Taking a leap of faith with an Antal International franchise

Liz Kilford, franchise development director at Antal International, discusses some of the feelings of doubt budding entrepreneurs experience before taking the leap into the unknown, and why finding a business opportunity such as Antal International could give you the nudge you need

It may have been your dream for some time to own your own business, or maybe you have been forced to do so because of changes in your personal circumstances. If you have been weighing up this decision for some time, you may feel more like a fledgling that has to be nudged out of the nest to fly, rather than a powerful eagle heading off on a new adventure.

However, with some careful reflection on your previous experience and how this could be combined with the right franchise partner who can inspire and support you, you might just be onto a winning combination.

Antal International is a leading mid to senior level global executive recruitment franchise, with a network of -no offices in 34 countries. Liz Kilford, the company’s Franchise Development Director, discusses some of the feelings of doubt and fear that budding entrepreneurs experience before taking a leap into the unknown, and why finding a business opportunity such as Antal International could give you the nudge you need.

Reflect on your previous experience and skills
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Think about your professional background and skills and how they can be applied to facilitate the growth of others in your industry. Recruiting candidates at the right time can lead to a step change in the fortune and energy of a company. The employees a company hires and retains are its heart, its soul and its lifeblood.There is a definite need, totally independent of fluctuating economies, for companies to attract and retain the right talent.

Antal franchise owners are channelling their professional business skills and experience by placing rising star professionals every day, generating thousands of placements a year and millions of pounds in placement fees. They quickly gain credibility with the clients they work with and are able to spot and identify burgeoning talent and place professionals in multinational and small to medium-sized enterprises alike.

Find a credible business partner
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Once you have decided where your skills could be well utilised, the next step is to find a franchisor with a credible history and the experience to help you as you launch and grow your business.

Antal International is a multi award winning franchise (with awards for excellence in recruitment, franchising and entrepreneurialism). Founded in 1993, Antal has successfully launched offices worldwide in both developing and developed economies such as China, Poland and India, as well as the UK, Germany and France.

Over the years Antal has built an enviable global client list and an international brand. Antal is widely recognised as an innovator in recruitment solutions as a result of intelligent marketing initiatives such as the Antal Global Snapshot (www.snapshot.antal.com), a quarterly report that compares global labour market trends.

A peer group that motivates and inspires you
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When you join Antal you are joining a network of owners who are highly qualified and credible business professionals. Antal owners collaborate and share fees on various recruitment assignments, brainstorm solutions and help each other to expand their businesses.This network delivers tangible results through shared revenue, with franchisees adding up to 25 per cent to their bottom line through sharing candidates, clients and fees.

Franchisees network through organised telephone conference calls, which initiates shared business opportunities. Annual and regional conferences for owners facilitate networking to develop business and have fun.

best practice training as your safety net
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Antal appreciates that part of the fear factor is stepping into the unknown and that this fear is only likely to subside when you have started to make money. Antal trains you to be a professional Recruitment Consultant in record time, with much of the operational set up and running of the business taken care of, so you can get on with generating cash as quickly as possible.

The Antal training and support programme starts as soon as you decide to join us, with a pre-induction planning programme designed to prepare you for your operational set up. Antal’s Franchise Operations Director, Ashleigh Fitzgerald, has 15 years’ experience in the smooth running of recruitment companies, and will ensure the operational start of your business is taken care of.

The Antal two-week induction programme is run by Tony Jones, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, who has run his own UK-based recruitment franchise that at its peak was turning over £3 million per annum.

Tony’s fundamental belief is, as he quotes: “The first six months are critical because we want our franchisees to make placements and fees, and if they are going to achieve this they will need to apply every part of the training process.”

This is why Antal has introduced an extensive six-month training curriculum. After graduating from the intensive two-week induction programme, which mixes academic /classroom style training with practical application, franchise owners take part in a coaching programme specifically designed to coach them through the first six months of their business.

This intensive 180-day programme takes training far beyond academic learning.“As our franchisees progress on this programme, we help them deal with real situational examples and live cases, supporting them every step of the way for an outcome that results in a fee,” says Maria Stevens, Antal’s newly appointed Training Director.

Training is delivered through scheduled one-to-one and group sessions, exercises, role play and scheduled modules, which reinforce each module covered on the induction programme. Each week there are daily sessions scheduled that franchisees can dip into. “Our enhanced training services, together with weekly troubleshooting surgeries, means we are in contact with up to 60 franchisees per day,” says Tony Jones, who regularly starts his day at 3.30am to run Master Classes to fit with international time differences.

Now think big and make it happen
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Once you have decided on the business that is right for you, the next step is to take action and think big about what you want to achieve.

The Antal International recruitment franchise fits its owners’ aspirations, not the other way around. This business can be as big or as small as owners want it to be - the only limit being the extent of their ambition.

“Many of our franchisees are hiring consultants and building businesses with a capital asset that can be sold one day,” says Graeme Read, Antal’s Group Managing Director. This sentiment is shared by Tony Goodwin, Antal’s Founder, twice winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, who achieved a multi-million pound sale when he sold the Antal International Moscow office in 2008. He resolutely confirms that:“As a management team, we are actively supporting those franchisees with similar longer term ambition to achieve their goals.”

On the other end of the scale, many of Antal’s franchise owners have chosen to operate from home as boutique businesses, perhaps with the intention to scale up one day, or even to continue to reap the rewards that are available in this low investment, high return business.

Our owners’ average placement fees are between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of a candidate’s first year basic salary and can average £8,000 - £25,000 per placement. So you can see the possibilities for the average Antal owner to create revenues of £80,000-£120,000 in their first year of business, with many owners achieving much more.