Ascen

Congrats Stuart Mitchell and Hampton North team! 🚀 📈 🎉

The Ascen team was in London this week as we co-hosted the invite-only "Scaling Across the Atlantic: Growing Your Recruitment Agency in North America" event at the National Liberal Club. It was a packed house. The excitement of recruitment agencies expanding to the US was really palpable--we are constantly surprised by the surge of UK agencies making the leap. I moderated a panel on learning from top recruitment agency executives who have scaled agencies in the US, with David Ballew, Kalpesh Baxi and Dave Rees, who gave some really powerful insights: - focus on your niche (even on the "forensic" level, according to David Ballew) - sales is sales, but your recruitment model may need to shift from 360 to 180 (or even 90! - sales, account manager, recruiter, and sourcer) - the compliance snags can be challenging, but you can rely on your EOR partner - getting clients will be easier in some ways but may require more touch points (clients in the US "diarize" everything) - you’re not going to get it right the first time, but don’t try to set up in New York (too expensive) I was also able to give a talk on compliance issues when expanding to the US. The biggest area we see UK agencies struggle with is W-2 vs 1099/C2C/IC. We also went over some issues to keep top of mind when expanding and what to look for in an EOR (the biggest thing: they should be staffing-focused) Thank you Carla Roberts from WTT for giving a great talk on US Client Contracts. Lots to think about -- and best to do before the first client contract comes along in the US. Thank you to Tony Restell and the rest of the Social-Hire.com team for making a fabulous event, we're looking forward to working together in the future because your team made it effortless. Thank you also to Suky Sodhi who was the brains behind the event and for involving Ascen in the collaboration--your global network and approach to the staffing industry are so aligned with us. We're also looking forward to doing more of these in the future with you.

💵 Higher fees, less competition, a shorter timescale for getting paid... ... so it's no wonder recruitment agencies are eager to expand into the US & Canada. But it's not as simple as just starting to take job reqs and cracking on with making placements. That's why we hosted "Scaling Across the Atlantic: Growing Your Recruitment Agency in North America" yesterday in London, to provide the guidance Founders need to expand into these markets. We'll have a full recording of the sessions available shortly (drop a comment if you'd like to get the recording), but a few of the key learnings I would highlight include: ☑️ The US market has fewer recruitment agencies than the UK, even though it's several times bigger. Firms report that the intensity of competition there is noticeably lower than in the UK as a result. ☑️ Each state in the US and province in Canada should be treated as if it's a different country. They each have their own labour laws, licensing requirements and compliance boxes to tick. So start out by choosing just one or two you'll focus your efforts on. ☑️ There are several states and several sectors where UK recruitment firms have had a particularly strong track record in getting successfully established. So choose your starting location carefully - and be wary of picking somewhere just because "you've always wanted to have an office there!" ☑️ Compliance is the biggest thing to make sure you are on top of. The liability you could expose yourself to - and the headaches that can be created if you get this wrong - are scary. But often, UK firms don't give this the attention it deserves when first starting out. ☑️ Don't underestimate the impact that having "boots on the ground" can have, as opposed to trying to build the whole business remotely from the UK. But also be alert to the significantly higher packages that recruiters earn there, when you're doing your financial planning for your launch. There's so much more I could add, what did I miss? - if you were there, what are 1 or 2 key learnings you took from the day? - if you missed it, what questions do you have that are holding you back from taking the plunge and expanding into North America? Looking forward to some good discussion in the comments 👇👇 ******* This event wouldn't have been nearly as rich without the insights shared by all our panelists and speakers, so a big THANK YOU to all of you for making the time to share your experiences. The great lineup was thanks to Francis Larson of Ascen and Suky Sodhi of Professional Selection Inc. A great collaboration with the team from Social-Hire.com, it's been a pleasure working with you on this - and, on behalf of all the attendees, thanks for all the effort you put into making this happen 👏👏👏 #Recruitment #RecruitmentAgency #BusinessGrowth

Go Ascen, Francis Larson, Timothy Goh!!! Keep up the pace!! Congrats to Ash B. and Satish Kumar too for being part of this key industry innovators club.

As Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) prepares for its 2024 Collaboration in the Gig Economy conference, SIA Global Daily News checked in with past winners of the Collaboration Shark Tank Technology Innovation Competition. 🏆 Glider AI won the competition in 2021, and co-founder and CEO Satish Kumar said his firm was able to double its growth. 🏆 Ascen won the competition in 2022, and CEO Francis Larson said the company has tripled in size. 🏆 WOLF won the competition in 2023, and CEO Ash B. said the firm experienced a sales boom with sales tripling in the first quarter of this year. Additionally, several former Shark Tank winners have been acquired by organizations such as Beeline and HireVue. Read the full story by SIA Editorial Director Craig Johnson >> https://lnkd.in/gQ7i_CRf And don’t forget to register for the 2024 Collaboration in the Gig Economy conference to see who will triumph in this year’s Collaboration Shark Tank >> https://lnkd.in/gHdkY8G #SIACollab #Staffing #ContingentWorkforce #Technology #TalentSolutions

Staffing Industry Analysts recently mentioned Ascen in an article about life after winning the SIA Collaboration in the Gig Economy "Shark Tank" award. Both our payroll and our team have grown rapidly since 2022 with a shift toward bigger customers, especially platforms. When we originally started Ascen, I thought that most of our business would be from platforms. As regulation starts increasing for staffing platforms with an independent contractor model, there is a noticeable shift towards more IC compliance and EOR through companies like Ascen.

Did you know that the US staffing industry has on average 2.4 million workers in roles every week? That's around 2% of the US labor force. But how does this translate to the individual states? In our latest article, we go over key metrics for each state, including the number of offices, payroll figures, annual staffing employment, and average weekly temporary workers. Here are three main points from our discussion: - On average, there are 809 staffing offices per state - Each state generates around $3 billion in payroll - Every state places approximately 62,135 temporary workers weekly One big thing we've realized while running Ascen‎ is that no matter what the stats say, you should still focus on your specific niche. The staffing agencies that do the best on our platform are extremely specific as to what they recruit for and who they sell to. That's your inherent competitive advantage versus the over-generalized large staffing agencies. 

Michael Bartels and I are proud to be sponsors of the REACH event in Boston September 12th at the Boston Marriott Long Warf. The team from Access Capital have lined up a trio of fantastic speakers which includes Ron Walters from 3Humans, Patrick Morin from Transact Capital Securities, LLC, Francis Larson from Ascen & Dan Quigg from Public Insight. All three will be sharing their insights on People, Processes and Technology. There is still time to register for this fantastic event: https://lnkd.in/emiKSgQp

Join Ascen‎ in Boston September 12th for the REACH Staffing Executive Masterclass. I'm going to be giving a talk on the state of the staffing industry and what staffing agency owners can do about it. The answer: Power. So what is Power and how do you get it? Find out in Boston on September 12th. The event is free and you will get to mingle with some of the talented minds in the staffing industry. A can't miss event: Register here: https://lnkd.in/eVNHJ2vR

Thinking of launching a Staffing Agency in the US Market? In our latest article (link in comments), we cover some costs you should be budgeting for.  Here are some key points: Sales is Crucial: The number one skill for success in staffing is sales. Outsourcing recruitment is possible, but outsourcing sales is almost impossible. If you can sell, you can win. If you can't sell, it will be very tough. Cost Flexibility: Starting a staffing agency can range from a few thousand dollars to over $150,000 depending on whether you handle tasks yourself or outsource key functions. Hidden Costs: Beyond the obvious expenses like insurance and software, things like payroll funding and compliance management can add significant costs.  Employer of Record (EOR): EOR services can simplify staffing by outsourcing payroll, compliance, and back-office processes, helping agencies focus on growth while aligning costs with revenue.