In this episode of the Recruitment Founders Podcast, Lindsay Hartland and Greg Elton unpack the hard lessons they wish they’d understood earlier when starting and scaling their own recruitment businesses. Drawing on their own founder journeys, plus what they’ve seen through Recruitment Founders Club, they explore why good recruiters don’t usually fail because they lack ability, they fail because they don’t learn the right lessons quickly enough. From the loneliness of losing the office noise, to the danger of moving into unfamiliar markets, saying yes to the wrong work, underpricing too early and hiring before the business is truly ready, this is a candid episode about becoming a business owner, not just a biller with a company name.

Loneliness is one of the biggest shocks of starting up.

The LinkedIn launch buzz feels amazing for a week, but then the noise drops off and it can become just you and four walls. Founders need people around them who understand business ownership, not just well-meaning family or employed recruiter mates.

Your support network has to be relevant.

Family, friends and colleagues can be supportive, but they may not understand the pressure of running a service business where deals can collapse days before starting. Founders need sounding boards who have been there, can challenge them and genuinely care about their success.

Changing market is a major risk.

Greg reflects on starting in medtech, neuromodulation and the US without prior experience, describing how much he underestimated. Moving into a new market can work, but it adds time, pressure and uncertainty — especially if you’re already learning how to run a business.

Being a good recruiter is not the same as being a good business owner.

A high-performing biller may be brilliant within an existing brand, desk and infrastructure, but ownership adds finance, operations, marketing, positioning, pricing, networking and decision-making. It’s the same job plus a significant extra layer.

Decide what you want to be known for.

Founders need a clear niche, a sensible outer boundary and the discipline to say no to work that sits outside it. Taking on the wrong role, even on a retainer, can drain time, cash and focus.

Saying no can still build your brand.

If a candidate or client is outside your space, referring them to someone better placed creates a positive memory. That goodwill may not pay off immediately, but it helps build a network and reputation beyond short-term transactions.

Confidence in pricing comes from knowing your value.

If you’re only selling CVs, clients can push you down on price. If you’re selling insight, trust, market access and specialist delivery, you can negotiate from a stronger position, but you need to know where your walk-away point is.

Don’t grow too quickly.

Hiring because you’ve had a good first year or have cash in the bank can be dangerous. Before adding headcount, founders need to ask whether they have client infrastructure, leadership bandwidth and a genuine platform for someone else to succeed.

• “Most recruiters don’t fail because they’re not good enough. They just don’t learn the right lessons quick enough.”
• “The biggest thing for me that I underestimated was the loneliness element of being an entrepreneur and being a business owner.”
• “Being a business owner and being a high-performing biller are not the same thing.”
• “Know where to say no, but try and define those boundaries.”
• “If you can’t see a deal, you can’t see the deal.”
• “You could genuinely have £200k or £300k in the bank and still not be ready for growth.”

About Recruitment Founders Club

Recruitment Founders Club is your launchpad to owning a successful recruitment business. We provide comprehensive mentorship and cover your start-up costs for the first 12 months. Coupled with our robust network and ongoing support, we not only help you start your own business, we ensure you thrive.

Find out more: https://recruitmentfoundersclub.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Recruitment Founders Podcast, Lindsay Hartland and Greg Elton step back from the usual talk of fees, targets and growth to explore a deeper question: what keeps you motivated when money stops being enough? Through personal stories from recruitment, leadership, family life and business-building, they discuss how purpose evolves over time, why contribution often outlasts commission as a driver, and how a more meaningful definition of success can improve both performance and fulfilment.

Key Takeaways

Money is not always a lasting motivator. One of the central themes of the episode is that, for many experienced recruiters, there comes a point where earning more stops being enough on its own. Lindsay and Greg reflect on how purpose, contribution and impact can become much stronger drivers than targets or commission alone.

Purpose can be developed over time. The episode makes clear that purpose is not always something people start their careers with. It can emerge through experience, reflection, goal-setting and a better understanding of personal values.

Helping others can sharpen your own success. A powerful idea explored in the conversation is “self-transcending purpose” — focusing on improving outcomes for others rather than obsessing over your own results. The argument is that this shift can reduce unhealthy fixation on targets and, ironically, lead to stronger performance anyway.

Recruitment changes lives when done well. Greg talks about helping a candidate secure a salary increase of nearly £50,000, while Lindsay shares an example of placing an interim leader who helped save a factory and protect jobs. These stories reinforce the idea that recruitment can have a real, human impact far beyond filling vacancies.

Happiness first can be a better formula. Lindsay shares a mindset shift that challenged the old belief that money brings happiness. Instead, he describes learning to think of it the other way round: get the happiness piece right first, then success is more likely to follow.

Meaning can come from building something that helps others. Greg explains that a major source of fulfilment in RFC is giving people the opportunity to become entrepreneurs with support around them, especially those who might not otherwise have believed they could do it alone.

Purpose does not need to be purely professional. Lindsay also speaks about opening his home to a Ukrainian mother and daughter during the war, and donating part of the profits from his book to a Ukraine-linked charity. It adds another dimension to the episode: that purpose often becomes clearest when it connects work, family and service to others.

Best Moments

“Money equals success equals happiness. He said, you got it the wrong way around. Happiness equals success equals money.”

“Focus on having a clearly defined… self-transcending purpose. So you are doing it for others.”

“I got him a near 50 grand salary increase. It changed his life.”

“That is what motivates me about RFC… giving them the opportunity to become an entrepreneur.”

“Really that’s our number one measure of success as a business is how many lives we progress.”

“So they’re our family… I’ll donate 20% to a charity linked to the Ukraine war.”

About Recruitment Founders Club

Recruitment Founders Club is your launchpad to owning a successful recruitment business. We provide comprehensive mentorship and cover your start-up costs for the first 12 months. Coupled with our robust network and ongoing support, we not only help you start your own business, we ensure you thrive.

Find out more: https://recruitmentfoundersclub.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Recruitment Founders Podcast, Lindsay Hartland and Greg Elton explore how recruiters can stop treating placements as one-off wins and start building long-term, profitable client relationships. They argue that too many recruiters do the hard part, winning the client and closing the deal, only to move straight on to the next opportunity. Instead, they share practical ways to stay relevant after the placement, add value without always selling, and become the recruiter a client thinks of first when the next need arises.

Key Takeaways

Winning the client is the hard part, so do not waste it. Greg makes the point that recruiters often work hard to land a client, complete a placement, and then fail to focus on keeping that relationship warm. The episode challenges the industry habit of chasing the next deal instead of maximising the value of the client already won.

Build retention into your process. Greg shares a simple but powerful strategy: schedule 3, 6 and 12 month follow-up meetings with the hiring manager as soon as a placement is made. That creates natural touchpoints, keeps you close to the client’s world, and gives you a real reason to stay in contact long after the rebate period has passed.

Make the meeting about them, not you. These follow-ups work because they are centred on the client and the success of the hire, not on selling another role. That is why they are less likely to be cancelled and more likely to deepen trust.

Value-first beats transaction-first. A strong thread throughout the episode is that retention comes from consistently giving useful insight, feedback and market context with no immediate ask attached. Whether that is post-placement feedback, industry news or relevant market intelligence, value builds trust over time.

Informal touchpoints can strengthen relationships. Lindsay explains that for his market, retention often comes through more natural contact, such as WhatsApp messages, LinkedIn engagement, sharing useful posts, and sending relevant news or opportunities directly to clients. The key is to stay visible in a way that feels helpful rather than forced.

Do not ruin a good meeting by asking for jobs. One of the clearest messages in the episode is that if you have added value and built a genuine relationship, you do not need to tack on “have you got any jobs?” at the end. If the trust is there, work, referrals and opportunities tend to come naturally.

Retention is still business development. Greg argues that just because a meeting does not contain an obvious sales pitch, that does not mean it is not productive. Relationship-led meetings are business development in its purest form, because they keep you embedded in the client’s thinking and often lead to future roles, referrals or market intelligence.

Consistency is what makes you partner of choice. The episode lands on the idea that clients stick with recruiters who show up consistently, understand their world, and prove they are invested beyond the fee. That is how you become the first call, rather than one recruiter among many.

Best Moments

“Clients are really hard to win… and it’s funny how the industry achieves a client which is the hardest thing to do, but actually doesn’t focus on keeping them.”

“I schedule a 3, 6 and 12 month call with the hiring manager based on the candidate start date.”

“Because I make it about them. It’s not about me.”

“People want to buy, they don’t want to be sold to.”

“It’s amazing how much you end up selling them” when the agenda is not selling them something.

About Recruitment Founders Club

Recruitment Founders Club is your launchpad to owning a successful recruitment business. We provide comprehensive mentorship and cover your start-up costs for the first 12 months. Coupled with our robust network and ongoing support, we not only help you start your own business, we ensure you thrive.

Find out more: https://recruitmentfoundersclub.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Recruitment Founders Podcast, Lindsay Hartland and Greg Elton explore what client acquisition really looks like in a competitive recruitment market. Their argument is simple: the best way to win better clients is to win better candidates first. They unpack what “top talent” actually means, why generic outreach fails, and how recruiters can stand out by building genuine relationships, adding value, and becoming known in their market before making an approach.

Key Takeaways

Top talent is market-specific. Greg and Lindsay stress that recruiters need a clear picture of what top talent looks like in their niche, rather than relying on clichés or broad assumptions. In some markets, it is about long-term progression; in others, it is about high-impact people who move every few years and leave businesses in a stronger position.

The challenge is not finding strong candidates, but winning them. The episode makes the distinction between locating talent and actually getting top performers to engage. The best candidates are often passive, well-networked, and already being approached constantly, so recruiters need a more thoughtful strategy.

Generic outreach is killing response rates. Lindsay points out that most candidates are still receiving bland, transactional messages that amount to little more than “I’ve got a job, and you look right for it”. Their view is that this creates no real impression and does nothing to build trust.

Hyper-personalisation works. One of the strongest practical points in the episode is that a recruiter should take the time to genuinely review someone’s profile and make a specific, relevant observation about their career. A thoughtful compliment or insight can be enough to cut through the noise and start a conversation.

Lead with value, not a vacancy. Greg explains that much of his outreach is not about a live role at all. Instead, he positions himself as part of the candidate’s market, offering insight, advice, and relevant network value. That softer, peer-to-peer style earns far stronger engagement than hard selling.

Strong candidates can unlock stronger client relationships. Greg shares an example of placing one standout candidate with a client, which shifted how that client viewed his business and opened the door to a more strategic relationship. The message is clear: one exceptional placement can reposition your entire brand with a client.

Content and credibility matter. Both hosts highlight that if you consistently put useful content into your market, candidates can get to know you before you ever reach out. That familiarity makes future conversations warmer and more natural.

Relationships are still built through human interaction. While LinkedIn and Teams play a role, Greg also makes the case for getting out, meeting people, and investing in real conversations. Sometimes one meeting can create far more value than a string of calls or messages.

Best Moments

“Because this isn’t about finding talent, everybody can find it. It’s about winning them, isn’t it?”

“They’re not hard to find. They’re hard to win.”

“Compliment somebody, actually look at their profile and compliment their career.”

“It’s highly improbable that somebody in my market’s first interaction with me is selling them something.”

“Content is very important… these people get to know you before you’ve even reached out to them.”

“Can you provide them with somebody that they can’t get from anywhere else?”

If you'd like, I can also turn this into a slightly more polished show notes version for Spotify/Acast with a shorter intro and punchier takeaways.

About Recruitment Founders Club

Recruitment Founders Club is your launchpad to owning a successful recruitment business. We provide comprehensive mentorship and cover your start-up costs for the first 12 months. Coupled with our robust network and ongoing support, we not only help you start your own business, we ensure you thrive.

Find out more: https://recruitmentfoundersclub.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Recruitment Founders Podcast, Lindsay Hartland and Greg Elton sit down with industry veteran and Blair Recruitment Consultancy founder Mike Ames, a man who’s built, scaled and sold two recruitment businesses, and then had to work out what life after the cheque actually looks like.

Mike shares the story of losing a co-founder in a car accident and being thrust into the MD role, building one of the UK’s early MSP models, selling to a US buyer, then later creating Crimson and exiting again to Harvey Nash. From there, he unpacks why “scale for sale” is far less common than LinkedIn suggests and why most owners would be better off building a high-profit lifestyle business.

Key Takeaways

Build for profit and safety, not vanity growth.

Headcount and top-line are “vanity”; net profit and resilience are “sanity”. Mike warns against “scissor businesses” where turnover rises while profits fall, usually because founders hire ahead of productivity and bake waste into the model.

Average billers + strong tools beat volatile superstars.

Mike would rather have a stable team of consistent £120k–£180k billers than a revolving cast of “rock stars”. Well-designed processes and tools should amplify average recruiters so they deliver outstanding results, and are easier to replace if they leave.

Don’t scale on a pure 360 model.

High-growth, high-profit firms are hard to build around traditional 360 roles. Mike prefers a layered model: the owner handles strategic BD and key client relationships; others focus on candidates or delivery; tactical BD can be done by the team or offshore support. Losing one person should mean losing a function, not an entire revenue stream.

Client care is bigger than account management.

Hitting SLAs isn’t enough. Mike’s painful story of losing a £3m account despite great numbers shows how the experience for hiring managers matters more than internal conversion ratios. A proper Voice of the Customer (VOTC) programme should actively invite criticism and drive continuous improvement.

Be a business owner who recruits, not a recruiter who owns a business.

Founders must learn to switch between the short-term, transactional recruiter hat and the longer-term, strategic owner hat. Some of the most important moves, like defining your niche “flavour” of recruitment, building a client-care programme or courting high-value accounts, may not pay off for 18–24 months, but are what make the business valuable and sustainable.

Best Moments

“Three years to get a viable business, four years to make it high profit… and if you run it for another eight, that should make you independently wealthy.”

“Most people are building turnover, not profit. They’re hiring before the people they’ve got are anywhere near maximum productivity.”

“I once lost a three-million-pound client. The SLA numbers were great… the hiring managers hated the experience.”

“I’d sooner have a stable team of average recruiters than a volatile team of high billers coming and going.”

“Never hire more than 10% of your workforce every three months, it takes that long just to onboard someone properly.”

About the Guest

Mike Ames is a veteran recruitment entrepreneur who has built, scaled and sold two recruitment businesses, including IT consultancy Crimson, now part of Harvey Nash. Starting his career as a computer programmer, he moved into recruitment in 1988, later pioneering one of the UK’s first MSP models before exiting to a US buyer. Today he runs Blair Recruitment Consultancy, advising founders on profit, client care and building safe, high-performing recruitment businesses.

About Recruitment Founders Club

Recruitment Founders Club is your launchpad to owning a successful recruitment business. We provide comprehensive mentorship and cover your start-up costs for the first 12 months. Coupled with our robust network and ongoing support, we not only help you start your own business, we ensure you thrive.

Find out more: https://recruitmentfoundersclub.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Recruitment Founders Podcast, Lindsay “Jocks” Hartland and Greg Elton talk to James Davies, founder of Embedded Electronic Solutions, about his journey from climbing telecoms masts and working as an engineer to becoming an S3 biller and eventually a solo recruitment founder in the quantum technology space. James shares how he swapped a comfortable field engineering salary for a trainee recruiter role, why in-office apprenticeship was crucial to his early success, and how Covid forced him to quickly find resilient market niches.

He then lifts the lid on leaving a boutique to start his own business, the emotional shock of going months without a deal, the reality of taking a pay cut with a family, and why he chose Recruitment Founders Club over higher-capital but more restrictive investor models. The conversation closes on the mindset, support network and back-to-basics process that helped him move from “I can’t see myself ever doing a deal again” to regularly billing and taking control of his time and health.

Key Takeaways

James moved from hands-on engineering into recruitment in his early 30s, took a pay cut and a trainee title, but quickly ramped his billings once he’d learnt the craft.

He’s honest that he would have “crashed and burned” if he’d started remotely; sitting in a busy office, listening, copying and adapting top billers’ pitches was invaluable.

When lockdown hit, James survived by hunting out recession-resistant pockets in his patch (nuclear, remote handling, critical engineering) rather than waiting for “normal” jobs to return.

Corporate recruitment once sold management roles and layers of non-billing leadership as the prize. Now, many of those layers are under pressure to bill again, and questioning why they’re doing it for someone else.

Some incubators offer salary and tools but take 50% of everything and structure the deal so you never truly clear your “debt”, effectively keeping you as a high-performing employee in disguise.

James chose RFC because he already trusted Lindsay from their S3 days and wanted clean, fair support rather than a shark-tank deal with heavy long-term strings attached.

His biggest lesson to his month-before-launch self: stop putting things off because it’s “your name above the door” now. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it has to be started.

Having a partner and mentors who understand the financial hit, the emotional wobble, and the “I’ll never do a deal again” moments is critical when everything rests on you.

Greg reminds listeners that even the best billers ride peaks and troughs. If you keep following a solid process, the sun comes back out; if you stop following it, that’s when trouble really starts.

James went from total confidence in his employed days to genuine fear as a founder, and back to a calmer place by reminding himself of his track record and hearing others say what he used to: it will be alright.

Best Moments

“I didn’t want to go and work for another big company… there was no reason I couldn’t do this job for myself.”

“Don’t put anything off. It doesn’t need to be perfect just because it’s now on you.”

“Four months in I genuinely couldn’t see myself doing a deal again.”

“All of a sudden you’ve got more money in your bank account than you’ve ever seen… and three months off later you’re asking where it’s gone.”

“It’ll be alright. You’ve just got to have people around you who’ll say to you what you’d normally say to them.”

“Recruitment is a cyclical gig. If you keep following the process, at some point the sun will come out, and you’ll have some crops.”

About Recruitment Founders Club

Recruitment Founders Club is your launchpad to owning a successful recruitment business. We provide comprehensive mentorship and cover your start-up costs for the first 12 months. Coupled with our robust network and ongoing support, we not only help you start your own business, we ensure you thrive.

Find out more: https://recruitmentfoundersclub.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Recruitment Founders Podcast, Lindsay Hartland and Greg Elton sit down with Jon Stanley, founder of One Point Four Degrees and long-time S3 alumnus. Jon traces his journey from Huxley and Real, through nine years in Amsterdam and a tough stint at Opus, to launching not one but two recruitment businesses, including the first in the middle of Covid. He talks openly about court battles over covenants, getting “mullered” trying to break into contract in a pandemic, stumbling into perm and retainers with Lindsay’s help, and why he chose to partner with RFC on his second venture.

Together they explore the loneliness of ownership, the shift towards boutique and one-person brands, and how choosing the right people around you can be as important as choosing the right market.

Key Takeaways

Jon’s move to Amsterdam with S3 opened his eyes to a more international, “borderless” mindset and accelerated both his personal growth and the performance of the business he was scaling.

On paper, his role at Opus looked like a step up, matrix influence, no direct team, bigger scope, but in reality, it didn’t play to his strengths, especially once strong covenants and a courtroom appearance with his old boss were involved.

Two founders, laptops at the kitchen table, no database and a global pandemic made the early months brutal: chasing any contract job going, getting ghosted, and competing with major agencies sitting on stood-down contractor benches.

A couple of early perm wins turned into a multi-hire project, and with Lindsay’s guidance on how to pitch and structure a retainer, Jon went from never having done perm to delivering a 12-person build and finally “cooking” as a business.

By the time he launched his second business, Jon knew he didn’t want a pure lifestyle play. He wanted to grow something meaningful, but recognised the loneliness and exposure of doing that solo, which made partnering with RFC a natural next step.

For Jon, the real value in RFC is clean-eyed, sometimes uncomfortable challenge from people who’ve done it before, holding up a mirror on legal decisions, tough calls and avoidance behaviours that could quietly threaten the business.

Rather than going tunnel vision, Jon champions reaching out when you’re stuck, choosing advisers and peers with real credentials, and having the humility to admit you don’t have all the answers, even if you are the owner.

Best Moments

“It was almost like the world opens up to you… leaving the UK was probably one of the best things I’ve done for my career.”

“You’re in a very competitive space with not a lot to compete with apart from… you.”

“It was two lads and a LinkedIn Recruiter… of course we were getting mullered.”

“You don’t have to do it on your own, even if you are a solo. Choose the people around you carefully and wisely.”

About Recruitment Founders Club

Recruitment Founders Club is your launchpad to owning a successful recruitment business. We provide comprehensive mentorship and cover your start-up costs for the first 12 months. Coupled with our robust network and ongoing support, we not only help you start your own business, we ensure you thrive.

Find out more: https://recruitmentfoundersclub.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Recruitment Founders Podcast, Lindsay Hartland and Greg Elton break down what it really takes to go from employee to recruitment business owner. They talk through the post-COVID wave of founders, why some people should absolutely not jump yet, and how to work out whether your current billings are genuinely down to you or propped up by your employer’s brand and infrastructure.

They cover financial runway (why 3 months’ savings isn’t enough), picking the right market, building a minimum viable tech stack, and the emotional rollercoaster of your first 90 days, from the LinkedIn launch buzz to the silence, the missing salary, and fighting off doubt.

Key Takeaways

Know exactly why you’re doing it. A strong personal reason, such as keeping more of your billings, being present for your family, or wanting true autonomy, is what carries you through the tough patches, not just being annoyed with your current boss.

Runway is non-negotiable. Three months’ living costs in the bank is not enough; six months is a bare minimum, and nine to twelve gives you a realistic window for first deals and client payments to land. If you can’t stretch your runway, you’re not ready.

Be honest about how “360” you really are. If you only work with candidates, or rely heavily on your employer’s brand, marketing, senior backing and finance team, expect a steep learning curve. As a founder, you wear every hat, from BD and delivery to cash flow and credit control.

Stay close to the market you know. Changing sector and launching a new brand massively extends time to traction; founders moving into brand new markets often take 6–12 months to see meaningful results. If you want to pivot, use an 80/20 approach rather than torching your existing niche.

Build a Minimum Viable Product, not a vanity tech stack. You don’t need hundreds of pounds a month in AI tools to look “proper”. A sensible LinkedIn product, a simple CRM if you genuinely use one, a laptop, phone and a decent-enough website will get you trading; spend real money on a good accountant and marketing mentor instead.

Your accountant is a business mentor, not a form-filler. The right accountant helps you understand director responsibilities, cash, tax and profit, the very reasons most people start their own business, and is far more valuable than another shiny SaaS subscription.

Don’t build it alone, find your tribe. Months two and three can feel dark: the LinkedIn launch noise dies, deals haven’t dropped yet, and your salary doesn’t appear. A real founder community or peers who’ve actually done it is far more useful than ego-driven WhatsApp groups where everyone pretends to be “smashing it”.

Protect your headspace as much as your cash. Have a second place to work (coffee shop, co-working space, even a pub with Wi-Fi), limit time with negative people, and expect the emotional wobble when your first month passes with no pay slip; it’s normal, not a sign you’ve failed.

Best Moments

“We’re going to help lift the bonnet on how easy, in relative terms, it can be to launch your own business, and what needs to be true for it to be that easy.”

“Three months’ money… You need to park the idea. Either batten down the hatches or build more cash before you go.”

“When you take the office away, the banter away, the lunch clubs away… most recruiters realise a huge chunk of their billing was actually down to them.”

“The first LinkedIn post, every man and his dog messages you. Week three… the noise just falls off a cliff.”

“Quick wins aren’t necessarily quick deals; they’re conversations. You need those little wins to keep the engine going.”

About Recruitment Founders Club

Recruitment Founders Club is your launchpad to owning a successful recruitment business. We provide comprehensive mentorship and cover your start-up costs for the first 12 months. Coupled with our robust network and ongoing support, we not only help you start your own business, we ensure you thrive.

Find out more: https://recruitmentfoundersclub.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.