Think about, why a new business often fails, And when it is likely to happen
You’re probably thinking that’s not the most ‘positive’ headline. Not the most encouraging. Well, if you’re still reading this blog, then it’s done its job by attracting your attention.
The fact is that if a new business, any new business, is going to fail there’s a good chance that it will do so within its first year. That’s the ‘when’.
As to the ‘why’, there are several reasons but high among them is that the entrepreneur – the owner and founder – was so busy setting it up, getting it right and sorting it out that they ran out of time to actually talk to, deal with, service and this is important – really listen to – their customers.
That’s how you grow a business. By being involved with your customers, because that’s how you retain and develop the relationships that fuel your company’s future.
If you put that into the perspective of starting up a recruitment business it’s not difficult to identify the possible pitfalls.
Having raised some finance you’re probably going to have making the repayments on your mind, all the time. Meeting your obligations is important, but in reality it’s the risk that causes the worry. Suppose you don’t make enough to make the repayments? What’s at stake? Your house? It’s difficult to focus on customers when every day brings a worry about balancing the books.
Keeping the books in the black is a challenge in itself in the early days. Furniture, fixtures and fittings aside you’ve almost certainly invested in the systems and software you need to allow the business to operate. And they cost money. And you’re not sure they’re exactly right for the job. There’s something else to preoccupy your thoughts and eat up your time. Time when you could be talking to clients.
With money going out, but a while to go before the income starts to arrive, the issue of cash flow is going to hang heavy on you too.
Oh – and there’s your new website to sort, and the arrangements on the office seem to be ever more complicated. Will the landlords and their solicitors ever get it finally sorted?
You’ll need to talk to the media too. They know you by name of course but those local papers and national job boards don’t know your new company – so negotiating a line of credit takes time.
All of those things take time. Time when you could and should be talking with – and listening to – clients. Because if you don’t, you won’t build the relationships, and within a year the business, your business – will have added to the statistics to prove the point that many new businesses fail in the first year. Because they didn’t engage with their customers.
A bit of a vicious circle isn’t it?
It needn’t be.
At The Recruit Venture Group we provide 100%, risk free, backing to start your own business. And, you’ll be able to pay yourself a salary from day one. There’s two of the big worries sorted straightaway.
You’ll have access to our back office and industry tested systems, making you fully operational from the moment you open your doors. There’s another distraction nailed.
We’ll help with premises and legal issues. Another two concerns sorted.
In fact, with all of that support, you will have absolutely no reason not to concentrate on your customers. And candidates. To get on with recruitment. To get on with your future.
We’re a business too; and a successful one. So we have certain criteria. For example we expect you to have five years continuous experience in recruitment and that you’ve specialised in particular sector for a while. We want to know that you’re serious about starting up on your own.
Most importantly we don’t want you to fail. We want your fist year to be a success. A precedent for many more successful years to come.