John O'Sullivan - How I Became a Successful Entrepreneur

John O’Sullivan, chairman of the Elite Recruitment Network was a guest on the Scale Up Podcast with REC chief executive Kevin Green and spoke about some of the key strategies and successes he has seen in the industry. Here are some key points he touched on during his interview, including the importance of getting advice and guidance from those people in the industry who have ‘been there, done that’. 

I purchased the Elite business in 2008 after being invited to speak at one of their forums. I was so impressed, I bought the company. It’s very easy to become non-current if you haven’t run a company in a while, but I liked that Elite gives you the opportunity to get quality, as well as face time to discuss real issues on the ground with recruitment company owners every month, so that’s why I knew I wanted to be involved.

The peer-to-peer aspect of what Elite does is quite different and unique. We’re seeing peer-to-peer learning more in our industry than we did 10 – 15 years ago. People were very secretive before then and they wouldn’t have shared best practice or ideas with other recruitment leaders. There’s now a realisation that there’s more to be gained by sharing these things with like-minded companies. It’s powerful to learn from others and their mistakes. 

On the other side of the coin, I’m a non-executive director and strategic advisor. Generally, when you reach a certain point as a business owner in recruitment, you realise there’s a lot of things you don’t know. You can suddenly realise you may be a great recruiter, but you don’t know how to run a company, which is when you need to start looking for external advice and guidance.

It’s useful to find someone who knows the industry well and has done the things you aspire to do. Look to find someone who can help you bring growth, but more specifically, their contacts. Network, do your research, find people who have done what you want to do. Chemistry is so important. You’ll be with this person for a few years and possibly longer. It’s also useful to talk to people who know when it’s appropriate to hand on to someone else. No one person has all the answers you need.

When you join Elite you’ve got a network of people who can engage with you at the appropriate time, in the appropriate way.

I have three pieces of advice to becoming a successful recruitment entrepreneur:

1. Find your own talent to work for you. Be brutal about it, go out and hunt down the best. Make sure they come and work for you. If you do that, you’re already half-way there.
2. Spend a lot of time and effort developing proper client relationships. Be open, and work in a partnership, where you can innovate and put new and better solutions together.
3. Make sure you’ve got ways of harnessing talent embedded within your business. Make sure you identify and network with talent pools you want to provide to your customers. It’s not just calling them when you’ve got a job or tapping them for information. Genuinely become a part of the communities of people you want to place.

If you’re brilliant and passionate, don’t get bogged down in accounting and spreadsheets, get someone else who can take care of that, while you can focus on those three things. If you can do that, you’re almost there.

For more information about Elite Leaders, Elite Future Leaders or the Elite Business Health-Check, contact the REC today on 020 7009 2100.