Don Previti, owner of DVP Partners in New York, shared his review of his time in a split placement network. For him, success meant coming out of his comfort zone.
“Many of us have been recruiters for years and we all know how we can get accustomed to a comfort zone in managing our business. We know what got us here on every business level and we tend to revert to what feels comfortable and what has worked in the past. We focus on the same market sectors in the same business discipline in the same type of positions. I am no different than you. When I started my business I was focused on financial services and hedge funds in the NY area. That was where I made my living so that is where I spent my time.
But I came to realize very quickly that one of a split placement networks many strengths is it offers ways to expand our business and take us out of our comfort zone to not only add value to our clients but act as a catalyst to help grow our businesses.
Geographically, the network I belong to levels the playing field by providing member firms with an immediate competitive advantage to compete on a national and international platform. I have local clients who have an international presence and I can now position my firm to compete on a global scale with firms with much deeper resources.
The same can be said for business disciplines. When I was starting my business I was focused mainly on compliance, operations and technology, but I soon realized that I can leverage the local network knowledge and expand my business into audit, tax, finance and sales.
Expanding into a new market sector is more difficult but can be attained since there are dedicated trade groups for each business discipline. You can learn directly from experienced professionals who add direct value to your business on that market discipline.
I also started my business as solely an importer but once again coming out of my comfort zone I closed one of my largest deals of the years with another trading partner with me as the exporter. I now look for ways to expand the exporting side of my business.
In conclusion, take yourself out of your comfort zone. Join a trading group that is not directly associated to your market and learn. If you are exclusively an importer and have the positions, try to do one exporting deal this year where you provide the candidate. If you are an exporter only, try to do at least one importer deal this year. Expand into new markets and leverage the considerable global platform and resources that your network provides. I did, and as a result I now conduct over 30% of my revenue in business disciplines and geographic markets where I had no prior experience. If you come out of your comfort zone and look to expand, a split network can help grow your business and add sustainable value to your clients.”
