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Starting your own recruitment business is an exciting step – the chance to take command of your financial future and channel years of experience into a company that you own and control.
But the process of starting up can be clouded by lack of information, misconceptions and inaccuracies.
RecruitHub works daily with experienced recruiters who are exploring their options in entrepreneurship, fielding hundreds of questions on the best way to start and scale a recruitment business.
To help bring clarity to the process, we’re sharing our conversations and tackling 10 of the biggest myths about starting up, head-on.
Without further preamble… let’s get stuck in!

Myth #2 – Non-competes block recruiters from launching

Restrictive covenants and non-compete agreements in the recruitment industry vary tremendously in scope and quality, but in most cases they are very unlikely to entirely prevent a recruiter from starting their own business.
As discussed in previous posts, there is often a gap between what is written in a contract and what is legally enforceable in a court of law – so what you see is not necessarily what you get.
Often this ‘gap’ creates opportunity for recruiters to exploit poorly-worded covenants and get going.
Even with the most tightly-constructed restrictions, consultants are likely to be prevented from immediately re-engaging their recent client and candidate base for anything from 3 to 12 months – but there will usually be no total block on their ability to go solo.
When restrictions are watertight, founders need to look at the most effective ways of preparing their business to prospect and engage a new customer segment as quickly as possible until the covenants expire.
This article is an excerpt from RecruitHub’s Top 10 Recruitment Start-up Myths, breaking down 10 of the most commonly-discussed misconceptions around starting a recruitment business.
View the myths
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