Here are several reasons why a recruitment agency owner may wish to increase the value of their business, including gaining a better reputation within the industry, attracting the attention of the biggest clients, or planning ahead should they decide to sell.
Whatever your reason is, there are some key ways to increase the value of your recruitment agency, six of which we’ve shared below.
Analyse your pool of candidates and your PSL value
First and foremost, growing and maintaining your business income is key to increasing the value of your recruitment agency. Those of your candidates who are in secure roles with long-term contracts present more value to your agency, than those in perm roles. The longer the contract, the more the contract branch of your agency is worth.
On top of this, any PSL agreements you have in place also work to increase the value of your agency, especially the ones that are for longer periods of time.
- Create a pool of strong candidates
- Win the deals that lead to long-term roles needing to be filled
- Work with your clients to extend contracts, where possible
- Aim to implement a PSL agreement as much as possible
It is, however, worth remembering that, all rolling contracts must come to an end at some point, which will then reduce your value. So it’s worth building up a reputation as a 360 degree agency, covering contract and perm placements. That way you have all bases covered.
If you are currently only covering perm placements, you will only be as good as your last deal. So, if you’re considering whether to also offer contract, now is the time to get started. Here are four things you need to know before expanding into contract recruitment.
Assess the value of your internal management
The strength and capabilities of management and the team at an agency is important when assessing the value of an agency, whether you’re the agency owner or a potential buyer.
As a business owner, you don’t want the success of the business to solely revolve around your involvement. And if you go away, you want the business to continue without any glitches.
The ability of your team to win deals and make placements in your absence adds to the value of your recruitment agency, and it frees up your time to focus your time on top level strategy.
Check out our blog on how to successfully sell candidates to your clients.
Make the value of your agency clear through your accounts
A recruitment agency’s accounts can be found relatively easily on Companies House, making them an important insight into the success and value of your business.
You might have a potential buyer looking to find out more information online, or maybe a potential client is trying to suss out how good you are. Whatever the reason, the visibility of your accounts can affect the value of your agency, for better and for worse.
To highlight your success in your accounts, ensure they show your growth over a three-year period. This should be highlighted through your profitability, turnover and retained profit. If you need advice and/or help setting this up, your accountant is the go-to information source.
Monitor the value of your losses and add backs
Monitor the value of your losses and add backs
When your accountant checks your recruitment agency’s books, ask them to look to see what financial losses will reduce your value, as well as what costs can be added back in to increase your profit. Reviewing your losses and add backs will help you determine the real value of your agency, and help you determine what actions you need to take to increase it.
Here are a few examples of losses you might experience:
- Bad debt
- External loans
- Credit agreements
And some example of add backs:
- Benefits
- Directors’ salaries
Increase the PR value of your recruitment agency
Getting your recruitment agency into the public eye (for the right reasons) will be sure to attract more attention and increase its value:
- Promote your business through news stories and articles in industry-related publications will boost your reputation.
- Applying for industry awards will help to get your agency into the spotlight.
- Creating your own blog content, and providing guest blogs, will highlight your expertise and knowledge and will make you stand out amongst your competitors.
- Take advantage of the abundance of online tools that have been designed to make it easier to get into the press.
Essentially, the more your agency appears in print and in Google search results, the more well known you will become. This will, in turn, increase the value of your recruitment business.
Build up a Team of Top Billers
Build up a Team of Top Billers
This may seem like obvious, but it’s still worth talking about. Hire the best recruitment consultants you can find!
There is a lot to take into consideration when evaluating whether someone is a top biller or not, and getting a good idea of all of it cannot be done in one interview.
Here are just some of the things to consider before employing a new recruiter:
- Do they actively listen?
- Are they engaging, friendly and likeable?
- Can they convert?
- Do they have a loyal candidate pool?
- Do they have a large network?
- Do they have amazing interpersonal skills?
- What is their reputation as a recruiter like?
So, as we said before, one interview just won’t cut it. Taking the following steps will help you successfully assess their suitability for the role, as well as for your recruitment agency:
- An initial email, to see how well they communicate over the phone
- Email correspondance, to see how well they come across in writing
- A first interview, to see how they present themselves face-to-face
- A test call to a “candidate” and a “client”, to see how they come across in these situations
- A follow up interview, to get a second opinion on their suitability
This may feel like a lot, however, the more time you invest in finding the right person, the more value they will bring to your business.
Get the above in motion and you’ll build up a strong plan to increase the value of your recruitment agency.
About Sonovate
Sonovate is the UK’s leading provider of contract recruitment finance. They provide recruitment businesses with unrestricted finance, an award-winning cloud back office and dedicated support, so they can place more contractors and grow their business. To learn more about Sonovate, click here.
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