Why you should have a ‘niche’ for your Recruitment Business?

Setting up your own Recruitment Agency comes with a whole manner of things to consider. You may already have an industry you are decided on targeting, but here are some reasons why homing in one industry can make things much easier for your new Recruitment venture.. .

1. You’re putting yourself out there as an expert in your field rather than being a ‘jack of all trades’

2. You can command better placement fees

3. You can home in on your target market reducing wastage and improving KPI’s

4. You can surround yourself with suppliers within the same industry gaining industry insight

5. Build a better all round experience to candidates and clients and a reputation as the go to business

Top tips for helping you choose your Recruitment Agency Niche

1. Who do you enjoy working with?

2. Businesses need passion, hard work and determination to survive. What are you passionate about? Write it down and keep reminding yourself.

3. Research your competition. Is the market saturated with others working on the same niche? If yes, consider micro-niching.

4. Where do your experiences lie?

5. Review any opportunities that you could be sitting on.

Cooper Curtis have helped many start-up Recruitment Businesses to get processes in place and free up your precious time. To speak with us about setting up your new Recruitment Business make a booking and click the button below.

Blog by Caroline

Your Recruitment business may now be converted to cloud bookkeeping, but ask yourself, do you feel that you are getting valuable business insight out of your cloud service?

Having doubts in your cloud service leaves you questioning it’s value, adding a resistance to using it. Another year slips by and it’s too late to maximise on any in-year opportunities .

How can you plan growth for your Recruitment business without full confidence in the tools you are using?

But what if you were so streamlined you knew what was going on in your business in REAL TIME? Perhaps having the ability to optimise on opportunities you’re sitting on and get more money out of the business?

Now is the time to take action.

Can you answer these questions honestly?

1. Are you realistic on what money you can extract from the business?

2. Are you managing your cash-flow?

3. Are you efficient?

4. Do you know what your return on investment is?

If you can answer all the above questions with YES then that’s great.

BUT if you are looking for help on how to overcome these common Recruiter pain points, book your 10 minute chat with a Recruitment business advisor below;

Cooper Curtis have been working with Recruitment Agencies for the past 9 years. In that time, we have developed an extensive knowledge of the industry and enjoy sharing our knowledge with other successful businesses.

Blog by Caroline

Whether you have just set up as an agency and considered your start-up plans or been going for a few years and are now established - what about your business exit plans?

Too early to be thinking of exiting now we might think but we all need to consider our end games! These can be in as little as 5 years if you are carefully planning your business development.

Yes, it can be a good income during the next 5 years but you want to see the rewards for your hard-earned efforts later down the line too!

We at Cooper Curtis have worked with Companies developing their plans and not just the financials, which are important, but also helping them to maximising their true potential.

A problem we see, particularly within our perm recruiter clients, is bridging the payment gap between candidate delivery to actually getting paid, which can take up to 90 days! However, 90 days is unacceptable particularly to the small business.

Going into the temps supply market on a weekly or fortnightly payment cycle from your client can help with the low periods and your margins from this can at least cover the fixed monthly costs.

Running your business from home (tax allowances available) can be useful particularly to start-ups until you can afford to scale up your business with staff and external premises.

Software packages such as Fluidly can help you automate the Cashflow planning process.

Ever thought of asking for a regular retainer fee?

Outside financing, whilst it can be expensive for those on low margins, can be a great help in financing the growth of your business and most offer Bad Debt Protection as well to ease your Carillion type worries!

Should you wish to contact us to expand on any of the above points, or see if our solutions can help transform your business, request a 10 minute chat below.

PERSONAL SERVICE COMPANY CHANGES FROM APRIL 2020

In the Autumn Budget the Chancellor announced that the "off payroll" workers rules that currently apply in the public sector would be rolled out to the private sector in 2020. The government have now issued a consultation paper that sets out proposed tax and national insurance changes that will impact on those supplying their services through personal service companies.

End users will be required to determine whether the rules apply to the services provided by the worker via his or her personal service company. This will be a significant additional administrative burden on the large and medium-sized businesses who will be required to operate the new rules. The current CEST (Check Employment Status for Tax) online tool would be improved before the proposed start date.

No change for “Small” Employers

“Small” businesses will be outside of the new obligations and services supplied to such organisations will continue to be dealt with under the current IR35 rules with the worker and his or her personal service company effectively self-assessing whether the rules apply to that particular engagement. The definition of “small” has been widely awaited and the Government have confirmed that it intends to use the existing Companies Act 2006 definition. That is where the business satisfies 2 or more of the following features:

• Annual turnover of £10.2 million or less

• Balance Sheet total of £5.1 million or less

• 50 employees or less

The new obligations to determine whether the rules apply, deduct tax and national insurance, and report payments under RTI will apply to the agency or intermediary making payments to the personal service company where the end user is large or medium-sized. There will be an obligation to pass details of the status determination up and down the labour supply chain.

The liability for tax and national insurance will be the responsibility of the entity paying the personal service company, however if HMRC are unable to collect the tax from that entity the liability will pass up the labour supply chain thus encouraging those entities further up the supply chain to carry out due diligence to police compliance.

Please note, all our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published. 

In today’s fast-paced business world, here are some tips to help you to be more effective at multi tasking.

Over the past 10 years or so businesses have become leaner by reducing employee numbers, focusing on efficiency and increasing the demands on their staff. An increased workload forces us to multitask, which may be effective for a short period of time, but over the long term, can cause stress.

Multitasking is not about “piling on the work” to the point of exhaustion. It’s about training the brain to channel energy in an efficient and effective manner so you can accomplish more in less time. One of the keys to learning how to multitask effectively is actually to slow down, in order to accomplish more.

Set Priorities

Try to think of your brain as a computer. If you are working within multiple programs and have numerous windows open so you can quickly jump from program to program, you may find that your computer crashes a lot, due to the strain. The same thing happens in your brain. When you’re performing multiple tasks that require your undivided attention, your brain gets overloaded, as it can only process information from one channel at a time. Therefore, do not multitask if the assignment requires your full attention.

Useful tools

Make lists and write things down. You can’t remember everything so having a central to-do list is helpful. If you have a list of items you need to refer to often (such as pricing schedules or keyboard shortcuts) position this next to your phone or computer for quick access. Diarise some “management time” in your calendar each day - this might be a 45 minute slot where you have no meetings and can take stock, look at your to-do list and work through anything that needs your immediate attention.

Shift multitasking to single tasking

Your brain cannot multi-task all the time. So, occasionally, stop multitasking and allow yourself to do just one thing for fifteen to twenty minutes. At the end of this “rest period”, you’ll feel refreshed, alert, and ready to tackle more tasks - and you’ll do so with fewer mistakes.

Take regular breaks

Make the most of your breaks – avoid working through lunch and make sure to take a short break in the morning and afternoon. Use your break to walk around the building, sit outside, or do whatever you like for a few minutes to clear your head and give your brain a rest. Taking this time out during the day can actually make you more productive.

If you would like to speak with an advisor about getting better systems in place book your 10 minute chat at info@coopercurtis.co.uk