On one of NPAworldwide’s regional calls this month, one member shared his secrets of success. He has only been in the network 1 year, but has already done 15 splits.

Here’s a quick synopsis on how membership in NPAworldwide has helped grow his business in the last 12 months:

When he started, he was a one-man operation, which is why he joined the network. Having trading partners allows you to focus on marketing and scaling up your business, because you know you have partners to help fill your clients’ roles, he said.

Now, he has 15 recruiters, managers, and 3 full-time marketers who report to a Director of Operations.

He takes full advantage of all the benefits of NPAworldwide membership, including attending last year’s NPAworldwide Annual Global Conference in Fort Worth, TX. He also utilizes an NPAworldwide sponsor for EOR purposes.

All 15 of his firm’s placements in NPAworldwide have been on the exporting side (his firm provides the candidate for a trading partner’s job), which allows him to focus on marketing and developing the client side of his business. It’s also allowed him to expand his portfolio, including an agency that became a new business venture.

Here are a few tips he has shared as to how he has made the network work for him and his business…

When working with a partner, what are your expectations?

My request to partners is that we need to collaborate together to have a smooth transition. Give us some sort of feedback within 48-72 hours. If there’s a delay, it makes it that much more difficult to retain, especially in a candidate-dominated market. Transparency, responsiveness, and smooth transition is they key to success in NPA.

What makes you want to work with a specific partner?

If partners are good at responding, helping with smooth transition when we’re delivering candidates to them. Also, if a partner is giving us good insight as to what they’re really looking for in a candidate. Sometimes it’s difficult to be fully transparent in a job description, so in introductory call, we ask for some insights – sometimes partners are very welcoming and help you set up a ground for success. I like to work with partners who have more attractive payment terms (higher than 20% fees) with short turnaround times. For example, one partner I worked with – the time it took us from starting to work on position and submitting candidates to getting placed and paid, it took less than 30 days.

If you were put in a situation where your business and contacts were taken away, and only had a laptop with internet access and rent for one month, what do you do?

I’m a business-person, and I like to create solutions for different problems. There are tons and tons of business problems out there – You just have to let them know you are there to solve it, and they will pay you for it. It doesn’t really matter if my existing business or contacts were taken away, because I’m always looking for new opportunities and not relying on the old ones.