The first question is from Thea in Miami. Mike, I seem to get stuck and procrastinate growing my business. I want to grow and bill $400,000 consistently a year, and I seem to get stuck around $200,000 to $250,000 every year. The problem is I am all over the place. What should I do?
Well, we could run probably an entire seminar on that and simply scratch the surface, Thea. (Actually we’re dedicating our December 3 Day Challenge to it – more details here). But it is a phenomenal question. For most of us in the business, and I grew up in a franchise, it is not your fault, you probably weren’t taught how exactly how to make that leap. When I see people stuck in a range, it’s typically because you are not tracking metrics or maybe you are, maybe you know exactly what $400,000 looks like activity wise. Most do not.
Clarity is the Key to Staying Focused
What I would say is, one, to be more disciplined, to be more focused. If $400,000 is truly what you want, you need to ask yourself this question first. If I build $400,000 versus the $200,000 that I am typically used to, I am going to pay an extra, let’s say, $50,000 to $60,000 in taxes and maybe a little bit more in expenses. I have got to make some investments to get that. Let’s just say I make $130,000 more net. Where exactly, specifically, and precisely do you want to use that money? What do you want to use it for?
I am not advocating that you go out and buy, that you necessarily want bigger houses, cars, multiple properties. Further, some people go, I love the house I live in, I love the car I drive, I love my lifestyle, and then I’ll ask questions like, are you set up for retirement? Have you put money away? Then they go, I want to retire comfortably. I go, what does that look like for you? And they don’t know.
This is one of the reasons, and I have been dealing with this for 15 years now, and for 20 to 25 years, with my own recruiters, a lot of people struggle. They are not clear on an outcome. My instinct tells me at $200,000 to $250,000 you are doing okay. You are paying your bills, and you are probably taking some nice vacations. You are probably even putting a little bit of money away.
What is the purpose for the additional revenue, net of taxes and investments to get it? Anyone who thinks they are going to double their revenue and not make some more investments, whether it is in research, whether it is in training your help or hiring an assistant, I just think it is naïve, unless you just want to work twice as hard.
How to Make More and Work Less
My whole goal of growing my recruiting firm, growing our coaching company, working with our clients, is how do I make X amount more money, whether it is 50% or 100% more money, working 20% to 25% less, and here is the third kicker, while adding more value to my clients and my team. It is like a triangle. I want to grow revenue and decrease time. But the third part of that, is adding more value, because anyone that you serve as a client or candidate, if you can do that and add more value in less time, they do not care. They actually prefer it.
The Process
Step One: Get Crystal Clear
Step one. Out of all the steps I can give you, get crystal clear (and it should be in writing). If it is a secure retirement, write that out. What does a secure retirement look like for you? What are you doing? How many vacations? Are your kids local? Are you going to be traveling to see grandchildren?
You want to map that all out. They are half a country away. I am going to have to buy plane tickets, and stay in a hotel. Or, I want to take a vacation a quarter. I want to go skiing in the winter. I want to play golf in the summer. Whatever that is, and what does it cost?
The number one reason I see people get stuck is they get comfortable. They kind of want more. Maybe they passionately want more, but they have not defined it. They have not put a money figure on it. They have not time bombed it. These are just dreams.
Moreover, if you lock that in, you can probably forget everything I am about to tell you because it will happen as long as you take action. I would write about it every day. In fact, I would write a paragraph every day, maybe not the whole thing, not the whole secure retirement, not the whole – but maybe an aspect of it. This is a line I got from David Neagle, who got it from Bob Proctor, who I think got it from Leland Vandewall who was like right below Napoleon Hill, if I know the right lineage. I could be wrong.
I am so happy and grateful that I make and bill $35,000 a month, allowing me to _____, _____, and ______.
Whatever that is. I am happy and grateful. I am grateful for the $400,000 in advance.
Most people do not talk that way. Create gratitude for the thing that you want before you have it. You are imagining it done. You are being grateful that it is done.
Okay. The first big step is you get clear. You get crystal clear on what you want.
Step 2: Track Your Metrics to Reverse Engineer Your Production Numbers
Second, are you tracking metrics and KPIs? Meaning, $400,000, I’m guessing at an average fee of $25,000 means you will need 16 placements. That is probably about 3 interviews a week, 3 first-time interviews a week, on Zoom, face-to-face, any combo. First-time only. Then what is the activity you need to generate 3 interviews a week, a combination of job orders, the combination of how many people you have to talk to on the business development side, how many people you have to talk to on the candidate side.
There is a precise formula. We do it with all our clients. We have never had a client, once we have reverse engineered the numbers based on what they are passionate about, have them execute to that target and not hit that number, and 99% of the time when they execute to the target, they go above the number. It gives you a sense of control. I know if I need to talk to 8 people a day, maybe 6 candidates and 2 hiring managers or prospects, today I can go home at 11:07. I may have a deal blow up, but I still had a great day because I know I’m still on target.
Step two is to reverse engineer the number.
Step 3: Plan Diligently
Third, plan diligently so you have enough people to call, email, etc. on a daily basis to ensure you hit that target. That is it. Again, like I said, I could do an entire seminar because this is really how to run a recruiting desk or how to run a recruiting firm. If you are an owner, this is exactly how you manage people. If you have people that are stuck and are not moving forward, my gut feeling is they are adrift and they are not clear on an outcome.
What is it for you? Hopefully those tips help. And quite frankly, Thea, we are about to start a 3 Day Challenge called Time Management for Recruiters so you can Discover How to Get Out of Your Own Way and Make 2024 Your Best Year Ever… to Build a Plan and put those things in place, so you have a super strong finish to 2023.
That is running December 5-7th from 12-3 PM ET. It is loaded with action. We are going to reverse engineer the numbers for all the people in the program. If this is something where you have decided you wanted, $400,000, you got clear on what the outcome is, and you want to ensure you get there, email MikeG@TheRecruiterU.com, and we will see if or how we can help you. Alright. Phenomenal. I love that stuff on people getting stuck.
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