Chinedu's Report

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Business Plan – Hunter’s Recruitment Agency | MBA Application - IBAT College | | The following is a sample Business Plan for a Recruitment Agency for the first year of operation. | | Carlos R. Boccardo | January 20, 2012 | |

Table of Contents

Executive Summary2
Business Concept2
Company Overview3 Business Description3 Business Name3 Mission and Vision3 Strengths and Core Competencies3 Challenges3
Marketing Plan4 Market Description4 Market Analyses4 Market Audience and Niche5 PESTEL Analyses6 SWOT Analyses7 Client Development Strategies9 Website Development10 Unique Selling Point10 Strategies to Grow Sales and Revenue11
Organisational/HR Plan12 Structure12 Personnel – Experience and Skills Required12 External Advisors14
Financial Analyses15 Start-up Expenses15 Targeted Costs16 Profit and Loss Projection18 Break Even Analyses19

1. Executive Summary

Business Concept
The concept behind Hunter Recruitment is to place in the work market young adults searching for their first relevant job after a certain level of qualification. On their way out of college, university, independent courses or even after some experience, this prospects are ready to “hunt” their initial work experience and eager to put into practice what they have been focus on for the previous few years. Here are some points that will be analysed: * Hunter Recruitment will provide job opportunities to young adults and new entry level personnel. * Hunter Recruitment will seek a niche in the market that is full of opportunities but still overlooked by the competition. * Located in a fast growing business area. * First time jobs and out of University prospects. * Connection between University and companies. * To go to the Prospects at the place they are most comfortable at: their colleges.

1. Company Overview

Business Description
Hunter Recruitment is a Recruitment Agency specialised in first time jobs and work placement for college students, who can put their academic learning to the test working in their field of expertise.

Business Name
Hunter Recruitment– Hunter Recruitment is a concept that empowers the agency and says that we will help prospects to look for their first job. To actually “Hunt” for a job is a common expression, and we want to send the message that this business will do this task for them.

Mission and Vision
Mission: To Provide work placement to all college students and people looking for opportunities in a new market.
Vision: To provide employment to all who seek. Believing that there is a job out there for everyone, end unemployment and fulfil the dream of the first relevant job.
Strengths and Core Competencies * Strong knowledge of a very challenging market.Very promising, nevertheless. * Focus on a specific niche of the market that possesses strong and beneficial features to the success of the business. * Technology will maximize time management and bring clients.

Challenges
Hunter Recruitment will have a challenging situation in developing its brand image and attracting customers due to the presence of local and city wide competition.

2. Marketing Plan

Market Description
A recruitment Agency can be defined as a facility that is intended to provide the link between job prospectors and companies that need personnel. On today’s challenging world, the gap between people and their ideal job can be very wide and Hunter’s Recruitment is the bridge that links these two entities together.

Market Analysis
The Last census has revealed that the actual population of the Dublin County area is 1,270,603, comprising Dublin City, Dun Longhaire, Fingal and South Dublin. According to the CSO (Central Statistics Office) 588,600 people are in the ages of 15 and 74 years old, apt for the workforce in the Dublin area. Out of that number, 73,500 were unemployed in the first quarter of 2011.We can see a graphic representation of ourpotential market in the Dublin Area.

And on a more specific note, the Irish Times has reported that, according to the CSO, 62,400 Irish Graduates are unemployed with 110 of these graduates leaving Ireland every day in search for a better job opportunity abroad.

Market Audience and Niche
In the current economic climate, where the rate of unemployment is an all-time high, the market for recruitment agency is potentially vast and full of prospects. In other hand, companies are downsizing and closing down so the number of job offers is scarce and reduced. The combination of these two factors can lead to the unbalance of clients and impose a difficult situation to the company.
The niche that the agency will focus is college students and fresh out of the university professional. These young adult candidates have a strong desire to succeed and are eager to learn and apply the theoretical knowledge receive. Another fact that contributes to the success of this specific group is that due to the lack of experience in the actual business world the prospect will settle for a lower wage than a mature professional, in exchange for training and development.
Besides the saving on the salary paid to young professionals, companies can also benefit from the fact that they can model and train these new members to their own standards and norms while they grow in knowledge and productivity.
Hunter’s Recruitment agency will provide the link between these two institutions and will guarantee that both sides feel successful in their choices.

PESTEL Analyses

Political * Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Agency Act 1971. * EU directives to Employment Agencies. * Registering the business name in the CRO. * City and County enterprise boards can support business with grants to start up and development. * Register for PAYE and PRSI. | * Economical * EU Economy. * Irish Recession. * Unemployment rate at 14.4%. | * Social * Inclination towards the internet information. * High use of social networks among targeted market. * Change in Population demographics. * Emigration to find better work opportunities. | * Technological * High usage of internet among prospects. * Growth of advertisement in social networks and other internet tools. * Speed of data transfer and capacity of data storage. * Real Time Communication | Environmental * Energy cost and consumption. * Waste disposal - Recycling. * Environmental regulations. | Legal * Employment Laws. * Advertisement and competition laws. * Health and Safety Law. * Mobile phone and Driving policies. * Taxation. |

SWOT Analyses

Strengths: * Knowledgeable and results driven management with a strong approach to a challenging market. * No cost to prospect, low cost to company. * Easy accessible technology to help with the process. * Company will hire qualified and train staff to the highest of the standards.

Weaknesses: * High cost of trained and qualified professionals to work in the agency. * High cost of promotional material to attract first pool of customers. * Location can be far to some of the prospects to travel to. Not a central location.

Opportunities: * Market in need of a more focused approach. * High unemployment rate can mean more prospects and more quality professional to offer to companies. * No competition’s focus on the same market niche. * Since prospects are still inexperienced in the market, companies will be able to offer a lower pay rate and train them according to the company’s culture

Threats: * High rate of business closures in Ireland can reflect in a lower in opening positions available in companies. * The easy access of internet for different sources of job opportunities, including competitors’ websites and governmental entities.

Graphical Representation of SWOT

Strengths | | Weaknesses | Opportunities | * Knowledge will lead to a more focus on the market * High unemployment rate will make people look for jobs * No strong competition focus will give the agency the advantage of gaining market share. * Technology will boost company’s exposition. * Team will be ready to gain a high potential market. | * Use of constant training techniques to insure our personnel are focused and specialised in what they do. * Use of technology to overcome location’s limitation and diminish the travel time to customers. * Use of internet, e-mail, social networks and telephone to get to our potential clients, and lower the costs of other promotional material. | Threats | * Will focus more on companies as prospects than on job applicants. * Use the internet and other marketing promotion tools to maximize exposure and overcome competitor’s advantages. * Low cost service will attract more companies to our business. | * Search for opening businesses and high volume businesses to offer our services. * Advertise on the internet to catch the attention of internet users. |

Client Development Strategy It is imperative to understand that a recruitment agency has two distinct types of client: the companies that will hire the services and pay for them and the job prospects that will fulfil the positions opened for these companies. Therefore, different approaches should be taken to reach each one of them effectively.
For companies, the following Marketing Mix strategies will be applied: Product:The companies will have a high level of trained prospects to choose from selected by Hunter’s Recruitment to their appreciation. Place: Hunter’s Recruitment will visit the companies in their own environment for a more personalised service, but always having its doors opened to clients. Price: The Price penetration strategy will be put in place, until the brand is established in the market. A low cost/high quality service will be provided. Another strategy use is instalment payments, where companies will pay a very low flat rate for use of service, then, if employee hired stays in the job, the company will pay the remaining of the balance in a few instalments until the fee is all paid. Promotion:Hunter’s recruitment will mainly use the internet as a promotional medium. Personal sales calls will solidify the relationship between the companies.

For Prospects, the following Marketing Mix strategies will be put in place: Product: A differentiated service directing the prospects towards companies that understand their profile and are willing to work with them. Consulting and direction towards the right goal will be part of the company’s products as well. Place: Different places of approach will be applied: * Direct Sale: The actual office located on Main St, Swords. * Internet: The website will contain all the necessary tools for the prospect to register, display their skills and apply for jobs * Outdoor Sale: The Recruitment agents will do weekly sales calls to universities, colleges, student unions and other facilities to advertise the company and the services provided. Price: No charge to prospects Promotion:Hunter’s Recruitment will use the internet as a main medium of advertisement. Leaflets in strategic places and radio advertisement will be also applied since the beginning of the operation. In the future, magazines and Television will be considered. Website Development Due to the nature of this business, website development is a crucial part of the implementation and success of the enterprise. The website should comprise of three different portals: * For job prospects – a place of interaction with the agency and to search for the offered jobs. The portal will have a place for personal information and CV entry, as well as an interactive chat with the agency if the prospect chooses to do it online. This tool will put the agency in a geographic advantage to competitors and attract more clients due to the easiness of the process. * For companies – A place of interaction with the agency as well as interface with potential job applicants * For the agency – The portal will interact with both prospects and companies’ portals and provide a cross reference of both clients’ needs and searches.
Another feature of the website will be a strong connection with social networks such as Facebook and twitter and will give the option of linking social network profiles to the website so the information shared is more complete and easily distributed. The easier the access and the more user friendly it is, the more people will be inclined to join and to use the portal, creating a large gama of job prospects. Companies will be able to advertise in the website as well, generating a combination of service provided.
The creation and development of the website will be provided by an independent company, who will provide data storage and technical support to the website.

Unique Selling Point
In the perspective of companies as clients, Hunter’s Recruitment’s Unique Selling Point is the Low Cost/high quality service. The quality of job prospects is proven by the fact that all of them are finishing a high level education and are ready to put their skills to practice. The low cost can be shown in two different ways: Since the prospects are relatively inexperienced in the work market, they will settle for a lower salary in exchange for experience. Also, the instalments payment plan will provide the company with more time to turn the employee into profit.
For the prospects, the fact that Hunter’s recruitment work with companies that understand their profile and are willing to give them the opportunity to grow in experience, will represent peace of mind when looking for a job and going to interviews.

Strategies to Grow Sales and Revenue The goal for the first year of operation of Hunter’s Recruitment is to increase and have a large portfolio of both companies that will utilise the recruitment services anda large potential workers list, which can attend the necessities of companies in our portfolio. To achieve these goals and bring more sales and revenue to the recruitment agency the following strategies should be put into practice: * High volume of personal sales calls and visits to companies. The higher the volume of clients, the higher the sales and profit. * Have always a vast number of job prospects to offer straight away to companies. Decreasing the sale cycle time helps the agency’s credibility and giver timer to work on other projects. * Be always attentive to the market and focusing on new companies to provide the recruitment services. New companies always need a higher volume of personnel. * Bundle offer: Giving incentives to companies that request a high volume of employees.

3. Organisational/HR Plan
Structure
The structure of Hunter’s Recruitment agency will be as follows:

Personnel – Experience and skills required General Manager – Being able to excel both in customer service and business running areas of the company, the General Manager has to bring a wealth of experience to the service provided, and understand the industry as a whole. People and managerial skills are a must to this role. The General Manager’s position will require a close interaction with both sides of the recruitment process and the ability to promote and drive all sectors of the company. Office Administrator – A key position in the company, the office administrator position demands extreme organizational skills and attention to details. Some of the requirements to fulfil this position are: * Business or Executive Secretarial graduate. * Organisational and decision making aptitudes. * People and customer service skills. * Ability to work in a group environment and promote team work. * Multitask.
To put the philosophy of the company into practice, the Office Administrator position should be sourced in the colleges or universities that the Recruitment Agency intend to work with in the near future.

Recruitment Agent – Prospects - This position is essentially the face of the corporation and requires a driven and outgoing personality. The recruitment agent should be able to blend in and empathize with young job prospects and lead them to the right path to find their future job. Some more characteristics of this position are: * Business graduate. * Interpersonal skills. The agent should be outgoing and bring personality to work. * Sales skills and techniques. The agent should display great aptitude to sale and apply effective sales techniques. * Multitask.
To put the philosophy of the company into practice, the Recruitment Agent position should be sourced in the colleges or universities that the Recruitment Agency intend to work with in the near future.

Recruitment Agent – Companies - This position is essentially the face of the corporation and requires a driven and outgoing personality. The recruitment agent should be able to display professional communication skills and be able to perform well in a business environment. Some more characteristics of this position are: * Business graduate. * Interpersonal skills. The agent should be outgoing and bring personality to work. * Sales skills and techniques. The agent should display great aptitude to sale and apply effective sales techniques. * Multitask.
To put the philosophy of the company into practice, the Recruitment Agent position should be sourced in the colleges or universities that the Recruitment Agency intend to work with in the near future.

External Advisors Since the business is on a starting point and is still a very small business, some of the essential service providers will be outsourced. Here are the services that will be required by the Recruitment agency:
IT – A company will be hired to install computers, link the network and manage the interface and data storage. More importantly, the maintenance and care to hardware and data protection and storage that this company can provide will be beneficial to the integrity and importance of the information and data gathered by the Agency.
Website Developers– Business Design Solution will develop the website and host the domain for the first year of operation. Their services should include: * Advance CMS – That helps your website to get updated in few seconds * One year/12 months registration of .comdomain * Professional email accounts * Copyright images * Up to 1 GB Website Hosting for one year/12 months * Technical Support * Committed Account Manager * Enquiry Form * Flash Header Design * MSN Link Submission * Yahoo Link Submission * Google Link Submission
Marketing–Outsourced marketing service will provide the marketing foundation to develop the company and gain market share in the beginning of the operation, since there is no volume of work to have an in house professional. A marketing company should bring: * Creativity – to develop, improve and expose our brand. * Innovation – to brand and business. * Focus – on target market * Relationship – between the agency and media sources. Accountant/Payroll–to ensure that the agency’s set up and yearly tax assessments are correct and according to the laws and regulations. Legal–To assist in any eventual legal matter and consult the agency to insure it is following the law

4. Financial Analysis
Start-up Expenses
The start-up expenses for Hunter’s Recruitment are summarised below: Start-up Budget | Hunter’s Recruitment | | | | | | | | | Cash Needed | % of | | | to Start | Total | | Monthly Costs | | | | Salary of owner-manager | €4,500.00 | 14.5% | | All other salaries and wages | €5,225.00 | 16.9% | | Rent | €2,000.00 | 6.5% | | Advertising and Marketing | €1,400.00 | 4.5% | | Travel Expenses | €700.00 | 2.3% | | Supplies | €300.00 | 1.0% | | Telephone | €400.00 | 1.3% | | Other utilities | €260.00 | 0.8% | | Insurance | €275.00 | 0.9% | | Maintenance | €200.00 | 0.6% | | Taxes, including social security | €425.00 | 1.4% | | Legal and other professional fees | €1,600.00 | 5.2% | | Miscellaneous | €500.00 | 1.6% | | Subtotal | €17,785.00 | 57.4% | | | | | | | | | | One-Time Costs | | | | Fixtures and Furniture | $3,500 | 11.3% | | Decorating and remodelling | 2,350 | 7.6% | | Installation charges | 500 | 1.6% | | Computer and Technology | 3,350 | 10.8% | | Deposits with public utilities | 400 | 1.3% | | Legal and other professional fees | 800 | 2.6% | | Licenses and permits | 200 | 0.6% | | Advertising and promotion for opening | 1,600 | 5.2% | | Cash | 300 | 1.0% | | Other | 200 | 0.6% | | Subtotal | $13,200 | 42.6% | | | | | | | | | | Totals | $30,985 | 100% | | | | | |

Targeted Costs
The table below displays the targeted cost for the Agency.

EXPENSE BUDGET | Hunter's Recruitment | | | Personnel | Budget | Manager | €4,500.00 | Office Assistant | €1,425.00 | Recruiter | €1,650.00 | Recruiter | €1,650.00 | | | External Advisers | Budget | IT | €350.00 | Web Design and Maintenance | €700.00 | Marketing | €1,400.00 | Accounting/payroll | €300.00 | Legal fees | €250.00 | | | Office and Equipment | Budget | Desks and Chairs | €1,500.00 | Computer Equipment | €3,350.00 | Rent | €2,000.00 | Lightning and Fixture | €2,000.00 | Office Miscellaneous | €1,000.00 | Maintenance and repairs | €1,000.00 | other | €500.00 | | | Total Expenses | €23,575.00 | | | | | |

Targeted Costs – Graphic | | |

Profit and Loss Projection (Quarterly) – Year 1
The table below will show the targeted costs, sales and profit for the Agency for the first 12 months of operation, divided into quarterly projections:

Profit and Loss Projection (12 Months) | Hunter's Recruitment | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1st Quarter | % B/A | 2nd Quarter | % | 3rd Quarter | % | 4th Quarter | % | YEARLY | Revenue (Sales) | | | | | | | | | | Sales | 27,000 | 85.7 | 39,000 | 80.7 | 58,000 | 80.0 | 73,000 | 79.8 | 128,500 | Membership | 3,000 | 9.5 | 7,000 | 14.5 | 11,500 | 15.9 | 14,000 | 15.3 | 113,000 | Consulting services | 1,500 | 4.8 | 2,300 | 4.8 | 3,000 | 4.1 | 4,500 | 4.9 | 6,800 | Total Revenue (Sales) | 31,500 | 100.0 | 48,300 | 100.0 | 72,500 | 100.0 | 91,500 | 100.0 | 248,300 | | Gross Profit | 31,500 | 100.0 | 48,300 | 100.0 | 72,500 | 100.0 | 91,500 | 100.0 | 248,300 | | Expenses | | | | | | | | | | Salary expenses | 29,175 | 54.7 | 29,175 | 54.7 | 29,175 | 54.7 | 29,175 | 54.7 | 116,700 | Rent | 6,000 | 11.2 | 6,000 | 11.2 | 6,000 | 11.2 | 6,000 | 11.2 | 24,000 | Travel expenses | 2,100 | 3.9 | 2,100 | 3.9 | 2,100 | 3.9 | 2,100 | 3.9 | 8,400 | Supplies | 900 | 1.7 | 900 | 1.7 | 900 | 1.7 | 900 | 1.7 | 3,600 | Repairs and maintenance | 600 | 1.1 | 600 | 1.1 | 600 | 1.1 | 600 | 1.1 | 2,400 | Advertising | 4,200 | 7.9 | 4,200 | 7.9 | 4,200 | 7.9 | 4,200 | 7.9 | 16,800 | Other professional fees | 4,800 | 9.0 | 4,800 | 9.0 | 4,800 | 9.0 | 4,800 | 9.0 | 19,200 | Telephone | 1,200 | 2.2 | 1,200 | 2.2 | 1,200 | 2.2 | 1,200 | 2.2 | 4,800 | Utilities | 780 | 1.5 | 780 | 1.5 | 780 | 1.5 | 780 | 1.5 | 3,120 | Insurance | 825 | 1.5 | 825 | 1.5 | 825 | 1.5 | 825 | 1.5 | 3,300 | Taxes (real estate, etc.) | 1,275 | 2.4 | 1,275 | 2.4 | 1,275 | 2.4 | 1,275 | 2.4 | 5,100 | Misc. (unspecified) | 1,500 | 2.8 | 1,500 | 2.8 | 1,500 | 2.8 | 1,500 | 2.8 | 6,000 | Total Expenses | 53,355 | 100.0 | 53,355 | 100.0 | 53,355 | 100.0 | 53,355 | 100.0 | 213,420 | | Net Profit | -21,855 | -69.4 | -5,055 | -10.5 | 19,145 | 26.4 | 38,145 | 41.7 | 34,880 | | | | | | | | | | |

Breakeven Point
As we can see in the table below the Agency will reach the breakeven point at about 83 contracts signed in a month.

BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS | | Hunter's Recruitment | | | | | | | | | | | Fixed Costs | €17,785.00 | | | | | variable Costs | €0.00 | | | | | Charge per Employment | €215.00 | | | | | | | | | | NET UNITS | NET REVENUE | FIXED COST | VARIABLE COST | TOTAL COST | TOTAL PROFIT | | 0 | €0 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€17,785 | | 10 | €2,150 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€15,635 | | 20 | €4,300 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€13,485 | | 30 | €6,450 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€11,335 | | 40 | €8,600 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€9,185 | | 50 | €10,750 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€7,035 | | 60 | €12,900 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€4,885 | | 70 | €15,050 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€2,735 | | 80 | €17,200 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | -€585 | | 83 | €17,845 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €60 | | 90 | €19,350 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €1,565 | | 100 | €21,500 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €3,715 | | 110 | €23,650 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €5,865 | | 120 | €25,800 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €8,015 | | 130 | €27,950 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €10,165 | | 140 | €30,100 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €12,315 | | 150 | €32,250 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €14,465 | | 160 | €34,400 | €17,785 | €0 | €17,785 | €16,615 | | | | | | | |

Breakeven Point - Graphic

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[ 2 ]. Source: http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0630/censustable.pdf (accessed January 18, 2012)
[ 3 ]. See complete statistics report in the appendix for further information. Source CSO - http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/labourmarket/current/qnhs.pdf (accessed January 18, 2012)
[ 4 ]. Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0926/1224304750575.html (accessed January 17, 2012)