Starting a recruitment business is easy. Growing it to the point it provides a nice income for the owner is hard work, but ultimately relatively simple. Taking it to the point where it has equity value and then growing that value is a completely different ball game. To do that takes structure and process…which is where the humble business plan comes in.
According to Forbes, over 60% of business owners do not have a business plan in place. To me that is akin to getting into a car, knowing vaguely where you have to get to, but having no idea how to get there, no way of knowing what direction or speed you should go or what you should put in the tank.
Setting clear goals, having a simple strategy [the way your company does things], a plan [tasks that need to be done to achieve the goals] and a budget are crucial to building a business that is sustainable and valuable over the medium to long term.
Writing out all of this forces you to review everything; your value proposition, marketing assumptions, operations plan, financial plan and staffing plan. You will end up spotting opportunities you otherwise would have missed or traps you might have fallen into.
When you are the Founder, the only person holding you accountable on a daily basis is you. So your business plan becomes a baseline for monitoring your progress.
But even more than a tool for after-the-fact learning, having clear goals plus a strategy and plan to achieve them is how you drive the future. When you write the goal, “100 placements by the end of year 2,” it’s not a passive prediction – you don’t just wait for the placements to happen. It becomes your management team’s goal, which then drives strategy [the ‘how’] and the plan [the ‘to do list’] to achieve it.
A well-written strategy and plan is also great for attracting talent. When a candidate asks to understand your business, you can hand them a pack that gives them an entire overview. Their reactions tell you something about how quickly and thoroughly they can think through your business’s key issues. Plus, the written record of your goals coupled with a track record of delivering against those goals sends an extremely positive message…You understand your business and can deliver the results you promise.
Entrepreneurial flair will only get you so far. Structure and process are key to building long term value and sustainability.
← Hyvve Mind
