How is this different to a franchise model?

Franchising is a very structured and very restrictive business model with high capital investment costs, royalties and restrictive termination clauses that include non competition elements, ownership of your client base and first right of refusal for any intended sale of your business. The Sales Staff Australia licensing model on the other hand is a relatively flexible structure and was designed to allow us to purely operate as a vendor of  recruitment systems and support services. Therefore we require no capital investment from licensees and promote entrepreneurial development of your practice without restrictive contractual elements.

Is there a license term?

No, our license agreements are open ended. The only requirement is that Sales Staff Australia are provided a three month notice period should you intend to terminate the license.

Do I need to register a company?

No, we recommend that you begin operating as a sole trader with a registered ABN and if your business grows substantially, we would then recommend a Pty Ltd company structure to help you minimise your tax burden. If you currently have a spare Pty Ltd company structure or have one for an existing business, you may use this as long as the company is not linked to a competing recruitment business.

Who owns the client relationship if the license is terminated?

You always retain 100% ownership of the client relationship even after the license agreement is terminated. Should you decide its time to start your own practice or join another firm, we will release your client information and associated data.

Don't I need an office to interview candidates?

No, the reality is that as the recruitment sector become more competitive globally, having access to effective communications tools is what's important. 90% of all work in a modern recruitment practice is performed over the phone and via email, so why do you need to fight traffic, pay for parking and work in a sterile florescent lit office for 10 hours a day?

Sales Staff Australia's key value proposition is to challenge the current  paradigm of HOW recruitment services are delivered . One way we do this is to provide access to advanced web conferencing tools, enabling you to organise a candidate meeting online with video conferencing capabilities as long as the candidate has a broadband connected computer and a web cam. Off course, many of our licensees simply schedule brief meetings with selected short listed candidates at a local cafe, although you can hire a meeting room in one of our state based offices should this be a requirement.

Does Sales Staff Australia provide any clients or leads?

No, the nature of our business is to be a vendor of recruitment systems and back office support services only. This way, we are able to operate on much lower margins and therefore provide higher fee splits. (70%-90% depending on monthly placement fee volumes)

What is the average placement fee per licensee?

This is a very difficult question to answer because we are dealing with such a wide range of occupational categories, industries and seniority levels. Some licensee secure placements at an average of $6,000 per placement and others average $16,000 per placement. Across the board we are experiencing an average over $12,000 but as indicated, any business planning and budgeting must take into account the market you will be focusing on.

How do I receive placement fees?

Licensees are paid on receipted placement fees only. The procedure is as follows.

On the last working day of each calendar month, our administration department calculates all receipted placement fees linked to placements made by each licensee and issues a commission statement to each licensee. This commission statement is itemised and will display the aggregate total of all receipted placement fees for the month. A fee split will be set  against the aggregate placement fee total (70%-90% depending on the aggregate placement fee volume receipted for that month). The licensee then issues an invoice to Sales Staff Australia against the commission statement and when received, the licensees commission is paid directly into the licensee's nominated bank account.

What's the biggest challenge licensees face?

Given that recruitment is essentially a sales driven business, the biggest challenge licensees will always face is that of acquiring job orders and convincing high quality candidates to work with them. Though this process becomes immeasurably easier over time as your client and candidate base becomes established. Like most high fee industries, recruitment is very competitive and only the persistent, goal driven and tenacious operators with a willingness to market and network aggressively will survive. The good news is that recruiters with these qualities invariably become big billers, generating substantial six figure incomes over a long career. The 80-20 rule of productivity applies to the recruitment sector as it does for most sales driven sectors.

Can I engage international clients?

Yes, our key mission statement is "Global Reach Personal Tough" and we have gone to great lengths to ensure we have the systems and communication tools to extend our reach globally. In reality, new technologies have given recruiters the ability to connect with people in a way never seen before. Email, online job boards, social networking sites etc. All these are tools that can  turn your local practice into a national and global practice. There is one disclaimer though. Dealing with international clients can be risky in terms of receiving placement fee payments. Be sure to do your due diligence if working on a contingent basis as Sales Staff Australia do not have the scope to take fee recovery action with companies that reside outside Australia.

What is the training and support process?

Sales Staff Australia provides a comprehensive self paced training program via an advanced Elearning platform.  We also have a growing training library accessible via the intranet which includes video based training for our recruitment systems as well as over 80 hours of audio based recruitment training.

Can I sell my business ?

You can sell access your client base should you have an interested buyer and you can certainly sell a share of the holding company/business that currently holds a license with Sales Staff Australia. You cannot however sell the Sales Staff Australia brand or any of the intellectual property owned and provided to you.

Do I need any special computer hardware or internet connections?

The key requirements are that you have relatively current model PC (not MAC)  running Windows XP or Vista. You must have a broadband connection with a minimum 1500 kbp (1.5 mb) download speed and a PC camera. Most ADSL and Cable providers will provide access to this speed for less than $60 per month.

Can I share job orders and do splits with other licensees?

Absolutely, in fact that is one of the major benefits of being a member of a larger recruitment network. Sharing job orders and doing recruitment fee splits (usually 50/50) has been shown to increase productivity and income by up to 40% for some licensees.

How long does it take to male money ?

As a recruiter you can make a placement within your first week and be paid within 14 days of this in most cases,, but the real question should be, how long does it take to build momentum?. i.e. the type of momentum that has you managing several high quality job orders with the ability to place 2-3 candidates regularly every month. This momentum usually takes between 2-4 months, depending on the type and size of network you start with and the marketing effort you put on over the first few months.

How do you manage licensees approaching the same customer?

In short we don't and that decision was quite strategic. As a recruitment platform service provider we decided to create a self regulated model that encourages entrepreneurial effort and broad based networking, both geographically and via industry verticals. Whilst we appreciate that from time to time, licensees may cross paths, the advantages gained from promoting a flexible, entrepreneurial structure, far outweigh the advantages of creating a system that controls and regulates who owns client and candidate assets. In short, this is the domain of a traditional recruitment firm that needs to create specific desk specialties and sales patches to be able to control its salaried recruiter force.

How strong is the Australian employment market?

The Australian employment marketplace has never been stronger with staff shortages being experienced across a wide range of occupational categories. Recent statistics reveal the following about the employment sector:

• Lowest unemployment since 1974
• 66,800 new full time jobs 06/07
• Most advertised listings in 20 years
• 65% participation rate - a 20 year high
• 5 years employment growth predicted

As a result it has never been a more opportune time to operate a recruitment practice. Sales Staff Australia offers the opportunity to run your own low risk / high return recruitment practice under a unique licensing structure with no capital investment requirements.

What do I do next

If you are interested running your own recruitment practice, please contact our licensing manager                            on 1300 303 497 or apply online.