIFIC job waiting for this resource when he finally joins (yes, onboarding will take long)
My current options are
1. look for opportunties at current client
2. look for opportunties at previous client
3. look for opportunities with network
4. apply for contract roles advertised on job boards (completely unsure about this whether it is ok in this scenario, and this is where I would appreciate advise really)
5. what else

Well you basically need to do what proper agencies do i.e. work hard ringing around generating leads, or you need to do what proper consultancies do i.e. work hard generating business potentially at some risk. That means options 1-3 + cold calling + tendering for business + perhaps a bit of trying to get information out of agents without giving anything away. I doubt option 4 will work cos anyone capable of taking a contract and performing is likely to cotton on to how much more they can earn by going it alone fairly quickly.

[northernladuk]

In terms of making them billable, my question was around the approach really - what is the method to find roles in cases where you don't have a sales team, not enough brand presence to find a job, and where there is no SPECIFIC job waiting for this resource when he finally joins (yes, onboarding will take long)
My current options are
1. look for opportunties at current client
2. look for opportunties at previous client
3. look for opportunities with network
4. apply for contract roles advertised on job boards (completely unsure about this whether it is ok in this scenario, and this is where I would appreciate advise really)
5. what else

Firstly and foremost this other person IS nothing more than a billable asset. Actually saying that yes he could be. He could be a non billing overhead. Can you afford to pay him when he is the latter? He will be an employee and have a load of rights so you still have to pay him. When he is on the bench you still have to pay him. Still liking your idea?

Secondly, are you really sure you can pull this off? You want to take on a 40k (at a guess) per year resource but don't have a scooby how to find or do business? Really? You not think there is a bit of a risk here? If it was as easy as asking an internet forum do you not think every man and his dog is doing it? What is special about you? What is so good about your offering clients can't turn you down? Do you offer something to you client no one else will? The answer is clearly no so you see a bit of a problem forming don't you?

Let's dissect your options..

1. look for opportunities at current client
That is just one client. You need a ton of contacts in the hope you find the right person at the right time. If the current client doesn't need your services at this moment you have nothing. No harm in asking and looking around but get up peoples noses and you could piss people off and risk being walked. You may also be in breach of your current contract by soliciting work from the client. Will your client accept you on to their PSL? There can be quite a few hoops to jump through to get on to PSL's.

2. look for opportunities at previous client
The fact it is a previous client and you are no longer there will kinda tell you this one is a long shot.

3. look for opportunities with network
I am guessing you have no idea how to do this.

4. apply for contract roles advertised on job boards (completely unsure about this whether it is ok in this scenario, and this is where I would appreciate advice really)
You are a consultancy not a pair of contractors so this isn't likely work either. Clients want either a contractor or a consultancy to offer a managed solution. They don't often cross over.

5. what else
You approaching this completely the wrong way IMO. You need to create a solution or offering, find the clients and then where there is a need take someone on. There maybe options they want just you, options they want 3 or 4 people with different skill sets to your pal. These are hard enough to find as it is let alone you having to turn them down and look for a client that you might be able to slot in to. There is also the PSL issue I mentioned. Many decent sized firms have a process for new company's to join their PSL to make sure they are not giving work to shabby outfits. They will often ask about your finances over the last few years. Being a new firm it could be very difficult getting on these lists let alone finding the people who need the resources.

There is also all the legal work between you and client and you and your employee. A load of cash to pay him whilst you wait 90+ days for the client to stump up. There is the time he spends on the bench. There is the fact that this guy should really bin you off after the first gig when he realises he can go contracting himself without you and million other things.

And to re-iterate the great point made by Gilsman..

Final point: if you need to ask what you need to do to make your staff billable, then I might need to suggest that you don't have a business need for staff currently.

Start digging and gathering contacts by all means. Find what clients want and what you can offer but for gods sake don't take a permie on with no hope of getting work.

If you are going to go in to business you really need to grow a business head very quickly.

[GB9]

WNLUKS

plus.....op sounds like you are trying to be more of a marketing / placement agency. If you have found a niche I suggest you try and sell a solution that you resource, not individuals, at least not to start with. If you develop a good rep then in time clients will ask if you have people who can help. Until then, decide what you are offering andvsell that product, not resource.

[edison]

Firstly and foremost this other person IS nothing more than a billable asset. Actually saying that yes he could be. He could be a non billing overhead. Can you afford to pay him when he is the latter? He will be an employee and have a load of rights so you still have to pay him. When he is on the bench you still have to pay him. Still liking your idea?

Secondly, are you really sure you can pull this off? You want to take on a 40k (at a guess) per year resource but don't have a scooby how to find or do business? Really? You not think there is a bit of a risk here? If it was as easy as asking an internet forum do you not think every man and his dog is doing it? What is special about you? What is so good about your offering clients can't turn you down? Do you offer something to you client no one else will? The answer is clearly no so you see a bit of a problem forming don't you?

Let's dissect your options..

1. look for opportunities at current client
That is just one client. You need a ton of contacts in the hope you find the right person at the right time. If the current client doesn't need your services at this moment you have nothing. No harm in asking and looking around but get up peoples noses and you could piss people off and risk being walked. You may also be in breach of your current contract by soliciting work from the client. Will your client accept you on to their PSL? There can be quite a few hoops to jump through to get on to PSL's.

2. look for opportunities at previous client
The fact it is a previous client and you are no longer there will kinda tell you this one is a long shot.

3. look for opportunities with network
I am guessing you have no idea how to do this.

4. apply for contract roles advertised on job boards (completely unsure about this whether it is ok in this scenario, and this is where I would appreciate advice really)
You are a consultancy not a pair of contractors so this isn't likely work either. Clients want either a contractor or a consultancy to offer a managed solution. They don't often cross over.

5. what else
You approaching this completely the wrong way IMO. You need to create a solution or offering, find the clients and then where there is a need take someone on. There maybe options they want just you, options they want 3 or 4 people with different skill sets to your pal. These are hard enough to find as it is let alone you having to turn them down and look for a client that you might be able to slot in to. There is also the PSL issue I mentioned. Many decent sized firms have a process for new company's to join their PSL to make sure they are not giving work to shabby outfits. They will often ask about your finances over the last few years. Being a new firm it could be very difficult getting on these lists let alone finding the people who need the resources.

There is also all the legal work between you and client and you and your employee. A load of cash to pay him whilst you wait 90+ days for the client to stump up. There is the time he spends on the bench. There is the fact that this guy should really bin you off after the first gig when he realises he can go contracting himself without you and million other things.

And to re-iterate the great point made by Gilsman..


Start digging and gathering contacts by all means. Find what clients want and what you can offer but for gods sake don't take a permie on with no hope of getting work.

If you are going to go in to business you really need to grow a business head very quickly.

NLUK makes two critical points here about defining a service offering and actually becoming a supplier on the Preferred Supplier List.

First, what is your service offering and how will you differentiate yourself from all the other small and medium consultancies out there?

Second, there is the barrier of scale. When you are speaking to prospective client companies, will they really be that impressed you are basically a one/two man band? When going through their due diligence and supplier selection, the fact you have no track record and are tiny is likely to be a stumbling block.

Speaking as someone who joined a 10 person consultancy and also had friends set up their own consultancy, I'd say six people is about the minimum number you need to start branding yourself as a consultancy. And that depends on already having a good network of ex-clients etc that you can immediately start to build a pipeline. Don't forget that as soon as you win one piece of work, you need to be already generating leads for future work.