Tricia Dempsey is the founder of Agile, a technology talent firm that enables today’s technology leaders to hire and develop superior performers. Her path to entrepreneurship is proof that sometimes you don’t choose a business – a business chooses you. 

Six years ago, while serving as president of growing staffing agency, Tricia was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although she wanted to continue in her role, her treatment was not allowing her to work on a consistent basis. She felt this was unfair to the business, so she left it to focus on getting well. Upon her departure however, she still had clients knocking on her door, so she decided to start a small company under which she could invoice her clients “until her hair grew back.” 

Within 90 days, she had ten consultants contracting under umbrella and by the end of the first calendar year, her business had generated half a million dollars of revenue.  She hasn’t looked back since.

Although her success may at first sound like pure luck, it has been Tricia’s attention to and focus on her core strengths from the very beginning that has enabled her to achieve so much.

 

Targeting Helps This Entrepreneur Hit the Bull’s Eye

An Interview with Tricia Dempsey

Noelle:

The recruiting industry is a crowded marketplace. There are the “Big 5″ Generalist Firms, loads of small boutique firms, and dozens of other options in between. You’ve been extremely successful at setting Agile apart from the competition. Tell me a little bit about how you established your niche and how your focus has contributed to the company’s success.

Tricia:

Well, I start by saying that I think branding and positioning are evolutions versus revolutions, or at least that has been the case for me! Since Agile’s inception, we’ve gone from small Atlanta-based boutique staffing firm to a larger regional player, but one thing we’ve always remained true to is our focus on hiring and developing superior technology talent.

Noelle:

How and why did you decide to focus on technology talent?

Tricia:

Well, I really am the quintessential technician turned entrepreneur. I grew up in the technology staffing space.  I spent about 8 years recruiting technology talent for a company that went from being a $5 million business when I started to a $1 billion dollar business by the time that I left. After this experience I understood the space top to bottom and left to right! I got to know many of leaders in this space and that has opened doors for me since the beginning. I think being in one space for so long has been a real advantage for me and my business.

That being said, I have always been tempted, as I’m sure the people reading this book will be, to serve all audiences, which in my opinion, equals the death of a business. I think the best way to plant yourself and ensure growth, is to define and stay true to your core business. Once you’ve mastered that and it becomes a predictable revenue stream, then match a new market, product of service to your business and focus on making that a success. It’s critical to have some predictability in place, otherwise trying to launch a second offer becomes extremely distracting – especially when you already have limited time and resources to grow your business.

Noelle:

You’ve differentiated your business by focusing recruiting technology talent, but you’ve been successful at differentiating your business by using a unique recruiting approach.  Tell me a little about that.

Tricia:

We looked at what our competition is doing and we really turned that on its head.  Most of our competition does two things.  1) They turn to job boards for talent and 2) they use standard job descriptions to recruit their talent.

At Agile, we believe in fishing in ponds versus fishing in the ocean. Our recruiters average about 12 years of experience meaning that each recruiter has a strong network of top talent to source from. This smaller, stronger, deeper talent pool means we have ready access to resource with the right skills.

We also start with the end in mind when recruiting for a position. We consider what our customer will access during a resource’s end of year performance review and from there we craft a job description. We’ve found that this approach really turns out top performers.

Noelle:

What other unique angles have you taken to differentiate Agile?

Tricia:

We’ve made a real effort to differentiate our business through community service.  We’ve taken very active roles in two organizations, Women in Technology (WIT) and Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. Our work with these groups has enabled us to interact with many potential clients on an informal basis.

We’ve also been very successful at leveraging the brand equity of these larger organizations. A potential client may not recognize our name before we meet them, but we gain some instant credibility by being associated with such great organizations. 

I’d guess that our work with WIT and Komen has helped us open more doors than any other marketing or business development initiatives we’ve undertaken. Plus the work has been so fun and rewarding for our team!

Noelle:

That’s really great.  I know Agile fundraisers have raised over $100,000 for Komen over the past 5 years and that’s really something to be proud of!

Tricia:

For sure! Our fundraisers are a big part of our strategy to engage with our clients in unique and meaningful ways. We’re not fans of banging on our clients’ doors and saying, “Can I have a job order? Can I have a job order? Can I have a job order?” which is very much the model of 400 of our closest competitors.

Noelle:

Tricia, thanks for all your time today and for all the great advice. Is there any parting advice you’d like to offer aspiring freelance moms? 

Tricia:

I advise aspiring freelance to focus on the things they do best and to outsource all the rest. It took me some time to get here, but I have a very solid model at this point. The core parts of my business, recruiting and selling, are managed in-house. Everything else including, human resources, marketing, accounting, finance, legal – you name it – is outsourced to experts in those areas. 

This may seem like an expensive model, but if I add up the cost of all of these professional services, it only equals the cost of about one full-time equivalent. I’m leveraging many expert-level resources, the best in their field kind of resources, for just the price of one full-time internal employee.  It’s made such a difference in my business and I enjoy my business so much more because of it.