I read a great blog post recently called The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma: Where Owners Get Stuck. The post was dedicated to owners of event management businesses, but it’s just as relevant to recruitment agency owners. The post discusses the idea that the freedom from having a boss can hinder your firm’s growth, because a boss can tell you to stop spending your time on activities that are not revenue-generating activities.
Recruitment agency owners who are committed to growing a sustainable business must be equally committed to how they invest their time. Perhaps you’re not sure how best to accomplish this. Here’s a great rule of thumb as presented in the Entrepreneur’s Dilemma: Make a list of every task that needs to be completed in your business. Assign an hourly rate to each task, according to what you’d have to pay an ‘outsider’ to do that task for you. As the owner of the firm, you need to spend the bulk of your time on the “most expensive” tasks. Some of those tasks could include:
- Business Development
- Client Meetings
- Candidate Sourcing
- Invoicing / Collections / Accounts Payable
- Interview / Interview Prep
- Managing Offers
- Marketing
Successful recruitment agency owners figure out pretty quickly that they can’t devote lots of time to $12/hour tasks, even if they enjoy (or don’t dislike) those tasks. If it’s difficult for you to change your habits, enlist your team members to help you. Tell them what you need to be doing to help the company grow and prosper. Give them explicit permission and encouragement to tell you when you are veering from this plan. After all, you’ve hired them for their particular expertise/skill in a certain area – let them do THEIR jobs so that you can do yours.
Time is a finite resource. Invest it wisely, and your business will reap the rewards.
As recruitment agency owners, what are some tasks that you have delegated to make room for more profitable activity? Comment below!
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