From Ideation, To 7 Figure Turnover
About:
Link3Recruitment is an award winning recruitment agency based in Nottingham. They operate across the East Midlands recruiting specifically for the education sector.
The Situation
When Link3 Recruitment initially began working with Daniella, they were keen to gain support with the development of an idea they had for a mobile app. The 3 Co-Founders felt that a mobile application could be used as a pivotal part of a growth strategy for the business. The idea was very loose and they needed assistance with creating a research, development and implementation plan.
The company had been trading for just over a year but had already hit 6 figure turnover. However, the business was lacking structure, with very minimal internal processes. This was leading to a range of challenges in terms of organisation and effective management of the workload.
Each director had their own understanding of the direction they wanted the business to grow. However, there was no shared vision or strategy guiding the business.
The Process.
We commenced with a Vision:20 session with all of the Co-Founders. We generated a compelling 3-year vision, combining all of their varying ideas for the direction of the business. This shared vision helped to provide clarity on the future of the business and each Co-Founders individual role in actualising it. We identified SMART goals for each of the subsequent three years, which took each team members specific areas of focus/interest into consideration. A detailed action plan of tasks was then created for the following twelve months. Each action contributed to the achievement of the goals.
Extensive work was then completed to develop in-depth client personas to ensure the company had clarity on the wants and needs of their target clients. These personas were used as a basis of a market research plan. They were then tested and verified to ensure the team had a clear understanding of their core target groups and segments. These were then used to identify how the business could generate additional value for their core target groups. It was determined that a mobile application, whilst useful was not in demand by their target clients so the idea was abandoned. Instead the focus shifted to effective marketing tactics and strategies. A marketing strategy was developed utilising the feedback from the market research. This was accompanied by a growth plan identifying key methods which the business could use to accelerate the growth of the business.
The most impactful part of the intervention, was the development of the company operations manual. All of the key processes for the business were mapped along with all associated documentation required to carry out the processes. The Co-Founders were able to take a bird’s eye view of how the business was functioning and identify gaps in delivery. This process forced the Co-Founders to implement plans for boosting operational efficiency and increasing productivity within the organisation.
The Outcomes
The company has seen astronomical growth in the period following the intervention. The production of the operations manual had a profound impact on the Co-Founders. They began to understand the benefits of having clear structures and processes and worked diligently to improve and achieve operational excellence. They were able to leverage the outcomes to secure multiple contracts which has helped to facilitate significant growth. It has also helped them on board new team members and maintain effective delivery.
The confidence of the Co-Founders was boosted because they were able to gain clarity on their vision and the best methods to serve and attract their target segments.
Their success has led to recognition, with a number of award wins including Start-up of the Year at the Nottingham Post awards.
The Results
- Team growth to 10
- Revenue growth from 6 to 7 figures
- REC audited education status
- New larger office location