Forget improving markets - ‘there are no shortcuts to success’ says Caan
13 February 2014
Budding recruitment entrepreneurs should not think that an improving jobs market makes success any easier than in the recent tough times, according to entrepreneur James Caan.
Thu, 13 Feb 2014
Budding recruitment entrepreneurs should not think that an improving jobs market makes success any easier than in the recent tough times, according to entrepreneur James Caan.
Recently having launched his search for the Next Recruitment Entrepreneur 2014, Caan, founder and chief executive officer of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw, tells Recruiter that while recruitment has seen “the best uptick in the last five years”, he goes on to warn, “it’s a tough sector with a huge amount of competition”.
Caan has said that his vision over the next three years is to back an exclusive group of recruitment entrepreneurs across the globe. Now in its second year, the Next Recruitment Entrepreneur competition offers the winner an investment of up to £500k, and support and mentoring from Hamilton Bradshaw.
"It is important to remember there are no shortcuts to success. The circumstances would be the same whenever you were entering the market,” says Caan.
“You have to be methodical, professional, to know your market, give a high degree of service to clients and candidates, and have a tremendous work ethic.”
Caan also warns against believing that the relative strength of a particular sector of the market, say oil & gas, increases the chances of success for a recruitment business.
“For every market I believed was amazing, I have found someone struggling, and for every market that I thought wasn’t performing particularly well, I met somebody who was flying in that market. And the common conclusion that I draw from that is that success is not about markets or sectors, it is about people.”
Caan says that anyone who wishes to be a successful recruitment entrepreneur needs a number of elements: “A passion for the industry, a proven track record, a strong industry knowledge, and a real ambition to be an entrepreneur and build your own business. But I don’t think one thing in isolation will ever be enough.”
The winner of Recruitment Entrepreneur 2013 was James Downie with his London-based oil & gas recruitment business JDi Energy. The deadline for this year’s competition is 28 February. For more details, visit recruitmententrepreneur.com.
On a separate issue, Caan’s office this week denied rumours that Hamilton Bradshaw is seeking to sell recruitment businesses it owns.
Recently having launched his search for the Next Recruitment Entrepreneur 2014, Caan, founder and chief executive officer of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw, tells Recruiter that while recruitment has seen “the best uptick in the last five years”, he goes on to warn, “it’s a tough sector with a huge amount of competition”.
Caan has said that his vision over the next three years is to back an exclusive group of recruitment entrepreneurs across the globe. Now in its second year, the Next Recruitment Entrepreneur competition offers the winner an investment of up to £500k, and support and mentoring from Hamilton Bradshaw.
"It is important to remember there are no shortcuts to success. The circumstances would be the same whenever you were entering the market,” says Caan.
“You have to be methodical, professional, to know your market, give a high degree of service to clients and candidates, and have a tremendous work ethic.”
Caan also warns against believing that the relative strength of a particular sector of the market, say oil & gas, increases the chances of success for a recruitment business.
“For every market I believed was amazing, I have found someone struggling, and for every market that I thought wasn’t performing particularly well, I met somebody who was flying in that market. And the common conclusion that I draw from that is that success is not about markets or sectors, it is about people.”
Caan says that anyone who wishes to be a successful recruitment entrepreneur needs a number of elements: “A passion for the industry, a proven track record, a strong industry knowledge, and a real ambition to be an entrepreneur and build your own business. But I don’t think one thing in isolation will ever be enough.”
The winner of Recruitment Entrepreneur 2013 was James Downie with his London-based oil & gas recruitment business JDi Energy. The deadline for this year’s competition is 28 February. For more details, visit recruitmententrepreneur.com.
On a separate issue, Caan’s office this week denied rumours that Hamilton Bradshaw is seeking to sell recruitment businesses it owns.
