11 Recruiting Agency Success Stories [2024]
The global online recruitment market size was $29B in 2019 and is projected to reach $43B by 2027.
The best way to assess the success of a Recruiting Agency is to review what their clients say about them and the results achieved for those clients.
As a recruiter, you dream of landing your first client, but once you do, you realize it’s only the start of what you hope will be a successful business. Have you ever wondered how to start a recruiting agency business? There’s so much you can learn from books, but nothing beats getting real-world experience.
In this list, you'll find real-world recruiting agency success stories and very profitable examples of starting a recruiting agency that makes money.
1. Boldly ($3.84M/year)
Sandra Lewis, the founder and CEO of Boldly, came up with the idea for her business when she noticed a gap in the market for flexible, remote talent for businesses. After starting as a freelancer and receiving referrals from satisfied clients, Sandra assembled a team of professionals to meet the growing demand. By billing customers in advance on a subscription model, Boldly was able to establish long-term relationships with clients and build a strong foundation leading to their current success.
How much money it makes: $3.84M/year
How many people on the team: 120
Boldly, the subscription staffing company, has achieved $3 million in revenue through word-of-mouth referrals, and has grown to over 100 employees working across two continents, offering prized flex-time to military spouses, expats and experienced professionals focused on high quality remote work with corporations in a win-win environment.
2. DistantJob ($3.48M/year)
Sharon Koifman, president of DistantJob, came up with the idea for her remote worker recruitment agency after noticing that tech companies were outsourcing work to save money, but not getting the same level of communication and quality. She decided to specialize in finding the best remote workers who could follow a client's processes and culture, and teach her clients how to effectively manage remote teams. DistantJob now has $3 million in revenue and targets small to medium-sized tech companies.
How much money it makes: $3.48M/year
How many people on the team: 26
DistantJob is a unique recruitment agency that specializes in finding full-time remote employees, and with $3 million in annual revenue, they offer small to medium-sized tech companies an edge over big competitors who are not willing to hire remotely.
3. Big Cloud Recruitment ($3M/year)
After years of experience in the recruitment industry, Matt Reaney decided to start his own company. He and his colleagues identified the emerging trend of 'big data' and saw a niche in the market for recruiting data scientists and engineers. Inspired by the idea of leveraging data to drive business growth, they founded Big Cloud, a global data science recruitment company.
How much money it makes: $3M/year
How much did it cost to start: $80K
How many people on the team: 6
Data science recruitment company Big Cloud shares how they grew their business to generate £250k per month through expanding into global markets and using social media and marketing strategies to attract and retain customers while keeping a strong focus on building honest, long-standing relationships with clients and candidates.
4. CEI Staffing ($2.04M/year)
Eddie Edwards Jr., Founder and CEO of CEI Staffing, came up with the idea for his temporary staffing agency after gaining experience in various positions in the Broward County Sheriff's office. Starting as a home-based business with a revenue of $20,000 in its first year, CEI Staffing now generates over $2 million annually by providing employment solutions for local government and the private sector.
How much money it makes: $2.04M/year
How many people on the team: 68
Eddie Edwards Jr, CEO of CEI Staffing, grew his business from $20,000 in revenue to over $2 million per year using great customer service to stand out from the competition.
5. TECLA ($1.02M/year)
Gino Ferrand came up with the idea for TECLA while struggling to find backend software engineers for his own mobile game project. After realizing the challenges of outsourcing and the inefficiencies of freelancing sites, he decided to build his own remote team in South America and offer the same services to other companies. With a network of almost 9,000 remote candidates and a platform that allows companies to directly hire talent, TECLA has successfully connected hundreds of engineers with U.S. companies for full-time positions.
How much money it makes: $1.02M/year
How many people on the team: 12
TECLA is a bootstrapped business connecting startups with pre-screened tech talent in South America, boasting almost 9,000 remote candidates on their platform and over $1 million in revenue as of 2019.
6. SkillSoniq ($480K/year)
Abby, the founder of SkillSoniq, came up with the idea for her business after experiencing the challenges of working with outsourced talent on a tech project. She saw a need for a better way to source skilled talent quickly and affordably in the US, leading her to create SkillSoniq, the world's first AI-powered recruiting app. Through hosting marketing events at co-working spaces and leveraging personal connections, Abby was able to attract and retain customers, leading to impressive revenue growth.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
How many people on the team: 7
SkillSoniq, the world's first AI-powered recruiting app, connects companies with skilled freelancers on a trial basis, saving companies 60%+ in hiring costs and earning $350,000+ in gross revenues in its first year, with a current average of $40,000 a month, and plans to raise a second round of seed funding to achieve escape velocity and continue to form a world-class company.
7. Devrize ($240K/year)
Jacob Fiore, the founder of a recruiting business called devrize, developed the idea for his business while working in the investment industry. He wanted to start a side hustle that aligned with his desire for endless financial gain, geographical flexibility, and control over his schedule. Recognizing the low barrier to entry in the talent acquisition industry, he started devrize as a contingent recruiter, focusing primarily on software engineering roles for venture capital-backed startups.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $400
How many people on the team: 2
A recruiting business founder shares how he found success by zeroing in on a specific niche (software engineering) and offering enticing referral bonuses ($8k for successful hires), resulting in 50% of placements coming from referrals and yielding $302,100 in revenue in Year 1.
8. Talent Service ($180K/year)
the platform, we conducted interviews with potential customers to understand their pain points and needs. This helped us tailor our marketing messages and approach to attract and retain both companies and talents.
To attract companies, we focused on showcasing our unique value proposition of reverse recruitment and the benefits it provides. We targeted companies through digital channels such as social media, online forums, and industry-specific websites. We also leveraged partnerships and collaborations with universities and institutions to reach out to companies seeking IT talents.
For talents, we emphasized the ease and efficiency of our platform in finding the right company match. We used targeted advertising, social media campaigns, and partnerships with coding schools and bootcamps to attract talents. We also encouraged word-of-mouth referrals by providing excellent user experience and support to our existing talent users.
By continuously refining our marketing strategies based on customer feedback and data analysis, we have been able to attract and retain both companies and talents on our platform. As of now, we have achieved significant growth, with almost 3500 IT talents using the platform, 400 companies answering questionnaires via IT talents' links, and 282 vacancies published on the platform within just 3 months since launch.
How much money it makes: $180K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100K
How many people on the team: 6
Revolutionary developer-focused platform TalentService garners 3500 IT talents in just 3 months after launch, and counts 400 companies and 282 vacancies on the platform, offering a new approach to reverse hiring of IT talent.
9. Search Remotely ($120K/year)
Christian Carella, founder of Search Remotely, saw the potential in remote work and the future of the industry. With nearly a decade of entrepreneurship and IT experience, he chose to create a marketplace where remote workers could find job opportunities and up-skill through online courses. Since its launch, Search Remotely has recruited over 100 customers and generates between $35,000-$50,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 5
Search Remotely is a remote jobs platform that has recruited 100+ customers globally and generates between $35,000 - $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue by connecting remote workers, offering online courses and a platform with thousands of worldwide remote jobs.
10. Permworks ($18K/year)
Permworks was founded by the co-founder of Gohock, who hired a virtual assistant from the Philippines named Daina. Recognizing the value of Filipino talent, the founder decided to create Permworks, a jobs board that connects employers with Filipino talent, making it easier for startups to access staff and focus on growth.
How much money it makes: $18K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 0
Permworks is a job board connecting employers worldwide with Filipino talent, with 7000+ job seekers and almost 100 employers since its launch, including streams of revenue such as job ad posts, employer of record service and end-to-end recruitment service.
11. Vettted ($1.2K/year)
In a video interview, Vasco explains that he came up with the idea for Vettted after working in the freelance marketplace industry since 2016. He noticed several issues with existing marketplaces, such as lack of transparency, high fees, and low-quality services. Inspired to create a better platform, Vasco decided to focus on digital marketing and provide a place where freelancers can keep 100% of their earnings.
How much money it makes: $1.2K/year
How much did it cost to start: $20K
How many people on the team: 0
Vettted, a marketplace for pre-vetted marketers to outsource digital marketing efforts, has launched and has over 65 sellers and 287 users so far, with the goal of providing a platform for talent to keep 100% of their earnings.
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