How to Successfully Pivot Your Recruitment Agency into a Thriving Management Consultancy, with Colin Kleine, Ep #192

The Resilient Recruiter

Adding management consultancy as a service offering of your recruitment agency can potentially increase your revenue. But the question is, is it easier said than done?

In this episode, you will hear insights from Colin Kleine, co-founder of Scalerr. They’re a growth advisory firm that helps Tech companies reach their revenue goals through Strategy, Execution, and People.

Colin discusses why he made the pivot from Recruiter into Management Consultant, and why recruitment was so fundamental in helping him successfully do it. He shared the challenges, key learnings, and how this transition benefits their business.

I have known Colin since 2014, he’s a former client and I’ve tracked his remarkable rise, especially since he launched Scalerr.

Episode Outline and Highlights

• [02:07] Colin shared how he came across Mark and the learnings he took that transformed his billings.

• [05:34] The highs and lows that led Colin to start Scalerr.

• [11:45] Thriving during the longest COVID lockdown.

• [16:21] From recruitment to management consulting: Colin explains how their advisory services help clients expand internationally to increase their valuation.

• [28:49] Mark emphasizes how understanding the client's objectives rather than just filling roles can add more value.

• [38:14] How having a co-founder who is aligned with Collin’s passion became a game-changer.

• [48:30] Colin shares the biggest challenges that he had to face when building Scalerr.

• [56:13] Key success factors and milestones that led Colin and Scalerr to where they are now.

• [1:00:46] Colin thanks Mark for being a mentor and inspiration throughout his career.

Recruitment Skills and Experience Leading to Management Consulting

How Colin pivoted from being just a recruiter to a management consultant is a story that I find fascinating. Aside from talent acquisition, Scalerr helps startup companies scale up and expand globally and increase their valuation. What propelled this shift? Colin shared three takeaways:

• Understanding their client’s objectives and challenges. Colin and his team are focused on being consultative and understanding their client's journey, stresses, and pain points.

• Learning from experience: having helped more than 150 companies, Colin and his team learned what makes some businesses successful and some businesses fail. They have come up with a playbook that

• Leveraging his recruitment experience, Colin took lessons from the CEOs, VPs, and other key positions he placed. He said, “You learn information that somebody else is prepared to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for. So you start learning what is it that made some companies wildly successful? What is it that successful CEOs did to grow and scale a company and also understand how all of this ties in ultimately into valuation?”

The management consulting arm of their business skyrocketed, leading Colin and his team to start a venture arm.

Challenges and Solutions While Building Scalerr

Just like all business owners, Colin faced a multitude of challenges when building Scalerr. I wanted to hear what his top challenges are and how his team was able to overcome them. He shared one particular challenge that resonates with many recruitment business owners:

“Not enough hours in the day, as many entrepreneurs will do, and make this mistake of trying to do too much of it yourself. And I know there's going to be a lot of people listening to this podcast that know exactly what I'm talking about, not realizing when it's now time to start delegating things out and bringing somebody on board to do that, not knowing when to give up control and relinquish.”

Colin emphasized the importance of systemizing and delegating tasks. Not doing so and becoming overwhelmed with tasks you can delegate will be a constraint to scaling your business.

Creating a Flywheel: Pivotal Factors That Propelled Scalerr to Their Current Achievements

Another topic that stood out to me is how Colin and his team were able to create a flywheel - their consultancy work feeds their recruitment segment and vice versa. Instead of solely relying on placements as a revenue stream, they were able to establish their consultancy to the point that it could be a standalone revenue source. Colin described it this way: “I think there's a lot of mutual value added and then you start speaking to them and introducing yourself and building a relationship, and more and more people know you, and guess what? They end up giving you recruitment work.”

Colin also elaborated on the three pivotal factors that he believes contributed greatly to their current achievements:

• Diversification of where they source their leads.

• Foundational understanding of their clients on a business level.

• Creating their own flywheel and not solely relying on placements as a revenue source.

Our Sponsor

This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro

i-intro® is an end-to-end retained recruitment platform. Their technology and methodology allow recruiters to differentiate themselves from the competition, win more retained business, bigger fees, and increase their billings. Their software combined with world-class training enables you to transition from transactional, contingency recruiter to consultative, retained recruiter. Instead of being perceived as a “me too” vendor, you’ll be positioned as a “me only” solutions provider. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter. Book your free, no-obligation consultation here: https://recruitmentcoach.com/retained

Colin Kleine Bio and Contact Info

Colin specializes in forging innovative revenue streams through strategic channel partnerships, crafting accelerated GTM and Commercialization strategies, and handpicking high-impact teams with a battle-tested background in startup scaling. His expertise spans customized advisory and recruitment services, enabling swift market validation, deft navigation of the intricate APAC landscape, and securing vital venture capital and government grants. With an impressive portfolio of over 150 victorious startups, Colin's results-driven approach guarantees maximum revenue, valuation growth, and a triumphant expansion into the APAC market. As a dedicated investor and seasoned business advisor, Colin puts his money where his mouth is, committed to your success while leveraging his insider knowledge to drive your business forward.

• Colin on LinkedIn

• Scalerr website link

People and Resources Mentioned

• Allan Cutter on LinkedIn

• Leanne Sarah Jones Hunt on LinkedIn

• Traction by Gino Wickman

• The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

• Who Not How by Dan Sullivan

Connect with Mark Whitby

• Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call

• Mark on LinkedIn

• Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby

• Mark on Facebook

• Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

If you’ve been enjoying the podcast, please take two minutes to leave a review. Your review is greatly appreciated because it helps us attract a bigger audience and help more recruiters. “Support the podcast and leave a review here”.