I sort of did as I got a Wii, which is great fun!  Loving Mario Kart and Bowling at the moment.

Only sort of though as I seem to have caught bug after bug during that time period, which is unusual as I rarely get ill.  Worse now though (as those who follow me on twitter already know) because of lack of nutrition due to these bugs I have now got some of the worst mouth ulcers in the world (was in hospital at one point this morning as I couldn’t swallow), rather limiting my time on the phone as frankly, it hurts to breathe, never mind to talk.  Never had them before, wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy (though I might wish them on the Munster forwards to help the Ospreys stay top of the Magners League next week)

So why am I telling you this sob story?

Firstly to excuse myself from not having posted for awhile, don’t want you thinking I am going missing again.

Next to let all of you who have emailed me know that I am still alive… been staring at my inbox with dread and haven’t got around to replying to many

And to answer the question most of you have been asking, I shall start the start up series on Wednesday and post it weekly on Wednesdays from then on.  Afterwards I will make it available as a free PDF download.  Not sure exactly how many there will be as illness stopped me writing any further than I had before (6 articles so far) but I am thinking it is roughly around 10.

So thanks for all those that have emailed, I hope this helps you understand why I haven’t replied yet.

And don’t forget to tune in on Wednesday (midafternoonish) for the start of teh start up series

Remember I promised you a business start up series before?  Well I haven’t forgotten about it, in fact I have been working hard on it.  It looks like it is going to take up about 10 articles at the moment (currently on article #6).

The question I have for myself is, what to do with it.

I know it sounds odd, just post it on the blog right?  Well not quite so simple.  I have been talking with a number of friends who are more knowledgeable about the whole blogging and Internet marketing thing than me (but then again, so is my dog) and they have given me a number of other options that sound suitable.

Their first suggestion was to sell it as an e-book, but that’s not one I wish to progress.  I’m not against making money from this blog, as the various google adverts around here will attest, and a few affiliate links I have agreed with and had no problem recommending.

But charging money to show you how I am building a business goes against what I am trying to do with this blog, it’s meant to be a free resource giving those who are starting a business, especially those starting a recruitment business, a free resource of advice and examples - even if some of the examples end up being what not to do!

But some of the other options make at least as much sense as just using the series as a number of blog posts.  One is to offer it as a free ebook download.  Giving people the articles all in one place, at one time that they can take with them to read anywhere their laptop goes (their phrase works less well for desktops).  I can certainly see the benefits of that.

Another is too offer it as a free limited email newsletter, where you sign up and receive the business start up series as emails one at a time for x number of days/weeks.  Again I can see the benefit and it gives me the chance to create a newsletter should I want, something I was considering doing as a vehicle for interviews with other business start ups.

So that’s where I am.  Finishing up the series and trying to work out how to present it to you guys.  either way i should have it in place for the new year.  Decisions, decisions.

I stand by it.

But, you need to not bury your head in the sand either.  Are you making sure that you are aware of the facts and stats of the employment market at the moment?  Are you including them in your business plans going forward?

Simply having stats at hand will help with your small business start up.  Not only can you ensure that they are part of your planning and so not be surprised further down the line, but having the figures available can help when dealing with clients.

In my business niche the crunch hasn’t hit as hard yet, and the stats back this up.  There are also surveys to show that many companies are still planning on employing.  When talking to clients who say that candidates are going to be ‘readily available’ and they won’t need recruitment companies having such stats are a useful tool to go along with pointing out other value for money that we can bring to various business models.

Just a quick tip this one, but make sure you are aware of whats going on, that you plan for it and that you get your hands on the figures so that you can use them to your advantage.

Now it may come as no shock to you to discover that I am finding December to be a quiet month this time around, what with the overhyped recession talk, a lack of new projects and a lack of funds mean many companies aren’t in need like they may have been in years gone past.

Which is not to say I am not working on any vacancies, far from it, just that there is a lack of urgency about many of the clients out there at the moment.

So what should you be doing in times like this, winding down for christmas the same way many companies are (especially in the engineering niche)? 100% not. A quiet business month does NOT mean a quiet month for anyone starting a business, there is still far too much to be done that, whilst maybe not paying off immediately, is needed to ensure business growth in the future.

So what am I doing? Good question in the main these few things.

CV stripping for new business companies

You need companies to contact. Without a list you are dead and buried anyway. Personally I go for stripping CV’s as a wonderful way of finding new clients, as they give you details such as type of employee used, skills used, industry etc.

Business Networking

And I don’t just mean sites such as Linkedin (need a user guide for using linkedin?) or Facebook. What I mean is I am constantly talking to candidates, talking to clients, cold calling, warm calling, emailing, texting and any other method to get in touch with people. At the very least this keeps you warm in their minds, but often they will be hiring (and remember candidates can be clients to) or perhaps know someone who is hiring. Top candidates will know how the game is played and give you inormation i you ask or it openly… but don’t try to be sneaky about it.

Contact hunting/Recruitment Database cleaning

Every recruitment database (or any other contact database) needs cleaning from time to time and now is a great time to do it. Contact companies and make sure you have the right contact on file. Try get email address’s or those you don’t have any see if any candidates can give you a name for companies you are having trouble getting a contact name for.

Business Planning.

I am going to be making another post on my plans for my recruitment start up in the new year, but now is the ideal time to be making those plans and working out just how you are going to be implementing them. What are your business goals? What marketing are you going to be doing? Networking plans? There are loads of things that need covering when starting a small business, or indeed running a business that has already started, use a quiet business month to make them.

That should show you just a little of what I am doing at the moment, and give you some ideas for what you could be doing for yourselves, whether you have already set up or are thinking about starting a business. This list is a long way short of complete though, so feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments – I know I am interested in seeing what else I should be doing!

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Yes I’m exagerating, but they started it!

Theres good news and theres bad news for those looking to start a recruitment business in such trying times.  the good news is that the economy is nowhere near as bad as people are saying.  Yes figures aren’t great but they could definately be worse and people are making money and are hiring workers.  The bad news is that they aren’t doing it in the numbers they were before.

Scrap the business start up plans?

Does this credit crunch mean you should forget about starting a business?  No, far from it.  What it does mean you have to be very careful and realistic about your planning.  We all know that cashflow is king for a company start up right?  Well realise that in this economy you will be getting less placements than before, be battered that little bit harder on rates and you will definately have to wait longer for payment (and chase harder).

Now I don’t want to go into too much detail here as to the effect the economy is having on business start ups, and what we are doing to try get around it, is one of the questions I have been emailed to cover in my start up series (if you have questions make sure to ask them this week as I will be starting the series next Monday).  But I have been inspired to say a little on it by a post on ere.net which covers how a recent Manpower survey shows what recruitment is being planned by companies next year (2009).

Yes the report is American based but it again shows my suspicion that things in the recruitment sector are nowhere near as grim as the media seem to portray.  Things are tougher, companies will go to the wall, but good consultants who put in the leg work and are prepared to put the client relationship ahead of making a few quid here and there should well see themselves pull through the tough times with a profit… and then be very well placed when the upward curve begins in the next year or so.

Don’t let the economy get you down or stop you starting.  Just make sure you have your plans in order, and that they are based on realism not what you were billing a few years ago, and you should be fine.  Get started on the downwards curve and by the time the economy swings back up you will have the relationships, the systems and the talent in place to really do something special with your business.

p.s. don’t forget to contact me if you have any questions you want covered in the business start up series of blog posts, either use the comment section in that link or email me on recruitmentnick@gmail.com

But rather than blindly wandering into something, or continuing from my last attempt at a series, i will ask what i did last time… what would you like to see covered?

Are there any issues you would like to see me post my experiences on?  Any subjects tips would help make easier for you?

I want to try turn this into a 10 to 12 part article list that I can then offer as a free download as well, so any problems you have, or worries, concerns etc will be greatly appreciated!  just let me know in the comments below or by emailing me on recruitmentnick@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Cold calling it tough. It makes money, is a very useful and essential tool, but it is tough. If you get the requirement from a cold call odds are others have as well. Better then to make a warm call.

But how do you do that when starting a business?

Well assuming that you have to avoid old clients etc for awhile (most recruitment contracts state something similar) you are in a bit of a pickle. But not an insurmountable one. Remember other people, friends, family, ex-colleagues, university acquiescences, team mates etc.

I have so far made two placements and one of them came from a very good friend I made with a recruitment consultant who went on to become an engineer. She alerted to me to a job vacancy in her own company and put in a good word for me with HR, all because I was in constant contact with her.

With the plethora of networking sites such as Linkedin and Facebook you are in touching distance of a huge number of people, some of whom may be able to help in ways you didn’t realize. Although my candidates were not successful I have worked about 4 vacancies from companies that people on my rugby team made me aware of and I have a candidate going for an interview next week for a job that I knew about by talking to my sisters boyfriend. None of them had anything to do with CAD engineering (my field) but because they were friends they put word out they were interested in hearing that sort of info and passed it on to me.

Now my other placement I did make from cold calling, and a fair number of vacancies I have had were got that way so I am definitely not saying ignore cold calling. I am saying that you should remember the value of your personal networks, even those that don’t have a direct relation with what you are doing, you never know what useful piece of information they may dig up.

Add this to my last post on building business relationships and you will see why cold calling is another tool in the armour - not the be all and end all.

I know I am finding it slower than I would like. It is definitely not the ideal time to start a business (useless timing). But there is still plenty of work to be had out there for those that are prepared to put the hard work in.

At this time it is vital you are developing all the business relationships you can, candidates and clients alike. You want to know when new projects are coming up so you can get your foot in the door, when redundancies are likely so you can get talking to candidates first and who is leaving and what succession planning measures have been put into place.

Most vacancies I am currently working have come from talking to candidates first of all, simply asking them to help me by telling me when they know of anything within their companies… or any other companies they are not applying to themselves. They know how the game works and with a little bit of coaxing and relationship building will be more than happy to help you out, providing you are honest and up front about whats going on to benefit themselves.

I know I have said this before and I will say it again… working at relationships is key in this economy. Cold calling has its place and is still vital… but make sure you are warm calling first.

Thank you all those who emailed me checking on my well being and giving me best wishes.  Don’t worry I’m fine (broken bone from rugby aside - again - when will I learn?), businesss whilst not booming is doing ok.  Two placements now putting me about on a par with where I expected to be.

Business out there isn’t as good as I’d hoped but better than i feared so not lost hope at all.

I have been meaning and meaning to get around to posting but frankly finding the time has been hard.  Judging from the amount of emails wishing me the best, thanking me or asking questions themselves though there is obviously still an interest in what I have been trying to do with the site/blog.

So I will be looking at writing some articles up this weekend (assuming the rugby doesn’t take up too much of my time - Come On WALES!), see if I can restart an old series or come up with a new one, as well as catching you up to where I am along my plans now.

If you have left a comment you were expecting to show, sorry but don’t hold your breath.  I had 13,000 comments to check when I opened up the blog just now.  Thankfully I have finally worked out how to put a spam filter up so any new ones will come online easily but any old ones are likely to be caught up in the spam.

Anyone who has emailed me a question I will try get to you within the week.  Sorry its taken so long and if you haven’t heard from me by Friday feel free to email me again as I have a huge amount there that may well get caught in spam as well.

But I do have good news, as the title of this post suggests I have placed my first for me start up business candidate… happy days!

Not the biggest fee in the world but, at just shy of £4k, not to be sniffed at either.  For those that were wondering this was achieved by taking one of the best candidates I had come across since I started and selling him into the 8 or so relevant companies I am aware of within his ‘catchment area’.  3 requested interviews and 1 made an offer, which he accepted last night.

Unfortunately he has a months notice to work off so will be awhile yet until he starts, until I can invoice and even longer until I get any money for it but definitely very, very good news… I’m up and running.

I will try get more relevant business start up posts up next week.