Four years ago, we decided – in our 40s – to establish a business in the extremely competitive world of recruitment.
We are open and say it hasn’t been without its challenges – few business journeys are – but we’ve enjoyed pretty much every moment.
On our fourth birthday, we would like to share some key reflections in the hope it may help other start-up businesses in their decision-making process.
- One-hit approaches to business development don’t work: We spent a lot of time, energy and money in sponsoring events and awards in our first couple of years which on reflection gave us very little return. And, while networking has been an effective way of building key relationships for us, we would not have been successful if we had relied solely on our connections and referrals. A multi-faceted, strategic approach that fits your business is always better.
2. You can’t build a successful business without investing in marketing: We knew what we wanted to stand for at the outset and invested in building brand awareness and marketing Sitka very early on. We wouldn’t be here and have the reputation we have if we hadn’t continued to invest in marketing – even – and especially – in the midst of the pandemic.
3. U-turns are sometimes necessary: Earlier this year, like many others, Covid-19 forced us to go against the grain on our face-to-face approach to recruitment. We had to make a swift adaptation to virtual/telephone interviewing and meetings. Fortunately, we already had some strong relationships with clients and candidates that had been built on trust, which meant it was a fairly seamless move. That said, we really miss the human interactions and cannot wait to get back into the office and get out and about more to meet with our clients and candidates.
4. Growth goals needs to be balanced with values: When we set up, we were determined to ensure a work/life balance. Finding the right people to work with and focusing on maintaining those relationships that we spent years nurturing, is what has helped us maintain our ‘work to live’ ethos. As great as it feels to win new business, it does not compare to the satisfaction of successfully recruiting for a loyal client and then rewarding ourselves by spending quality time with the family.
In honesty, there are other lessons we have learned since we started and despite all the current uncertainty, we are looking forward to growing Sitka’s offering more over the next 4 years and beyond.
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I felt very confident that Sitka would find the right person for our business. They took on board how important our company values were to us. A good range of candidates were provided and they all met the brief. The final choice came down to chemistry.
Trying to find a new role can be quite a daunting experiencing, however what I found working with Karen is that her enthusiasm is infectious. Karen listened to what I had to say and we had a long and productive conversation about what I wanted and whether the role was right for me.
Sitka offered a more thorough, personal and detailed search for candidates than we have experienced with any other recruitment agencies we have used previously.
The experience of working with Sitka was really enjoyable. It was like talking to a friend who knew all the answers to my future career.
Sometimes in recruitment it is a case of being able to look behind the written CV and Karen was able to pull out experience that I had overlooked so that we were able to recruit the right person for us.
Throughout the process, they kept us informed and the whole process felt like a true partnership. Each candidate came to the interview with a great understanding of our business and had prepared thoroughly, particularly at the second stage interviews.