Why Innovation can be a Red Herring

When you think about entrepreneurship, you almost certainly think of brilliant, young, “out of the box” thinkers, who are willing to go out on a limb for their fantastic new idea. The media feeds us a constant stream of these rags to riches stories, and we are captivated by the inspiration and innovation which is front and centre in the telling of these stories.

We’re all too familiar with tales of 21 year old tech geniuses creating revolutionary new smartphone apps from their parents’ basements and becoming millionaires, but the problem with these stories, is that the media loves to tell us about “new ideas”, and has little to gain from telling us about the many successful entrepreneurs who have chosen to enter established industries, following more traditional paths, and thriving.

The narrative surrounding entrepreneurship focusses on business offerings that are entirely new, offering something that is wholly original, and in 2019 this is often facilitated by modern technologies. While many of us may have entrepreneurial leanings, this narrative has biased our thinking to such an extent, that we watch our lives go by, waiting for that “Eureka!” moment that may never come.

The good news is, that you don’t need to have a Eureka moment in order to start your own business, and the opportunities to enter ‘mature’ markets are endless. Some types of businesses exist because there is a genuine need, and good doctors, dentists and teachers will have work for life. Other types of businesses exist to provide specialist services, doing the types of work that people would prefer to have handled by a professional. These businesses include tax agents, engineers, caterers, mechanics, and of course, recruiters.

These mature markets have existed for generations, and while there are plenty of people operating in these spaces, there is always room for somebody new to come along with a dedicated approach, to lure business away from those who aren’t doing it as well, or carve out their own space offering services which are differentiated in some way. If you love what you do, you’ve already found your differentiator, and if you back this up with hard work and good business practice you are well on your way to success.

As a recruiter, this idea of entrepreneurship in a mature market makes a lot of sense, for several key reasons. Firstly, everybody knows what recruitment means, which helps take a lot of the groundwork out of setting up your own business. People with new ideas spend half their working lives explaining these concepts to people, over and over again, and a massive element of their business development is dedicated to educating the uninformed, explaining why their product exists
and why people should buy it.

Secondly, entering the market as a recruitment entrepreneur gives you the opportunity to operate outside of typical agency constraints, allowing you to build a name for yourself on your own merits, and setting yourself apart from the competition with your own personalised approach to the work.

Clients and candidates alike will soon recognise that you genuinely love what you do, and will want to work with you because they know that their business actually means something to you. As a recruitment entrepreneur, you are able to set your own agenda, working with clients who are  aligned with your own values, and setting your own schedule. Anybody who has worked in recruitment knows that the nature of the work has its peaks and troughs, which can be difficult to manage in a typical 9:00-5:00 role, and the fantastic thing about owning your own recruitment business is that you are able to scale up and down to match these tendencies. If you have other commitments you can work around these in a much more flexible fashion than you ever could as an employee for a large recruitment firm.

At Tanner Menzies, we know recruiters, and we understand that our business is perfect for entrepreneurs looking to start their own business. While it may not be a “new” idea, it is a tried and tested business model which offers more security, and ultimately more opportunity to succeed than businesses built around a new and unfamiliar innovation

Through the Tanner Menzies Licence model, you are able to benefit from the years of experience we have in building a successful recruitment business, leveraging our strong reputation, while shaping your own future doing something that you love. We take away so much of the risk, and leave you with the potential to build something amazing.

If you love recruitment, and are looking to start your own business, reach out to us today for a discussion about how our unique model might be the perfect fit for you.