Getting Started as a Recruiter

Recruiting is one of the easiest and most inexpensive home based businesses to start. There is no product or inventory to buy. Your products will be your Clients and your Candidates. I tend to favor setting up and starting this as a home based operation. So that's how we'll approach this for the purpose of this guide.

The essence of starting up this unlimited income business is that it just doesn't require very much money. In fact, I have said that I could do this business from a phone booth and P.O. box if I had to. It would not be very easy or much fun, but I really could.

With respect to licensing, every city, county and state have various requirements for starting and operating a business. I have found that a homebased recruiting business, where the candidate is never charged a fee, in most areas, requires no licensing. Keep in mind that you have no employees. If you collect money in the city and state you do business, then you may have to pay tax but you will need to check out licensing. If you are asked to give estimates on how much income you will bring in, be very conservative with those numbers. In other words, don't brag because they may base your charges on estimated revenues if they even require a license or fee. Contact the proper agencies and ask questions. I would say "I am checking for a friend that is thinking about starting a homebased recruiting business and need some information".

It would be best to have a minimum of two phone lines that you can dedicate to the business. Both of those lines can have Call Waiting, which would technically give you four lines. If your home is capable of having three to four incoming lines, that's even better. You will need your home line, two business lines, and one line for fax and computer. These needs will vary depending on your Internet access and possibly sharing the fax and computer with a phone. I think you get the picture. You will need a fax and computer if you are to function effectively. You could use a data base program like ACT or GOLDMINE to enter and store your information as you gather it. These programs allow for search and retrieval, which will be invaluable, as you grow your business.

As with any business, home-based or not, you should consider paying an accountant to help you get set up right from the beginning. You will want to know what can be written off for business (office in home, etc.) from the start so you can use good judgement on how to handle all of your transactions from the onset. Hopefully you will need someone like this quickly. (That means the money is coming in). You may need an attorney if you have anyone else involved besides yourself. This will probably not be necessary for a few weeks or months. You can purchase an inexpensive software package that you can use to do your invoices and proposals, etc. If you don't have Word 97 or something like that you will need a word processing program. You can also purchase a software package that will make your stationery, letterhead and even business cards to match. You can design your own logo, etc.

The computer and Internet service provider you use is important in terms of speed and efficiency. You will be using the Internet right away for resources such as companies and candidates. Eventually, when you know the niche you will be in, there will be other resources that you will probably purchase, such as directories, lists, etc. You may also post job orders on job posting boards on the Net. But wait until you have money coming in and a specific need to do this. Then it will be appropriate and worth the investment.

Some of the other items I can think of are office supplies such as pens, pads, paper, stack trays, manila folders, etc. I am assuming you have a desk and chair and file cabinets. If you have to buy a chair, get a very comfortable one, because you will be in it the greatest part of every day. I am going to make a list here and estimate on how much everything I mentioned above would cost.

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