Analytical recruitment business - feedback wanted

Hi everyone,

I've been a lurker for a while having read one of Steve's book a couple of years ago but recently decided to register now that I'd got my first business off the ground.

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Analytical recruitment business - feedback wanted
Posted by You on Thu, 01/01/1970 - 01:00 in

Hi everyone,

I've been a lurker for a while having read one of Steve's book a couple of years ago but recently decided to register now that I'd got my first business off the ground.

My business is Analytics Recruitment Ltd - www.analyticsrecruitment.com

It is a recruitment company that specialises in stats, marketing and database analysts. It's quite a specialsed profession but with a huge number of applications (medical, marketing, financial etc)

The reason I started it was that I myself work in this area and have a lot of problems dealing with recruitment consultants that simply don't understand the profession or skills required. Most are sales people that send cv's out like spam mail! When I recruit for my team I do so with dread, knowing that I'm going to be bombarded with cv's that have little relevance to the job and pestered all day with sales pitches. It's a struggle to speak to them about the role because they don't really understand it and have almost certainly never worked in the field.

My USP is that I have worked in the field for over 12 years and speak a common language with clients. I am able to filter cv's far more quickly and accurately as I know what I'm looking at. This results in more appropriate cv's being sent to clients and no cv's sent that have little chance of being interviewed.

I've started the company in my spare time whilst working for a consultancy in the analytics field. I decided to go down the route of asking my employers for permission to start the company rather than trying to hide it. Fortunatly they agreed with a few minor caveats (ie I dont poach any staff, give them first pick of any good candidates!)

The idea is that I do it in my spare time - basically after work and weekends. Overheads are low. I built the website myself, got stationary designed by my designer friend, advertise jobs on specialist boards at a good business rate. This means that I haven't got a lot of financial pressure and any success would mean an instant profit.

I'm using my contacts in the industry to get leads and get onto preferred supplier lists. I've also struck a deal with a friend who co owns a successfull agency (I recruit for them when they can't find someone or the role is very technical) I've tried cold email and calling but as most people know, the success rate is very low.

I would really appriciate feedback on my website and ideas. Any feedback or advice from people involved in the recruitment business would be hugely appriciated. (I'm very interested in ideas how to grow the business)

Many thanks