Meet Me and My New Recruitment Idea

[Grahamn117]

Introduction:

Firstly, let me introduce myself ( I know there is a separate section for this, but you will need some context before I expose the main bulk of the thread), I'm 21 years old currently studying for a marketing management degree in the UK. I'm undertaking my third year of study which is an optional placement year part of my 4-year degree course.

I decided to split my placement year up and do 50% of the time working in industry and the other 50% study abroad. From September until December 2019 I'll be working at a digital marketing agency in London called, Climb Online. I should mention that this work experience is unpaid for 3 months in one of the most expensive cities in the world, I know I am an idiot! That's basically financial suicide. I live rent free at my sister's house, however I spend £488 a month in train fares because she lives far from London.

My hours are 9-5, but the worst part is my commute. I commute for roughly 4 hours a day, 2 hours there and 2 hours back. It is hell and has motivated me even more to pursue entrepreneurship. You can't help but notice the horrid look on the faces of "Slowlane" commuters, the look of despair, tiredness and regret you can see it in their eyes. Waking up at 6am to commute for 90 minutes on a crappy train to report to their work and take orders from their boss (you guys know how it is, you don’t need me to elaborate). They cope with their fancy suits, gadgets and high-income slave jobs. It is so apparent to see what M. J. DeMarco describes in his book about the “Slowlaners” when you see it for yourself.

Moving forward, the company I’m doing my placement at is one of the Top 100 start-ups in the UK and they are a fantastic digital marketing agency.

<link removed by moderator>

The bloke that won “The Apprentice UK” in 2014 started the company with Lord Sugar’s investment. However, I’ve read Unscriped and in the process of reading TMF and I absolutely detest the job. I read TMF every morning on the way to work and it motivates me, but then I get to work and lose all my spirit. The corporate world isn’t for me, I want to be an entrepreneur. Likewise, I haven’t learnt anything of value during my internship at this company, I mainly just sit at my desk and read this forum. I learn more from reading this forum and TMF during the day, then compared to the BS work that the company has me doing.

So, there was a little synopsis of my current life situation. As you can gauge, I have the desire and ambition to become an entrepreneur, but I have never started a business and have little experience. I’m just a young man with a few ideas and the drive to succeed in the “Fastlane”.

My Idea

Before I tell you my idea, I want you all to be brutally honest with me. I don’t need you to tell me “it’s going to be okay” or “just be yourself”. I’m sick of that crap advice, it offers no value whatsoever. Please don’t sugarcoat anything and tell me honestly your thoughts, so it directly benefits me. I wouldn’t expect anything less on this forum, it’s one of the few places I would come to receive genuine constructive feedback from people that have extensive knowledge about entrepreneurship, business etc.

So, what is my idea?

Fundamentally, my idea is to create a recruitment agency but with a slight twist. I want to not only find people jobs, but careers. In addition to this, instead of just helping people find a job I want to actively help them in their lives. What I mean by this is, ask them certain questions of every aspect of their live and then offer them advice accordingly.

You may think that there might be a “Paradox of Practice” in play here, why would anyone take life advice from a 21-year-old? Well I know I can offer good advice, it is quite simple, if you don’t believe me then I will just let the results speak for themselves. You may think I’m completely ignorant and if so please tell me.

Moreover, when I would first initially meet a client, I would take them out for a coffee (maybe even pay for theirs) and sit down like humans and discuss what they want. My experience with recruitment agencies is that they are massive corporations and you go in, they speak with you for 30 mins, tell you what you can improve on your CV, then ask what line of work you want and then move on. I can say that I have never been successful in finding a job with a recruitment agency, I think most of them are redundant.

Alright then big man, what do you do differently then?

Well let me explain:

• Initially meet the client in a comfortable warm setting, most likely a coffee shop. This in my opinion makes the meeting more personal and means that I care about the client as I am willing to meet them outside of the office.
• Not only will I help them to achieve their desired career goal, but I will offer life advice. Anything in their life that is troubling I will offer my advice. Sometimes the best thing that people need hear is the truth, it may be brutal, but it is the most helpful.
• Monthly check-in on the client’s well-being to see how they are getting on and offer any further advice
• Interview training as well as CV tailoring (people probably already doing this)

I want to provide value to people’s lives, by not only giving them a job but genuinely helping them with their entire life. A job is not the ultimate solution to all problems (as you all know).

So, how will I make money?

I will make money by selling two packages:

The career package- This involves me meeting the client, discussing potential career prospects, help them with their CV and offer interview training. £20

The life package- This involves all the above, however will give them life advice on top of everything else. £30

This is a very basic way of how I want to run things. Don’t take everything literally, as everything is in beta now including the prices.

Conclusion

To begin with, thank you for taking the time to read my first thread, I know it was a lengthy one, but I honestly do appreciate the support and even more so if you responded.

I am in the stage now where I want to take ACTION, everyone is telling me to take action, but I haven’t found an idea worthwhile pursuing. I can’t just be reading entrepreneur books all day, even though it is motivating and beneficial in many ways I need to take action.

What is everyone’s opinion?

You probably all think that I am completely naive and arrogant to even think that an idea like this is doable. I know that there is a lot more to it than I have stated above: Financing, scaling, advertising etc. however, I am just looking to learn more about the process, even if you think the idea isn’t amazing or going to be a great success is it worth doing just to learn and gain experience about starting a business? Even if it amounts to absolutely nothing, I could potentially learn a lot from the process. I want to start something and take massive action toward achieving my goal of becoming an entrepreneur.

As an idea, do you guys think that this is possible and worth pursuing my time?

Let me know your thoughts, I appreciate your time and hope to hear from you guys

 

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[Grahamn117]

Well...I'm a bit disappointed with the level of responses. But after some thought and further reading of TMF I understand why.

The thread was way too long and I was wrong to assume people really cared that much, especially as I'm not offering any value.

After reading chapters 26-28 of TMF this morning I have realised that my most value asset is time. "We're all on a sinking ship."

Therefore, I'm going to pursue this idea and do what ever it takes to make it work and learn through-out the process. Thank you and I will keep you all updated.

 

[RazorCut]

Not only will I help them to achieve their desired career goal, but I will offer life advice. Anything in their life that is troubling I will offer my advice. Sometimes the best thing that people need hear is the truth, it may be brutal, but it is the most helpful.

To be brutally honest people who use an agency don’t go there to receive life lessons (especially from one so young). What they want is work so they can pay the bills. Short and simple. Give them what they want, and you could do well. Bolting on bells and whistles in the form of life advice is probably not going to improve your business or their career prospects. For starters they will be in the wrong frame of mind. They are going somewhere to secure a job not seek a shrink.

A lot of people hold agencies in contempt as they just see them as money grabbing middlemen but they perform a service that is in demand. However it is a very crowded marketplace you are aiming to elbow into.

It is also a little like the chicken and the egg. You need jobs to entice job seekers but you need job seekers in order to gain the interest of businesses who, lets face it, have agencies contacting them pretty much around the clock offering them their services.

Do you have contacts where you can leverage your relationships? An uncle who runs a large company? The father of a close friend who always has openings for temp staff? If not I think you will face an uphill battle. What niche are you looking at?

I can say that I have never been successful in finding a job with a recruitment agency, I think most of them are redundant.

Then why start one up?

I’ve used an agency once. I phoned Hays recruitment on a Friday afternoon. Had a good chat with one of their staff, and was told they had something 'perfect for me' (which was indeed the case). Met Monday morning to sort all the paperwork out and started work the following day.

David (my contact at Hays) used to call me regularly and even came out for a visit. We still have a chat from time to time even though I only used them that once for a contract that lasted about 6-8 months. I used the agency because I hadn’t had a ‘job’ in years and so had no contacts. Technically I was still self employed as I was subcontracting but through an agency. I couldn't fault their service, but, as I said I have only limited experience.

Why are you not looking towards something you have experience with? You say you are working for:

I’m doing my placement at is one of the Top 100 start-ups in the UK and they are a fantastic digital marketing agency.

Obviously this must interest you or you wouldn't be willing to work for free and have it cost you £500 a month on travel. Personally I think you are being taken for a ride if one of Britain’s top start-ups can’t even offer to pay your expenses but I can be a cynical sod at times, so maybe this is the norm these days.

Regardless, if I were spending £500 a month to help out a "fantastic digital marketing agency" I would be looking to learn as much as I possibly could from them so I could utilise that knowledge to my own startup. I certainly wouldn't be sat reading this forum. Oh and a digital marketing agency is a lot easier to set up than a recruitment agency.

Anyway you wanted some feedback. Those are my thoughts.

 

[RazorCut]

Oh and welcome to the forum. Hope you find it inspiring and valuable and you stick around for a long time.

 

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[Stargazer]

100% agree with Razorcut.

Just imagine we both thought 'great idea' though.

You are going to hotfoot yourself to a coffee shop and buy a couple of coffees to meet me for a nice long chat about careers/life.

Your £20 is now gone isn't it?

Dan

 

[Grahamn117]

@RazorCut Thanks very much for your input I do appreciate it.

To be brutally honest people who use an agency don’t go there to receive life lessons (especially from one so young). What they want is work so they can pay the bills. Short and simple. Give them what they want, and you could do well. Bolting on bells and whistles in the form of life advice is probably not going to improve your business or their career prospects. For starters they will be in the wrong frame of mind. They are going somewhere to secure a job not seek a shrink.

I understand what you mean about the life advice, but I thought it could perhaps be my USP which would distinguish me in the mark. However, understand where you are coming from, people want it short and simple.

Do you have contacts where you can leverage your relationships? An uncle who runs a large company? The father of a close friend who always has openings for temp staff? If not I think you will face an uphill battle. What niche are you looking at?

Like I stated above I knew there was a lot more to the process of establishing a recruitment agency. I was mainly focused on the idea of one and people's thoughts on my "USP" which was to give life advice and meet them to make it more personalised. So, no is the answer to all of the above.

In terms of niche, I was going to start small in my local area. The reason for me giving life advice was due to the fact that unemployment is high in my local area, and I thought not only getting people a job would be beneficial but offering constructive advice to help them with other areas of their lives.

Then why start one up?

I’ve used an agency once. I phoned Hays recruitment on a Friday afternoon. Had a good chat with one of their staff, and was told they had something 'perfect for me' (which was indeed the case). Met Monday morning to sort all the paperwork out and started work the following day.

David (my contact at Hays) used to call me regularly and even came out for a visit. We still have a chat from time to time even though I only used them that once for a contract that lasted about 6-8 months. I used the agency because I hadn’t had a ‘job’ in years and so had no contacts. Technically I was still self employed as I was subcontracting but through an agency. I couldn't fault their service, but, as I said I have only limited experience.

The reason for stating one is that I thought I could add value to people's lives, that it was fairly easy to scale at the time(clearly not) and It was one of my first business ideas.

Obviously this must interest you or you wouldn't be willing to work for free and have it cost you £500 a month on travel. Personally I think you are being taken for a ride if one of Britain’s top start-ups can’t even offer to pay your expenses but I can be a cynical sod at times, so maybe this is the norm these days.

Regardless, if I were spending £500 a month to help out a "fantastic digital marketing agency" I would be looking to learn as much as I possibly could from them so I could utilise that knowledge to my own startup. I certainly wouldn't be sat reading this forum. Oh and a digital marketing agency is a lot easier to set up than a recruitment agency.

Firstly, it is work experience part of my course, I have to do this in-order for me to get my degree. Because of this factor, the competitions to get placements is ridiculous! Not only are you competing against people in your uni, but universities across the whole of the UK. I was lucky to get this one because I messaged them directly. Financially it's a dumb decision, but like you said gives me the potential learn a lot.

I am learning whilst I am here, I just had an hour and a half talk about SEO. Trouble is their all so busy here that most of them take no notice of me or bother. I do send them emails asking for me to shadow, learn etc. but most of them fall through.

I could start a digital marketing agency, but the market is again so saturated. I've read the threads about this and find them to be beneficial, however if there are threads about it surely everyone is doing it?

To be brutally honest people who use an agency don’t go there to receive life lessons (especially from one so young). What they want is work so they can pay the bills. Short and simple. Give them what they want, and you could do well. Bolting on bells and whistles in the form of life advice is probably not going to improve your business or their career prospects. For starters they will be in the wrong frame of mind. They are going somewhere to secure a job not seek a shrink.

A lot of people hold agencies in contempt as they just see them as money grabbing middlemen but they perform a service that is in demand. However it is a very crowded marketplace you are aiming to elbow into.

It is also a little like the chicken and the egg. You need jobs to entice job seekers but you need job seekers in order to gain the interest of businesses who, lets face it, have agencies contacting them pretty much around the clock offering them their services.

Do you have contacts where you can leverage your relationships? An uncle who runs a large company? The father of a close friend who always has openings for temp staff? If not I think you will face an uphill battle. What niche are you looking at?



Then why start one up?

I’ve used an agency once. I phoned Hays recruitment on a Friday afternoon. Had a good chat with one of their staff, and was told they had something 'perfect for me' (which was indeed the case). Met Monday morning to sort all the paperwork out and started work the following day.

David (my contact at Hays) used to call me regularly and even came out for a visit. We still have a chat from time to time even though I only used them that once for a contract that lasted about 6-8 months. I used the agency because I hadn’t had a ‘job’ in years and so had no contacts. Technically I was still self employed as I was subcontracting but through an agency. I couldn't fault their service, but, as I said I have only limited experience.

Why are you not looking towards something you have experience with? You say you are working for:



Obviously this must interest you or you wouldn't be willing to work for free and have it cost you £500 a month on travel. Personally I think you are being taken for a ride if one of Britain’s top start-ups can’t even offer to pay your expenses but I can be a cynical sod at times, so maybe this is the norm these days.

Regardless, if I were spending £500 a month to help out a "fantastic digital marketing agency" I would be looking to learn as much as I possibly could from them so I could utilise that knowledge to my own startup. I certainly wouldn't be sat reading this forum. Oh and a digital marketing agency is a lot easier to set up than a recruitment agency.

Anyway you wanted some feedback. Those are my thoughts.

Generally do appreciate the feedback, it was honest and constructive, so thank you!

Oh and welcome to the forum. Hope you find it inspiring and valuable and you stick around for a long time.

Thanks for the welcoming! Now, as clearly my idea was a bit of a flop what do you suggest I do to take ACTION? I'm reading a lot of valuable business books, but not doing anything with it. I have no idea what business to start?

Do you suggest isolating myself and simply brainstorming until I produce some worthwhile ideas or just follow through on a idea to learn about business/the process?

 

[Grahamn117]

100% agree with Razorcut.

Just imagine we both thought 'great idea' though.

You are going to hotfoot yourself to a coffee shop and buy a couple of coffees to meet me for a nice long chat about careers/life.

Your £20 is now gone isn't it?

Dan

Like I said the prices where just to give you an understanding of the services I was going to offer and the difference between the two packages. Not to be taken literally.

I wouldn't say your money would be gone at all, you probably think I am completely naive and totally out of my depth, but I can offer extremely good advice (even being as young as I am).

I know the idea was a flop and I am not going to pursue it, it was my first idea man give a guy a break. I'm at the point now that I want to take ACTION! I wanted people to constructively dissect my idea and offer their opinions.

 

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[RazorCut]

How things have changed. When I was in Uni companies paid you for working for them during your sandwich year. And if you showed promise often you had a guaranteed job once you graduated.

In fact one girl in my year spoke fluent Japanese. The company she did her placement with paid her more than a lot of their regular staff as her talent was so beneficial to them. At the end of the year, when she was due to come back to finish her degree, they offered her a huge pay increase to stay with the offer to pay for her to continue her studies part time.

Kudos for contacting them directly. What can you learn quickly that will help you stand out and get noticed? What can you add to their business that will make them want to keep hold of you? Regardless as to whether you want to stay or not. Use it as a marketing exercise in selling yourself.

You have a golden opportunity to learn. Pick a niche and dive in. They do SEO and paid traffic services so maybe utilise @Andy Black's posts to learn all you can about running and optimising paid ads through Google. It is highly unlikely they know anywhere near as much as Andy does and he has shared a huge amount of that knowledge here so you could be up to their level in no time at all.

Once you can communicate at their level and come up with suggestions of your own you stand out and so become more valuable (but in the corporate world of ego's and insecurity possibly a threat too, so bear that in mind).

Your intentions to help others is commendable so learn and take that knowledge to help small businesses in your community. Help them get more custom. If they thrive then they will need more staff and you will be helping on all fronts.

I could start a digital marketing agency, but the market is again so saturated. I've read the threads about this and find them to be beneficial, however if there are threads about it surely everyone is doing it?

Is the market saturated? There are a lot of people making a living at it but a one man firm will only have, at tops, maybe a dozen clients at a time. There are a lot more businesses than there are digital marketeers.

It might seem the market is saturated because small to medium businesses get bombarded all the time with emails and phone calls from digital marketing agencies but, how many contact them face to face? How many turn up on the doorstep and say:

"I live a couple of miles away and thought I could help you increase your business, both in turnover and profit, I've looked at your direct competition and this is what I have found...."

"If you don't have the time to speak to me now could I leave this with you and book, say, a 1/2 hour of your time once you have had chance to read it?"

You would be surprised what an effect that can have. It would certainly pique my interest and I ran bricks and mortar businesses for 20 odd years.

 

[Grahamn117]

Kudos for contacting them directly. What can you learn quickly that will help you stand out and get noticed? What can you add to their business that will make them want to keep hold of you? Regardless as to whether you want to stay or not. Use it as a marketing exercise in selling yourself.

They take sort of a do it yourself approach here, which is good for them as they can see which interns stand out by showing imitative. For example, I emailed the head of SEO last week saying that I was keen to learn expand my knowledge of the topic and asked certain questions relating to SEO and their business. Since then I've made an account on SEMRush (digital marketing tool) and sat down with two of them today and they went through a lot of valuable information with me.

I am doing my best to stand out and learn, but my ultimate goal is be an entrepreneur so I find myself browsing this forum instead haha

They do SEO and paid traffic services so maybe utilise @Andy Black's posts to learn all you can about running and optimising paid ads through Google.

I'll definitely check him out out, I'm only new to this forum and the that is extremely beneficial to me, thank you!

You would be surprised what an effect that can have. It would certainly pique my interest and I ran bricks and mortar businesses for 20 odd years.

Cheers for all the advice man, you're a legend. I am definitely going to look into this. Where I am originally from Jersey, Channel Islands there are loads of local businesses as it is an island and they rely on word of mouth.

I am seriously considering starting a digital marketing agency now. I asked the two SEO managers that were speaking with me today, why have you not essential started your own digital marketing agency and sell the skills that you know? They replied say that, "They liked the idea of having a team behind them" or "It was too risky".

I found it interesting to hear their opinion.

But thanks once again dude, you've got me thinking again and I'm looking forward to taking some action towards my goal

 

[RazorCut]

I am seriously considering starting a digital marketing agency now. I asked the two SEO managers that were speaking with me today, why have you not essential started your own digital marketing agency and sell the skills that you know? They replied say that, "They liked the idea of having a team behind them" or "It was too risky".

I found it interesting to hear their opinion.

Ah, some people haven't got the urge to work for themselves and others are just too scared to do so even if they wanted to. We discussed the mindset issues here if you are interested (the main premise of the thread is about taking small steps forward) but this particular post is about how people cling to the security of a job despite often loathing it:

HOT TOPIC - One Little Step – advice for wantabes and newbie entrepreneurs

 

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[Entre Eyes]

Hey my friend you got a little bit of Jerry McGuire going on there.

Personally I love digital more than people/services...although digital can be upsold to personal services very easily and I love that attribute.

But there are so many variables when it comes to life planning. People get pregnant...relocate, get cold feet, better offers etc it would drive me bonkers.

I remember living in Wash D.C. area for a while and huge on Law firms lobby etc so lots and lots of Admin and secretaries. I had a friend who was always getting paid super overtime for working nights and weekends and I told her why not start a Temp agency that focused only on that. She did.
Not even a Thank you ha.

 

[Grahamn117]

Hey my friend you got a little bit of Jerry McGuire going on there.

Personally I love digital more than people/services...although digital can be upsold to personal services very easily and I love that attribute.

But there are so many variables when it comes to life planning. People get pregnant...relocate, get cold feet, better offers etc it would drive me bonkers.

I remember living in Wash D.C. area for a while and huge on Law firms lobby etc so lots and lots of Admin and secretaries. I had a friend who was always getting paid super overtime for working nights and weekends and I told her why not start a Temp agency that focused only on that. She did.
Not even a Thank you ha.

I can't say that I have seen that film, is it worth a watch ?

I'm interested in digital for sure, but I'm far better at communication/reading social dynamics face to face. I never text people, I always call them. I find it easier to communicate what you have to say and is quicker.

Which brings me onto my next point; I've not had a phone for the past week and a bit, literally no phone at all. I know it's not a long time in the grand scheme of things, but I have noticed some positive results which I might make a thread about later.

I had a friend who was always getting paid super overtime for working nights and weekends and I told her why not start a Temp agency that focused only on that. She did.
Not even a Thank you ha.

Hahaha that's just how the cookie crumbles, should message her asking for a percentage of her company

 

[Entre Eyes]

I can't say that I have seen that film, is it worth a watch ?

Are you asking for verification on a Tom Cruise movie? Whatha?! Well its 2019 now but yea it was a good watch.

Even when I go to the gym I am thinking I better work top and bottom because I could be out of the game tomorrow. That is how I feel about physical closing. Although big bucks are made that way with high ticket.

Glen Garry Glen Ross Movie the scenes with Alec Baldwin and the one with Pacino at the bar...maybe a short cut of those on Ytube.

Some are made for it I would hire those guys ha.

If we are not making money in our sleep we are not optimized.

 

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[Grahamn117]

Are you asking for verification on a Tom Cruise movie? Whatha?! Well its 2019 now but yea it was a good watch.

Haha to be honest I rarely watch films. I find most to be corny and unrealistic. I know some are not meant to be realistic, but most just frustrate me haha

If you not making money in your sleep you are not optimized.

What businesses do you own? What is your story ?

 

[Entre Eyes]

Haha to be honest I rarely watch films. I find most to be corny and unrealistic. I know some are not meant to be realistic, but most just frustrate me haha

Hahaha...unrealistic? The movies coming out about the last 2 years in America nobody will believe!

Come on my friend...you are missing out...Dead Poets Society? Purple Rain haha, Godzilla? You know what the fish look like near Japan Nuclear leaks? Bruce Lee? Anime? Silent Hill? Watchmen? Magnificent 7? Equalizer? Hahaha life is the Black and White Movie...we have to colorize it!



What businesses do you own? What is your story ?

The ones I planned on Selling right from the Start.

I wake up to help others that are struggling. What a rush.

We do not want to leave this place without some type of positive footprint left behind. Something that would not have happened without our Birth.

 

[Kid]

It seems that you try to be "a life coach". Most scammers fell in the same category.

 

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[Grahamn117]

It seems that you try to be "a life coach". Most scammers fell in the same category.

Keep coping brother. You nothing about me or what I can do. I'll just let the results speak for themselves.

 

[Kid]

Keep coping brother. You nothing about me or what I can do. I'll just let the results speak for themselves.

I have nothing against you personally.

But if you'll become self proclaimed guru, that would be another story.