Revenue: $6,121,672
Founder(s): Andrew Staite, Luke Henningsen, Dalia Klein
Industry: Property and business services
Head Office: Victoria
Employees: 20
Website: www.shk.com.au
Starting a recruitment business on the cusp of a downturn doesn't seem like the most timely business idea, but the founders of Staite Henningsen Klein have managed to create a successful business through difficult times.
"As we opened in October 2007, we found the most challenging thing to be the rapid deterioration in the general business environment, which particularly impacted on executive recruitment."
"We quickly learnt the importance of being nimble and "fishing where the fish are"; the importance of maintaining constant business development momentum, staying on top of our debtors and looking for opportunities within adversity - for example, it was a great time for us to recruit staff."
But succeeding in the early days took some work. With only three people, Staite says the trio needed to get to work straight away to keep the money coming in.
"The phones weren't ringing, we had a totally blank database and we were excited about having our names on the door. Luke looked at me and said, ‘Well, we better start making some calls because it will be very disappointing if it's still just the three of us by the end of the year'."
The calls worked, and the company recorded $6 million in revenue during the 2008-09 financial year, and now even has plans to move into the Sydney market.
Staite says the company identified a niche in senior recruitment for candidates earning between $100 to 400k, offering a mid-level service between "mass market recruitment firms and the top tier international search firms".
"We were very keen to develop and maintain a culture of professionalism and to only employ the best executive recruiters in the market."
But while Staite says the company has never been close to shutting up shop, it has nevertheless found the temptation "to be distracted from our core business".
"For example when a major corporate asked us to develop for them an in-house ‘managed vendor' recruitment model it was tempting because of the certainty in revenue and flattering because we were such a new business (albeit with the capability to do this)."
"We discussed it very strongly internally and decided it would take us too far away from our core value proposition at too early a stage in our development."
The business is an active user of social media, using professional network service LinkedIn to keep in contact with potential recruits. But the online world isn't just a marketing strategy, Staite says, but rather an extension of the business.
"As executive recruiters, networking and forming connections with people is critical to our business. It directly impacts on our ability to deliver talent and therefore earn revenue."
TIP TO ENTREPRENEURS:
"Stay true to your business plan and vision. Be very selective when it comes to hiring staff - with a small business, every new person impacts on the culture and culture is a precious thing as it builds momentum in either a positive or negative way."
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