How to Start a Staffing Services Business

April 10, 2019

Opening the doors to a staffing agency can be very profitable. A staffing agency, also known as an employment agency is essentially a matchmaker for employees and employers. Unfortunately, it is not always as simple as it sounds. Like any employer, agencies take on all of the duties, accountabilities, and liabilities. So if you are in the beginning stages of starting your staffing agency, make sure you take all of the legal and financial stipulations into account first. Below is a checklist of things to consider before starting your staffing services business.

Revolutionize Your Recruiting Process

It can be very taxing keeping up with emails, addressing client inquiries, and searching for quality candidates that will meet your customers’ job requirements. However, developing and maintaining these relationships with your clients is the core of your business and why staffing agencies still exist today. Your clients do not have the bandwidth internally to fill temporary and permanent positions within their organization. That is why they put their trust in you to find candidates that match their qualifications for the open position at their company.

There are many tools and resources available that take away some of the burdens on staffing agencies and provide faster and more efficient ways of doing things. So, say goodbye to paper resumes, outdated spreadsheets, and hardcopy documents and hello to better-equipped technology!

Below are two helpful tools that help staffing firms stay organized to grow their business:

Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)

This system is used to manage a company’s interaction with current and prospective clients to build relationships, track progress, and increase sales.

With the help of a CRM, your team can easily create and update accounts, respond to clients, and pull reporting to see which areas you are excelling and areas where there is room for improvement.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

The ATS is similar to a CRM system but is designed for electronic recruitment tracking purposes. ATS systems are a huge time saver for staffing agencies by automatically eliminating applicants based on given criteria. A few examples of this would be, keywords, skills, former employers, years of experience and education levels. Also, the applicant tracking systems help with resume management and applicant information.

Marketing and Recruiting Strategies

One of the biggest challenges of starting a staffing company is attracting qualified and enthusiastic job applicants to put in front of your clients. The obvious first step is to compose a strategically, thought out job description and post it online. However, that is not the only technique when trying to attract applicants. Remember, you are a start-up company and need to build a name for yourself within your community. Below are a few simple steps to help grow your network and market your brand:

1. Join a trusted association within your organization.
2. Sign-up for sponsorships and volunteer work within your community to help gain recognition for your company’s image and reputation.
3. Include your company’s values and mission statement on your website. Be sure to include customer testimonials to gain credibility.
4. Review online job boards, professional networking, and social sites to see which ones best target the applicants you are trying to reach.
5. Create advertisements that highlight the benefits of working with your company.
6. Make it easy for applicants to apply for jobs online.
7. Be proactive. Utilize social platforms such as LinkedIn to reach out to candidates who may be fit for a specific client position you are trying to fill.
8. If you have the funds in your marketing budget, run Google AdWords campaigns and sponsored social posts.

Keep in mind, one of the biggest challenges of starting a staffing agency is creating a database of both recruits and clients. If you don’t have both, you will lose credibility. When building your marketing plan, be mindful that both parties are equally important.

 Business Liability Protection

As an employer, you are held accountable for your employees’ mistakes; underperformance, accidents, misconduct, and workplace.  Therefore, it is imperative to have good liability insurance.

Workers’ compensation claims can be very costly and critical to your business if any of your employees get harmed or cause injury to others in the workplace. The risk increases depending on the line of work they are in, i.e., construction, health care, industrial work, etc.  It is essential to view the plans available and decide based on the risk assessed for the industries your employees are working.

Get Your Finances Inline to Meet Payroll

Staffing agencies and Temporary employment agencies have a critical need for steady funding. With weekly payroll, business expenses, and marketing efforts, a lack of available cash is a significant concern. Waiting 30, 60, or even 90 days on customer payment are a burden and stressful to agency owners.  Payroll funding is a great option to consider if you require immediate cash flow.

With Scale Funding, our custom payroll funding solutions provide you the funds you need, when you need them. We eliminate the stress of waiting for customer payments, letting you focus on recruiting the best talent and building a stronger, profitable staffing agency.

To apply for a custom payroll factoring program give us a call at 800-707-4845. In as little as 15 minutes, we’ll provide a free no-obligation consultation and quote for a custom factoring program to meet your business demands.