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Profit & Growth: Your Guide to Starting a Successful Staffing Agency
Why start a recruitment agency?
The staffing industry in Australia and New Zealand is going through a fascinating transition period. Economic pressures of a looming recession, as well as increased compliance requirements are separating the truly committed businesses from the pretenders. Increased demand for flexible work arrangements, and a skills shortage across various sectors means there is still plenty of opportunity for new agencies to emerge and be profitable. As all businesses adapt to new ways of working, the need for specialised staffing agencies to connect the right talent with the right opportunities has never been greater. For aspiring entrepreneurs, this presents a unique opportunity to capitalise on a thriving market that not only offers significant profit potential but also plays a critical role in shaping the future of work in the region. Now is the time to harness this momentum and establish a successful staffing agency that meets the evolving needs of businesses and job seekers alike.
Key Strategies for Building a Successful Agency
Focus on Niche SpecialisationIn the recruitment game, it may seem like a great time to be a jack of all trades. That makes you adaptable, right? The answer is a little less straight forward. At Entire, we are seeing that the most robust businesses are those that are diversifying but doing so strategically. If you plan to service multiple industries or recruitment types, make sure you are setting up each arm of the business with the necessary resources and tools. Don't be afraid to specialise in an area of staff shortages (e.g. healthcare or education) because if you can build a strong business based on a single vertical, you can replicate that successful model into new sectors at a later stage. Our client Connect Staffing have done this very successfully with separate arms of their business focused on hospitality and healthcare. Many startup agencies make the mistake of trying to be everything to everyone and the result is a confusing brand experience and a team that is spread too thin.
Embrace Technology and Efficiency
Once you've chosen your niche, make sure you've got the right tools to support your business goals. There are several staffing software solutions in the Australian market that fit the needs of different sectors. If you're looking at a pure white-collar business, you don't need a platform that is heavily compliance-focused, or an app for your workforce. On the flip side, those features are crucial if you're looking at focusing on temp staffing for standing workforces like warehousing, manufacturing, childcare or nursing personnel. Your chosen vertical might also determine the importance of AI or automations in a software system. Consider the ideal experience you wish to deliver to clients and candidates. From there, figure out the key roles you need to get started, and what tools they will benefit from to deliver that ideal experience consistently.
In the staffing game, your customer experience needs to put your workforce and your clients on the same level of importance; both are crucial to your success. They are the chicken and the egg in the evolution of your business, you cannot have one without the other. They both also offer the priceless power of referrals. Candidate and customer experience so often fall apart through clunky tech and procedural overkill. If you can create a safe haven for clients to consistently think of you as a problem-solver rather than a gatekeeper, you have discovered the source of exponential growth. If you put yourself in the candidate's shoes, would you rather work for an agency where every staff member makes you resubmit the same details over and over, or the one where you provide relevant details once and they are seamlessly transferred across departments and relevant workplaces?
Overcoming Challenges and Maximising Growth
As much as we would love to tell you that making money in this industry is a no-brainer, the reality comes down to resilience to staffing industry trends. There is huge opportunity for those willing to dedicate themselves to improving the recruitment industry, and redefining candidate experience. There is also an almost certain failure awaiting those who just want to make a quick buck. It's important to remember that the staffing industry is trading in human resources; and when there is a lot of competition around, those human resources will pick the most self-serving experience available.
What does that tangibly look like? For Entire OnHire's clients, it can mean providing their workforce with a mobile app that enables them to manage their availability, documents and preferences from anywhere. A nurse coming home from night shift can decide he only wants morning shifts for the following week so that he can do the school pickups and bedtime routine for his kids. Similarly, a bartender might be on a break from uni for a few weeks and suddenly want more shifts than usual. Another scenario: an expired document can be proactively replaced by the worker directly into their app so they don't miss out on a shift. Without the right tools, changing those preferences might involve phone calls, emails and a lot of repeat data entry. With so much extra effort involved, your agency runs the risk of getting fewer shifts out of that worker. With Entire's new integration to XeopleRecruit, agencies can now also adapt to more permanent preference changes from their workforce, such as a desire to move from casual to permanent employment and vice-versa. Adaptability to the natural ebb and flow of people gives you an edge in this industry.
Conclusion:
As a long-standing partner to the Australian staffing industry, we have seen countless agencies come and go. Businesses come to us at different points in their journey, and the startups are not always guaranteed to succeed. However, there is a clear success trend we see with new businesses that are willing to build the right foundation with a clear vision and the right resources; they are far more likely to withstand changing market conditions. You can read a great startup story in our case study of Contract Care.
To learn more about how Entire OnHire could help you start your staffing business with a world-class value proposition for candidates and clients, schedule a demo today.
