Revealed: How Robert Is Making $60k Per Month In His Recruitment Agency

On the chat. So we'll go like 3, 2, 1. Case study interview. So today I have a really highly vibrant recruitment entrepreneur, Robert, and I'm calling him all the way in Canada now. Robert's been in the recruiter accelerator program and working with me quite closely over the last four, five, six months now, I think. And yeah, I'll let you introduce yourself, Robert, and your agency and what you do.

Hi, James. So, yeah, so our firm focuses entirely on construction recruitment in Ontario, British Columbia, the west coast and the center provinces of Canada. Some of our clients are now taking us into the United States, which is something that I'm really excited about as well. And yeah, so we've been doing this for quite some time right now. When I met James, we had a focus of core clients that we routinely went to and then Covid hit and that really turned things upside down on their head. I reached out to James and he really showed me the light on some new ways to do client acquisition, some interesting ways to do candidate acquisition as well. And man, it's been a game changer.

Awesome. Cool.

How's that?

Yeah, awesome. So 20 talk me through them, Robert. Like looking back over probably the start of last year when Covid did hit, like, what was like not working for you at that time in the agency and what was it like back then?

Right, so at the time it was between my co founder and I mean, a little bit about me real quick. I'm an engineer by trade and I got into recruitment to support my business partner who was looking to get into the engineering world. And we really dissected how they were doing recruitment and we were able to install new proprietary systems and new ways of doing things that really leaned out the process. So we were able to drive value to a handful of great clients that were earning us, you know, roughly half a million a year. For two people, that's fantastic, right? I wasn't really pushing for much. And then the entrepreneurial spirit came in and we're really grinding. We're doing great. In 2018 and 2017, Covid hit and the world knows what happens when Covid hits. So some companies went under, lots of roles got restricted. I even had ready like how many roles we actually lost. And this isn't roles that we just weren't getting. What really stung was we were actively working on these roles and clients were just losing contracts and dropping contracts. It was like something 80 roles we lost last year. It was supposed to be a high mark. We even had a staff for that. So I said, no more. We can't rely on even though they are amazing clients, we can't rely on a strong handful of clients. We have to really spread our reach and bring in new clients in those particular niches. And that's when I reached out to James and he had some really interesting insights on how to do that and he brought some really great experience from I imagine you've been doing this for many, many, many years and then we applied all of it.

Awesome. So talk me through then. So in terms of your niche, what is it that you really specialize in, Robert?

Construction management, construction professionals, site management. We even do directorship, vice presidents, senior leadership. Anything to do with construction management, engineering and architecture for heavy civil builds, infrastructure builds, you know, low rise, ICI and high rise. We even started up a mechanical engineering wing specifically for Hydronics and H Vac which some of our big clients really love because they were. We were working with a new strategy with them and that proprietary system I talked earlier, we just aimed that machine at exactly what they needed and we're delivering results all across Canada. So yeah our, our niche is like construction but our key focus is to make sure that whoever we present in a role has the relevant projects list or the background for that job site, you know.

Cool.

And that's why clients come to us for that granularity on detail.

Yeah. And what would you say like how long have you been in business now?

Oh well NextGen, my company, NextGen Professional, we started officially started in November 2018 but I've been working as a directorship with my business partner in her previous company. It's going to be going on four or five years right now. My total recruitment background.

Yeah. And what would you say to everyone? Listen, like what were the key mistakes that you made along the way? Because everyone makes mistakes.

I think some of the key mistakes is and I'll watch what I say here but one to many and really I knew at the heart of hearts that you know looking at how you can be scalable, managing your time and really getting to the next milestone. But I kept always asking people, other entrepreneurs, I was seeking these circles about how they did it and it wasn't until I talked to James about the mindset really about what attitudes you need to take on the rewiring you need to do to really get yourself and put yourself in a position where you can scale and grow a company and not just be it is a place in time for everything but not be stuck in the weeds the whole time. And that is probably the biggest game changer I would Say it truly is. Once you start putting yourself properly in the seat of a business entrepreneur, everything starts to fall into shape. And James can go into detail about how those start plugging in. But yeah, I mean, everything from how we were doing, our client acquisition system that got rewired, our candid acquisition system is now on steroids. Like, that thing is nuts. I was good before. It's like crazy now. And really how we were reaching out to clients and all the traditional. And I use the word traditional as just exactly as you would use it, word of mouth and, you know, cold. Calling that the thing of the past. Now it doesn't exist anymore.

Awesome. So in terms of, like, when you were back then, Robert, like you mentioned 2018, and then 2020 came pandemic hit, and that really affected things. Like, what was it like for you personally as well? Because that must have had an impact. When business isn't doing well, it normally impacts everything.

Yeah, it was a huge mental drain. Right. Like, I don't know if you can hear the babies and everything running in the corner. She's a lot bigger now, and there's a boy on the way too. But, you know, imagine this. You're starting on a roll. You've just dedicated two, three weeks. And these are not small things by any means. These are not generalistic roles. These are like chief guys who are making 180, 200k, thousand dollars salaries. They're not exactly big ocean to pick from. And, you know, you get these people and all of a sudden the role dies. It is. It just. It crushes your, I guess, your motivation and energy to keep going. And that was. That was really hard. That was really hard. During COVID when we were doing all this work and it was just going nowhere. It felt like we're spinning our tires. So at one point I was just like, well, you know, I'm just gonna. We're gonna have to try something new because we have to adapt. And that's what it really was. All the cliches are there. I was literally pulling my hair out every time we got a client in. And then the role just fell off the map because the client lost the job. And that really sucked. And imagine doing that and you have salaries to pay, right? You have guys that people who work for you. And if you're any good at your job, these are actually strong bronze relationships. You don't want to see them go during COVID You want to hang on to them because you know that they're going to help you with when things turn around. Okay? Well, let's get things turning around so that pressure and that anxiety was there. And not to mention relying on chasing down clients that weren't really good to begin with and being desperate, I guess, is the word to make that relationship work. Yeah, that doesn't happen anymore. Now we throw the weight around.

Yeah, that's the difference. Once you get your mindset right and you get an abundance of clients, once you've got the client acquisition system up and running, you know, you can pick and choose the type of clients you really want to work with. Like, there's such a good feeling of, like, turning away business as well when you've actually got too much.

Yeah. You know, with the client acquisition system, we were looking really close at who we do and do not want to talk to. And I'm not saying that we do not want to talk to specific individual because they're bad. It's just we're so focused on our niche and we know we can nail it every time. We're not getting involved with anyone else unless I see potential in the next few years when we're really at some next level. Word of business. I just talked to somebody right now who was like, oh, how about this? And how about that? And we are looking for this. Old me would have probably jumped at that on a heartbeat now. No, we have a clear focus, a clear niche, which is obviously construction, and we just crush it. And that's all we do.

Awesome. So where you are before, like, working together, Robert, like, how many clients did you have, like good clients compared to.

Where you are now with, you know, 2017 to 2018. We were closing. We had. I can't remember the exact numbers, but loosely, 90 to 100 roles at any given point. Whether that's a close or a success. I can't remember any now, but to give you an idea. So that was like, you know, I want to talk pre Covid because Covid was this. It was, you know, hurricane, and we never saw that coming. So for now, I think we're about to hit, like, I don't want to step out. I think it's roughly 40 plus roles. Strong roles. Not. Not easy. Like easy. This is our niche is what we do. Right. But 40 plus strong rules just from. Just from our client acquisition and marketing campaigns from January of 2021.

So amazing. And what would you say the business model and structure looks like from what it was like back then when you had a lot of different variables going on and where it is now? Like, what is the difference between the.

Business structure there's a lot more focus on what it is we need to do. I guess, tying into your previous question, we were wearing a lot of different hats and just kind of touching everything in the business. You know, you got to do a little bit of that. You got to do some client marketing. Okay, now you got. And because no one was 100% driving or drilling into any one vertical, nothing really got done, especially during COVID when we were all panicking. Now, like, my business partner is the senior recruiter and account manager. She can, you know, she can really work well with clients to really make sure they understand that to get the two groups together. I jump on that when, you know, when I have to turn the taps off because too many clients are coming through. I'm strictly on, more or less strictly on client acquisition and operations. So that again, with our proprietary systems, we have the strongest candidates coming forward. For our recruiters to do it is what they need to do. And also, like our recruiters in the inside, they're seeing this wave of work coming in and they're just buckling up. So I say, get ready, guys. Like, this is going to be an avalanche of work. So.

Yeah. Awesome. So in terms of like, what would you say since being in recruiter accelerator, what would you say the two to three biggest wins have been for you, Robert?

Really investing in the client acquisition systems that we discussed and the marketing systems and all that, the idea of one to many and just no matter how much you feel like you have to revert to your old ways because that's what worked back then, you just have to discard it, you have to shed it, and you have to move on and adapt. And, you know, there's not like a one size fits all solution, but it's really there. Like your core competencies as an entrepreneur, you really have to put. And that's, I guess, the second thing. You really have to think beyond doing the data. Like you, you have to start somewhere, right? Like I start somewhere. We were nailing out and we did really, really good where we started. We got to, you know, half a million and that was really good. As a recruiter, now we want more. So now we have to. There's no way you can do that if you're just on the phone calls and doing candidate acquisition. You have to wear the new hat and you have to make sure that that hat stays on. You can't really flip flop between hats. You have to be focused. Those are the two biggest ones I would, I would think by far. Yeah.

Yeah. Cool.

Can't really think of a third. Sorry.

Yeah, it's fine.

So I'm sure it's there.

What was it a case of, if you remember when you first reached out, like, why did you choose to, one, seek help? And why did you choose to work with me in the program?

Well, I worked with you in the program because I do what I do. And I tendered out across a whole bunch of other solutions that I was looking for. And I quickly realized that what was out there in terms of who were providing, I wouldn't even say similar solutions, just solutions in general. I was. Our company was doing better than they were, and I wanted something. You know, I like the phrase, never take advice from someone who's never done what you want or where you're going. Right. And it was very evident that not only have you had that experience that you've also, you know, you've gone through the growing pains. I think we talked about, you know, identifying blind spots and really you presenting some solutions to make sure that you know what's come around the corner, but also make sure that our team as well, builds the capabilities to kind of project and sense and have an understanding of where they are in the business. And that really was attractive for us for help. Really. It started off with clients, and man, once the clients started working, then it was candidates. And then we put that all the proprietary systems together, and we're definitely on our way to, like, I'm already have an expansion plan for the other provinces and the biggest metropolitans in the United States. And that was not even. Yes, it was partially. I planned it, but our clients are taking us there. We have roles in Chicago that are now happening in California and Florida. And I was like, all right, we're going with you now, and we have to retool the machines to help you out in those, you know, those states. And I could have asked for more. I couldn't have asked for more.

So. Brilliant. So what would you say in terms of when you initially were going to join? Like, did you have any reservations or what concerns did you initially have?

I mean, my biggest concern at the time was, you know, I'm going to, you know, is am I going to get my return on investment? And after sitting down with a session with you and going through a number of options, it was very clear that the results were going to be quite dramatic and profound. With going through your program, you know, I'm also. I think. I think that's the safest way to answer that question. Yeah, yeah.

The question is going to be like, have you got a good return on investment from the money that you put in.

Yeah. Okay, so to put it like this to James's audience here, the month we started on, I'm not even exaggerating. The month we started on James's client acquisition systems that we discussed. And really. And I didn't even. I was still tailoring and fine tuning it because everyone, you have to kind of get it into your own niche. I think one of the first clients who came to us through this system is now a massive company of ours. Client that we work with, they are an amazing client. We did 40 grand. And it was like, you know, I showed you. I remember I showed you the whole thing. But it was like one weekend, got this client. By the time we landed it, you know, late December was a very big, important role. It was forty plus thousand dollars. So, yeah, return on investment. Right.

Good month.

I count that for my 2021, by the way. So, yeah, it literally closed New Year's Eve.

So really, it was fun.

You know, I really wanted to tell the make sure that the client knew we knew that they were important. This particular person who went in as well was really hungry to do some work for them as well. And part of being a recruiter, you got to be hungry for making sure that you can connect the two. And Covid was also posing some interesting problems. So we knew that we had to do it sooner than later, and we really put. Put an effort into it and that all that paid off. I mean, That's Client Relationships 101. I mean, one thing I didn't really expect from the client acquisition system is that. And, you know, we had like, 1, 2, 3, 4, and then it was nine roles. 16. I'm like, what's going on here? The clients who are coming through, and everyone's coming through now, they want one, they want two, they want three. Hey, can you do this? We have this situation happening. I want five roles in. And, you know, these are not small roles. These are not generalistic roles. I didn't see that coming. And that's why I had to turn the taps off. And now, now I'm really ready to turn them back on. We have like all star recruiters. We're talking to guys who really know the systems, who, you know, oh, man, I'm super excited for 2021.

Awesome. And on the VA sourcing side, we teach you how to build a virtual assistant sourcing team. That helps with the sourcing side. I know that's been one of your key areas now, Robert, that you've been working on. And how's that been experienced for you?

You know, administrative activities and administrative duties, you as a business entrepreneur have to step away from those and you have to really value your time. If you're billing out $100 an hour, let's say easy dollars. Right. You need to get somebody in to do those crucial. They're like absolutely essential. They are the grease and the gears of your company you need done. So absolutely. You know, get an assistant, get a VA or whoever it is that you trust. I mean, James has a number of referrals that he can bring you through as well because he's personally vetted them. The ones that I've gone through that we worked with James on, not only it wasn't even like I was working with vas that I had to train from scratch. And I was like, this is not like a whole point for me not to hold your hand. Right. I need you to just keep going. And then when I talked to James, we got James's guys. Oh man. They were telling me how to, how to do things. So I just. Creating standard operating procedures and now retweaking the machine to support them and what they need to do. And it's, it's flying. Like you can see things are going quite well with that team. They really know what they're doing.

Yeah. And is that freed your time up more so you can spend time with family and kids, etc.

Oh, yeah. I mean, well, yeah, I mean it's definitely freed up time. So like we can focus on the things that matter, be it high level activities, closing deals and. Yeah, and coming back to family. Even our junior recruiters and other recruiters are relieved that they can focus on what makes money. These guys want money. They want commission. They don't want to be stuck doing arduous tasks. They want to be on the phone closing deals. And the sooner you can get them to do that, the quicker everybody benefits. By far. You're just going to be closing deals much, much faster.

Exactly. That's what we say. When you can outsource a lot and delegate a lot of the mediocre tasks and things that aren't worth your true value per hour. Not just you as a CEO, but also your delivery recruiter team, then they can do more deals per month because it frees their time up to just do what they do best. Which is speaking to qualified candidates on the phone.

Exactly.

Closing deals, making money.

Yeah. And then that also, like right now we're working on training manuals and operating procedures that to take our recruiters to the next level. When you're dealing with recruiters, what their salary expectations are, how to really tweak the conversation to earn the trust, the rapport and respect. Maybe not this role, but something down the line for sure. And if you tie that in with your VA so that they can do the booking and the databasing and everything like that, you're knocking out phone calls pretty quickly at that point.

How do you feel now? You've got like. Well, we always building systems in the business and I always say like a business should be built across systems. Now you've started a piece, each pillar and can you see the growth and the difference in your business now, Robert, to where you were maybe 2018, 2019, if like how you can actually scale this up now?

Oh, absolutely. We have a plan, a loose plan in place. But as soon as we knock out these. I say that. But right now, you know, I call it the cookie cutter effect. Right. So we have the process, we have the plan. I don't like executing things when they're 110% because there's always going to be something around the lines. But I am very confident right now. I can literally just pick up what I'm doing ka chunk and have the next territory that I want and just run with it. And that is why I am as an entrepreneur. The scalability and the flexibility of everything is. That's why I'm excited. Because now it's one to many as your words right now, the systems, procedures, everything works anywhere. You just need to get the employees for one thing and make sure that the systems are as robust and possible to address those employees needs. And you can just pick it up and drop it wherever you want. That makes sense, obviously.

Awesome. So what are your plans for the business with NextGen over the next 12 months and beyond? Where do you want to take this business to?

Oh, definitely, you know, past millions of dollars is. That was kind of like a joke. And what just happened in January is like, okay, no, that's a reality. You have to start thinking like that now because that's if you're not that you're just losing money on the table. Right. You know, right now again, more market territory. That's a big thing. I'm doing some final, final, final touches on our current territory to really dive in and dial in the great clients that we want to work with. James goes into strong details about client acquisition and the effort it takes for that kind of thing. So that's going to be like, I guess the Ongoing process for this territory. And that's part of the process. Like we go in, I know I can drop it, expect, get a whole wave of work in. And now how do we focus on, in that wave? How do we focus on ideal clients and, and maintain that territory and then prove the cash flow, prove the, you know, prove the revenue that you know, bounce itself out and for that territory and basically prove it. That's, that's how I picture it. It's like, okay, I have all these revenue up and down. What's, what is actually I can count, you know, this territory makes me X dollars per year. How, how can we get it to a point where without question I know off the back of my hand that it's going to make me that money. Even though we're in a completely risk driven, contingency driven business, you can get to a point where you can calculate with ease and clarity what your revenue is going to be.

Yeah. And like obviously you come from that type of background where it's systems thinking. Yes. Boil it down to first principles and like build things on that way. Robert. So yeah, listen, it's awesome that you're talking around like going to millions.

Like it's not, it's, it's, it's, it's happening whether I like it or not. It's kind of out of my while I'm still help. We are stealing the ship. It's a team here. But yeah, the company is going there. So this is the beast we've created.

Do you feel more happy as a person? Like I know when we first started to speak, which I'm sure you divulge like you were quite stressed and you didn't really see like light at the end of the tunnel and there was a lot of overwhelmed. Like now you seem more, a little bit lighter, vibrant, even though you're busy. A lot busier now. But making more money, like has that changed things? Like the fact you've got some more financial freedom now and you've got a clear roadmap and path of where the business is going?

Yeah. Despite being busier, so to speak, my hours per workday are the same. Just the value that I get out of it is many, many, many full times higher. I know for me that as an entrepreneur I'm building this capital machine, capital making machine that will help me next few years, whenever that is. I'm not even really thinking about that right now. I'm thinking about focusing right now and building that machine and making it autonomous that it can provide the wealth that myself My partner, my family, and my employees need to live a very happy life. And that's like the kind of the ethos that I have right now. I'm not really thinking about anything else. And like, how do we make this system work for everybody? And everybody can really, really work with that.

Yeah.

When, when I first started, like, you know, my other businesses that I did in college and university, where I had. Because I was in construction before, during college, you know, I was always in. In the trenches with my employees doing things. And this is like the first time I always knew I wanted to step out of the trench work and really see that the company grow from an exterior level. And this is the first time where, wow, this is a reality. And this has to be a reality. This isn't even imagination anymore. It's going this way. And James, you were a profound help in that, especially with the sessions we had when you heard me piss and moan and everything like that about what was happening during COVID And the literature as well. Like those. Those are great. I mean, I recommend going through all James literature and really spending time, not just, you know, flipping through it, but really spending time and digesting it.

Yeah. In terms of, like, the online program and the course.

Yeah. And also the, like, the, the reading materials and appendages like that stuff, like, don't, like, go through everything. And still to this day, like, I still visit my account with James system, like, did I miss anything? Okay, how can we do this better? How can. You know, I didn't have time for that then. Now I really need to bring that in. And James, I've called you, I've physically called you at your office and say, okay, we really need to. What's your thoughts on this? How could we. When you experimented with this, what went wrong? What went well? And James will give you the honest truth and he'll tell you, I think you need to cater it this way for your systems, and that's what no one else provides out there.

Awesome. So, like, final question then, Robert. So if someone's listening here on the fence about joining the program or investing in themselves, like, what would you say to them?

Well, if you're serious, and it sounds like if they gotten this far on the webcam and they're serious. Yeah. Get into the program, you're going to like. I mean. Yeah. The return on investment is very, very high. And I, you know. Yeah. Put your. Wear your little helmets, drop your seatbelt in. It's a ride. It's a good ride.

Awesome. Well, listen, thank you so much for sharing your story. Robert, it's been a pleasure working with you over these few weeks and months and awesome to see that you've managed to build the systems out in your business to give you what like, obviously you've got already onto seven figures a year in your agency and it seems like you're on your way to making many more millions in the future with taking over the rest of the market. So congratulations and thank you very much for your time.

All right. Cheers, James.