Recruiting permanent staff for your company

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[abhigreen]

Recruiting permanent staff for your company

My permie staff has been with me since June. She actually worked for one of my clients, so I knew her, trusted her and we work well together. She's not an admin - in fact, I do more admin than her - she does some of the consultancy and development stuff that I do.

.............
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.

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

[northernladuk]

Hmm, no, its just like when you decide to go contracting. You study the market, resign mostly without a job offer (in my line of work, notice periods are 2-3 months for perm staff). Hopefully, the demand for your skills is there, and you land a job just before or after your last working day.

Clients are not willing to wait for 2-3 months to place contractors on a specific job. I have studied the market, know that a niche exists. I will try to place him first at my current client (there are definitely opportunities now), but who knows what will happen in 2-3 months time. So, what mode should I use to place him then.

This question also is relevant if the first client work for the new employee is assured, but what happens when that comes to an end.

Why have we had two posters in two days come up with poorly thought out dismal ideas to take on staff in as many days?
I can't believe people think that an idea is a good one without having even the very slightest idea what it's about or willing to apply some common sense to their ideas. I mean, what happens when work comes to an end? What do you think happens? Seriously....

Is it national sockie day or something?

[GillsMan]

My permie staff has been with me since June. She actually worked for one of my clients, so I knew her, trusted her and we work well together. She's not an admin - in fact, I do more admin than her - she does some of the consultancy and development stuff that I do.

In terms of getting her doing billable work, at first I'd talk to potential clients in interviews/prospective meetings about how I had a staff who could help out with the project I'm working on, this would impress them, I'd bring her in and meet the client, not billing for her time, then gradually she took over my day-to-day role, allowing me to find more business. This worked a couple of times for me.

Next, when we get enquiries from potential new clients, I put them on to her if the project looks small and easily manageable.

She's not directly earning her salary (she's on £35K), which I measure by looking at the invoices generated 100% by her work, but our turnover has increased by more than her salary, so she's allowed us to take more lucrative work.

One thing that made it viable for me to bring her on board was the fact that I knew her and trusted her to WFH, so I saved on the expense of an office. We're likely to want to expand again within 12 months if business continues to increase along current rates, and that will be tricky, as I'd probably need to factor in an office.

Basic Tips:

Make sure you have your prospective employee's basic salary for one year, plus what you need as a warchest sitting as cash in your bank account. I took a slight risk and took her on board with maybe only 6 months of her salary and 6 months of warchest for me, and my judgement was correct in the end, but if I'd gotten it wrong, we'd both be screwed.

Never under-estimate how long it takes to properly onboard them and get them used to how you work and how you want to work.

Start as you mean to go on: We did a very formal recruitment process (though she was the only candidate), and notes from the interview are saved on my drive. We've done a mid-year performance review (based on well thought-out appraisal forms), we had an interview at the end of her probation, we've got the full year review schedule, we have monthly one-to-ones to talk about her progress and quarterly meetings to talk about the business as a whole.

Do things professionally. Not only are you a company director, but you're an employer, with legal obligations which must be taken seriously.

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.

[abhigreen]

Recruiting permanent staff for your company

Do you not think there is a slight flaw in your business plan?

Hmm, no, its just like when you decide to go contracting. You study the market, resign mostly without a job offer (in my line of work, notice periods are 2-3 months for perm staff). Hopefully, the demand for your skills is there, and you land a job just before or after your last working day.

Clients are not willing to wait for 2-3 months to place contractors on a specific job. I have studied the market, know that a niche exists. I will try to place him first at my current client (there are definitely opportunities now), but who knows what will happen in 2-3 months time. So, what mode should I use to place him then.

This question also is relevant if the first client work for the new employee is assured, but what happens when that comes to an end.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I am especially keen to understand how to make this staff billable

Simple.

1. Get work
2. Bill at a daily rate that makes a good margin over an above an equivalent daily rate for the employee (calculated based on their salary + other employment costs)
3. Profit?

[northernladuk]

I am especially keen to understand how to make this staff billable

Do you not think there is a slight flaw in your business plan?

[Martin at NixonWilliams]

Hi,
I have been contracting for 2 years now. However, there was always an ambition to grow into a small consultancy focussing on a particular niche in IT.

I am planning to recruit 1 permanent staff to begin with this year. I wanted to know if anyone else has done it, and if there were any lessons learnt that they are happy to share.

Important pointers are things like having a contract of employment in place, adhering to NMW regulations, having employer liability insurance, allowing statutory rights such as maternity/paternity/sick pay etc etc - The list goes on!

If you haven't already, get an accountant who can advise you on the setup and a solicitor to draw up an employment contract if necessary.

I hope this helps.

Martin

[abhigreen]

Recruiting permanent staff for your company

But I know, I will live to tell the tale - definitely on this forum.

Anyone else, lived to tell the tale? Appreciate your experience if you have done it.

[kevpuk]

[abhigreen]

Hi,
I have been contracting for 2 years now. However, there was always an ambition to grow into a small consultancy focussing on a particular niche in IT.

I am planning to recruit 1 permanent staff to begin with this year. I wanted to know if anyone else has done it, and if there were any lessons learnt that they are happy to share.

I am especially keen to understand how to make this staff billable - do we apply for contractor roles (in our niche) posted on job boards or do we go to our network, spreading the word about an available resource.

Thanks
Abhi