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Thank you for listening to the Recruiter Startup Podcast.
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Dualta Doherty: [00:00:00] All right. Welcome to the Recruiter Startup Podcast. I'm back here with Stuart Mitchell. It's been a long time, my friend.
Stuart Mitchell: Yeah. Has indeed. I was trying to figure out, I think it might have been four years good to be back on the show
Dualta Doherty: The last time was when I went to visit LA and we did a podcast.
Was it West Hollywood? Is that where you guys were based? .
Stuart Mitchell: We were in culver City.
Dualta Doherty: Culver City, and we got a couple of podcasts done with you g and your gaze there. And then we had a, an impromptu meet out late at night in a bar afterwards.
Stuart Mitchell: Yeah, I don't remember that one so well. I definitely had a few, but it seemed to be a good local spot for many British recruiters, and I think that's there were a few of us in there.
Dualta Doherty: So you're not in LA anymore.
Stuart Mitchell: No unfortunately not. I missed the sunshine. I relocated back to the East Coast in just over a year [00:01:00] ago. So decided to make the jump be closer to my family, to my wife's family as we, we started a family ourselves. , but also the work from home situation.
I continued to operate in Southern California for a year after that. But yeah, the work from home flexibility allowed us to be where we needed to be, which was great.
Dualta Doherty: I was obsessed with looking at LA and the homeless scene and all of that during Covid, cuz it, it looked like a post-apocalyptic nightmare.
What was it like being in Covid?
Weird. It was a really weird city to be in. I think in some essence it was great. And you look at, if you can only, you can't do anything, but you can be outside,
it's probably not a better city to be outside because you can eat outside all year long.
Go for a walk by the beach, get on a bike, go for a run all year round, even if you're not a fitness fanatic, like from a mental health perspective, I think. We were pretty fortunate that said there were a couple of [00:02:00] homelessness was more accelerated. You look at some of the jobs that were affected by Covid, so it pushed more people into homeless in California.
So you're right, like there was, a lot of, some of the areas in downtown la, Hollywood, Venice, that were just smoked even to the point where when I was leaving California, They actually just entirely cleaned up Venice Beach from the homelessness and pushed them more towards downtown.
But it took the vibe away from Venice. It was a really weird feeling where, the homelessness kind of added a edge and a vibe to it, but when it was gone, it was like, it doesn't feel the same anymore. It was really weird.
The draconian laws that they put in California shut down a lot of restaurants and that as well.
I'm sure it affected the overall vibe.
Stuart Mitchell: Yeah. Yeah, I think you know, people that have left or go back now, same with New York City. Like it doesn't feel like the same place that it was before. California is a notoriously liberal state. And so things were enforced a lot more than perhaps they were in a Texas or a Florida.
And yeah, you're [00:03:00] right. Like these, it costs some people their livelihood and some came back, but it wasn't the same. And it was sad to see. And it is, we still go back and it doesn't quite feel like that 2019 Brennan's vibe that we had a few years ago. Yeah. That, I hold with.
Such good memories, it's still a great city, but things change and it got hit pretty hard with Covid.
Dualta Doherty: So whenever Covid hit the remote work, remote, working accelerated, what was that like for you as a recruiter with your clients and then you working for at the time an established British recruitment agency?
That what, like firstly would have you in the office?
Stuart Mitchell: Yeah. First three months for me were like, Hey, this is not a, this is not a full-time solution. This doesn't work. This is, we lost all our culture. We lost, this isn't right. This is not how you do recruitment. This is not how you train.
Whatever I was super against it. And so it was odd and I think it was always an expectation that we would go back at some point. I think that expectation was always set there, As a business would come, we're set up and our plan was to hire [00:04:00] locally. And then, and again, I think everyone struggled those first three or four months in, in recruitment.
I think you asked getting us business owner that kind of Q2 march to say June or July of 2020. Everybody struggled a little bit. Yeah. And then the taps went and everyone decided that they were gonna hire, they were gonna hire remote and things just. Went really well and we pivoted our culture at start may where I was at the time to be a remote first business come what may, although considering hiring in Los Angeles.
And we ended up, my career, I was really on a pretty good trajectory, but it continued to rise and rise and, I had some of the most efficient years of my career working from home to the point I'm now. And I never thought, if you'd have said this four years ago, that.
Pro work from home. I've laughed in your face. But now flipping the script I'm now very pro work from home, given, given what we did, we set up a really effective, management environment, team environment. But it was a shift. And I think one of the things that we struggled with is, that kind of traditional [00:05:00] mentality, learning and development coaching.
And And we had to make some pretty. Structural changes, particularly when it came to hiring to make sure that they were enabled. And I think that's something that businesses are still trying to figure out now is okay, if we hire this person remote, how do they get into our culture? How do they learn the same way that everyone else is learning?
Like it's the same challenges, but my viewpoint definitely changed to the point that now I have my own business, at least at this point. It's a remote first company.
Dualta Doherty: Yeah. It's tough. And I. I've been remote for years and I enjoy it. Yeah. But at the same stage, it does come with its limitations.
If you're building a sales team, especially in the recruitment industry. So typically you'll find that one in three survive on graduate hires, and nobody can beat that industry average. Even if they say they can , they have for a while, they usually get caught and then they don't. I think it's probably pretty true with even our own business now.
We've gone from a point where we hired a lot of virtual assistants to know we would hire TA [00:06:00] skilled people from Eastern Europe, and that was a big shift for us. But even with that it's really hard to get people who can. , get your culture nurture about and be accountable and make things happen and not expect that it's always gonna be easy.
And yeah it's a real challenge. And one thing I would never do is hire people without experience if it's a proper 360
Stuart Mitchell: type recruitment job. Yeah. And I think I agree with that and I think that definitely, hampers businesses that are trying to go for that kind of scaled exit, I still.
If you're looking to grow at an extreme rate, we've seen it in the industry. The best way to do it is to manufacture your own talent, right? It's rare that we see businesses that are. Commercially wise enough to go and hire some of the senior players from the industry cuz they're expensive, right?
And you can't go and hire a hundred, 50, a hundred people at these high numbers and assume that they're gonna work in your environment anyway. So I do think it is limiting, particularly if you're looking at that growth mode and, I'm looking at my [00:07:00] business in junctures of, okay, let's get from zero to one and then, then we reestablish and I think something.
Some really smart businesses are doing is even if they are hiring remote, trying to be a little bit more deliberate around that in terms of some of the hubs. I know that's something that you've mentioned in the past is having hubs. I know some businesses that have done it in, Tony as an example, in, in Belfast, they were looking at remote, they bought a hub there.
Toby, sorry, who killed me for that one. But some businesses that are hiring down in Florida or Austin and trying to get those hubs together. So I. If that's the case, there is, an opportunity to build cultures. Even if it is, getting together once or twice a week or even a few times a month versus a traditional five days in the office.
I think there's something there. And again, if I do decide to push this business into more of a, Hey, let's scale, let's exit, let's you know, look at PE or acquisition, I think I will have to. I probably commit to something that is a little bit more outside what I'm doing today. Get an office, get some more people together.
Dualta Doherty: Yeah. And uh, one of the things I was I was saying to [00:08:00] you before, you're at an interesting place in your life as well, so I, yeah. I have a five and a four year old now, so we very much, and he's almost six actually, and the other guy's near five. So we feel like we're through a lot. , like we drop them off, then they go to nursery, then they're in sports, then they come back and have their dinner and we're involved, but we're way freer than we were paying for two childcare situations and mother-in-law not wanting to do it all the time and saying they would, and picking up here and there and it's very hard when you're in that place in your life and setting up a business and buying a house.
And moving states and con So you've, you're doing all the stuff that I that we've gone through and I see myself on the other side of that now and. I was thinking I wouldn't mind having an office full of some people I could have fun with here in Alta. Cause at the moment we've a I take the morning meeting twice a week.
And on that we'll have our team in the Philippines, our team in Eastern Europe, [00:09:00] some of our principals in in England and Ireland, and we have a structured, real structured meat and all the rest, they're all women. They're all in Charlotte's image. It's not my idea of my, they're fun. Yeah. But like it's not what I had at Robert Walters where Yeah.
It's all guys like me and I just know that we can go and have fun and all the rest. So I was thinking like, it would be nice to have that bit of, yeah, the next bit of the business now. So I would say, That you probably will reach that once you, yeah, once you establish that, and usually what'll happen is you might like, because you're really credible in this space, you'll attract people to come join you who are well known and networked and all the rest and.
They'll reach a stage in their development where they'll come to you and say, Hey, I need a bit more than this. And you'll say the only way you can do more is by hiring and training in your local [00:10:00] area. Yeah. And the hubs will spring
up.
Stuart Mitchell: Yeah. And that's, that would be dream world for me is to outsource some of that responsibility.
And again, something that I'm cognizant of. When I created this business, I don't wanna just create a good place for billers to come and make decent money and leave. There has to be some growth in their journey. Otherwise people get bored. Or you could be doing as well as, making more money than you ever thought you would, more responsibility.
But if you are not continuously growing, people do get bored and they do seek something new and I think so. , we're very, we just, I think sometimes we just assume it's money and try and throw money at that problem. But people do want more. And I think to your point we've had some, particularly last month, but we've had some really good wins at, both like deals and new clients and dealing with situations.
And nothing be, and you probably had this at Robert Walters and I've had this over my career. Hey we should go and celebrate this. Let's go get a dinner, let's go get a finish early, whatever. It's great, right? And I. , is, lunch club can be a little bit much the formalities of it, but Hey, we nailed this situation.
Let's go get a couple [00:11:00] of beers tonight unplanned and celebrate. Yeah, obviously, that's a lot more difficult when you're hiring across the country or in even in different countries like, and I do miss things like that and I think that's something, sometimes if you make it too structured, you can actually suck all the fun out of it.
Hey, we're gonna fly in and we're gonna do this and this, and that's great and that is important. , but un unstructured celebrations, but also fi fixing stuff, right? Hey, we had a really bad day, or we had a disagreement, or we had those diffusing situations in my day, at least when I was coming through, was like, best done over a beer or over coffee outside of the office.
Like I, I think some of those things like things that you can't replace it, and again, like I, I definitely do miss that. And I. Wouldn't change the fact that I can be around my ki like my one year old right now, but moving forwards I could see myself going back. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. And
things do I think probably, so one of the ways that we do that with our remote team is we fly them into London two or three [00:12:00] times a year, usually in and around.
So actually the Filipinos, we don't they uh, we send them money to go take themselves out for dinner and all the rest while Nice, while the team do that. But we tie it in usually with a wired event. So we run the WhatsApp groups that you're in. We have the independent recruiter group, and then we have the one for the scalable recruitment firms.
And they're very different vibes and all the rest. But what we do is we throw these events with the partners every couple of year, every couple of times a year, and. our team. Go into that and then they get to see, all right, so this is what, it's what it's like now, actually. Yeah. Yeah. So they get to see what it's like to see 50 testosterone fold filled c CEOs talk about their business, and the same with all the recruitment partners and vendors, and get a real taste for the industry.
And it's funny, like all the people who we've flown into the. , they're the ones who've stayed in our business over the long run cuz they've, yeah, it's all made sense. They've got it, they've got to see the [00:13:00] personality types and then they're like, okay, so now I know when I'm speaking to a recruiter they'll fit that and it's that bit of realness that's hard to get in a remote business.
You mentioned. Events and maybe like scaling a business. Have you put a, have you put a number on the amount of people you wanna grow to within the next four years, or is
there Yes, to an extent. I've always put EBITDA above everything else versus headcount versus, I'm a profit guy, I'm a numbers guy, and that has always been something that's far more important to me than headcount.
I think headcount can get a little laboratory, and I also think sometimes if you are as focused on headcount as you are about profitability, it's scalability. Businesses tend to, everyone uses the word scale in recruitment, but they tend to grow, they tend to reduce that profit ahead. And so that's something that I'm really cognizant of in a, in an ideal world, 15 in four years is a good starting point for [00:14:00] me.
I, that may sound small, that may sound, but my expectation is a 600 K revenue per head business. So that's a, for me that's a lot of money. And I think, I have done that, I have achieved that. That's something from a team perspective, even with some team, some team members that were past me or whatever I have achieved the 600 K revenue per head team.
And so that's something that I really want to continue to laser in on. And that may mean that there's some hires that just aren't, can't do that. And there are some hires who get past that and want to go and do what I did because, . If you are hiring somebody who is moving forwards and doing a million, 1,000,005, 2 million a year, they're probably gonna get the itch unless you do something sensational by means of ltip or equity or ownership.
To keep them. And I'm cognizant of that, but it's really hard to keep over performers. And so that's something that I'm trying to do, but 15 in five years seems feasible, but I'm, you know what I will definitely do at the end of [00:15:00] each year, like we're ahead of our year one numbers, that means that we're probably gonna be ahead of our year one headcount.
So I will change that. I'll move that, that's something that I'm not gonna laser in on the number. And
so
Dualta Doherty: that, that's a nice plan. I'll give you, I'll give you my 2 cents worth on it. I think there's no way in this world you keep top performers regardless of what model you put in place.
Yeah. The one that I've seen work, if you want 16 people is Joe Mullings. One where Yeah, he controls the client. and then everything else is a delivery function because that means they're reliant on him. Yeah. But if you have a three, if you have a 360 gang of 16 people, they're gonna feel they don't need you after a while in, in the same way.
Yeah. Whereas he, he has that difference. And I think that's the only one I've seen that worked from that. And if you look at all, if you look at search firms as well, yeah. They're not doing much bd. There's. , [00:16:00] they have a few relationships that then their delivery's all done for them, and why would they leave?
Because all of this is done. So it's really hard and that's why people don't just stay to 16. They spread the risk, and then they get the next people in. So the pricing and the breaking up that model piece is really key to.
Stuart Mitchell: Yeah, of course. And I, I've been following I find Joe's journey quite fascinating.
I'm really impressed by what he's doing. And I think, the reputation that he has in his industry is like untouched. And so I find, you I'm trying to look at some of the things that he is doing because in my industry, in security, I think I'm not there yet. But I definitely think I have a really good kind of level into the important folks of that industry.
So I, it's something I would absolutely love to replicate, but also realize, I have no way near what Joe is doing. But I, I'm absolutely fascinated by the guy, the way he goes to market. Some of the events he host his media stuff like top tier and [00:17:00] something that, you know, even a 10 percentile I'm trying to emulate.
Dualta Doherty: Yeah. Yeah. I, it's when I break it down, it's that one piece , like who, who controls where the deals come from and who controls the delivery function. And I think you've been brought up in 360. So have I. Yeah. It's very hard to let that go, isn't it?
Stuart Mitchell: I agree. And it's something, again, I also, but I also look at the multi-billion dollar companies, right?
I look at the businesses, Hayes tech systems, whatever, like a lot of it is. Senior partners holding these very key relationships with banks, with, it is a lot of 180 and two 70 to some extent. And so there's pros and cons to both, right? But I do think in the US, like 180 and two 70 is a lot more commonplace than true.
360 recruitment. But then it's okay, how much do I have to work as like a chief BD officer or whatever? To continue to stem that flow. And then I'm [00:18:00] probably paying, I'm also used to paying 360 comms. Should I be reduced to that? It's such an interesting, nuanced argument. It is. That definitely will take some work over the years, but also 360 is hard, right?
Like a 23 year old, 22 year old coming, hitting the phones, gaining immediate credibility to a, 40, 50 year old executive that's getting a hundred phone calls a day. Like I see the value of it both ways. Yeah, I think it's definitely, and then you look at some of the newer businesses that are going down the like SDR route which is true, it's a tech sales, which, hey, my job is just to connect skew or, whoever to, to the decision maker.
There's so many different ways to structure this, but you're right, like we grew up in 360, so hard to map out a business in any other way.
Dualta Doherty: And I think, like I've interviewed Joel a few times and. He's taken a process to win the media battle. Yes. And the data battle and the events and that there's the bus, that's the BD machine as opposed to Yeah.
Ad chasing all day long and making that happen. Yeah. But. And then you mentioned the PLC [00:19:00] version. They don't really they probably won't agree with me on this, but I don't think they care about the big pillars. Like I think what they want is middle of the road, who can train rookies. And if they can, if they're middle of the road and the risk is spread and everything's done right and they're following the process, then they're happier.
And I suppose the other bit, you are gonna have to look. , and here's what gets interesting is who's gonna buy you. Yeah. And the business that you're gonna build is ha gonna have to be structured around that person who's gonna go, do you know what I want that as a Bolton, or actually you're gonna fit our culture?
Or is it somebody who buys it off you in the future or,
Stuart Mitchell: yes. It's so interesting because some of. Some of the behaviors that drive a, like a straightforward buyer is actually the culture that I don't like, right? Hey, let's nail down these. And I'm not anti k p, like I know that's an ugly word in recruitment.
I think for me, [00:20:00] revenue and first interviews are the first thing that I always look at. If that's good, I don't intend to get too below the service. Then obviously you can pick up the data so I'm not anti kpi. . That said, I'm not trying to hit key metrics to make myself look attractive from a purchase standpoint, which I think some businesses do, and that's some of the behaviors that I'm not trying to.
They're not trying to achieve. I think, look, we may be more attractive in three years as a 10 person Bolton for a UK business that wants to take on cybersecurity from, or an Australian business APAC that's Hey, it's easier to buy Stew's business than it is for us to go and do it ourselves.
That's like right now, that's just give him
Dualta Doherty: 10 million and let 'em just, I'm not asking
Stuart Mitchell: for a lot. Exactly. That's it. But yeah, look that's the obvious one is somebody who like, is desperate to break into this u US market. And over the years I've had plenty of people wanting me to do it for them it didn't make sense.
But, [00:21:00] if somebody wants to buy their way in, I think that's the obvious one. Do I see us going all the way to 150 person exit right now? Like 500 person, private equity event right now? No, but talk to me in three years, my, yeah. Every, everyone changes, right? I don't wanna be super linear set on one particular event.
I'm just gonna roll with the punches. I wanna build a really profitable business so that it's profitable and makes money for me and my family. If that's attractive to somebody else in five years, so be it. Yeah. And
Dualta Doherty: you're not one of these people that ever got lost in middle management like you've always stuck
Stuart Mitchell: to.
Yeah. So many people would get into recruitment but don't actually wanna do recruitment. I think it's one of these interesting things like all I need to do is get here and I can stop doing recruitment and I can start telling other people how to do recruitment. So many people are desperate to do it.
It's always my biggest fear is, I was a fairly fairly mid-tier, like standout like leader. Like I, I look at some leaders and I'm [00:22:00] like, wow, you're very good. You are very good at training people from nothing into something. I'm always describe myself in US terms as a bit of a college coach, which is, I can't teach how to throw the football or whatever, but.
Can make it slightly better and can understand the decision making. And, I turned 400 K bill into 800 k, billers, et cetera, but I definitely didn't build them from nothing. And that, that's what I'm hoping to emulate here. But I didn't enjoy the management, I didn't enjoy the strategy calls or the, two, three day sleepaway camp.
Let's all get the leadership together type meetings. I'm a doer, like I like to do recruitment. I like. Execute on plans. I like to make money, but I don't like to sit around a table for 10 hours and discuss a strategy. Like just let me go and do it. And one of the things I felt, and one of the reasons I exited my previous position was like, I'm doing less of this and my value to the industry is talking to clients, even still doing searches.
And I've found myself strap away from that. And that's the skill that got me to where I am. And then I just become another generic middle manager in recruitment. And that doesn't. [00:23:00] Who's gonna hire me if, or I can't really set up on my own? No. As a generic middle manager. So for me, my skill was always be a really good recruiter first, and I'll never be short of a job.
And, anyone would hire me as a recruiter, a standalone, or I could set my own business.
Dualta Doherty: I know it's kinda been left out to pasture, isn't it? I think like a lot about what I do all day and. I've been asked a few times recently what are you up to? And I'm like I just wanna create things for recruitment founders to buy with people, systems, events.
Yeah. Whatever it is. And I just wanna continue to do that, but the only way I can continue to do that is to speak to the best nets, the best founders, and the best recruiters. And I don't do anything else outside of that. Yeah. I'd be afraid to lose that piece because then you don't know what the problems
Stuart Mitchell: are.
Yeah, exactly. And you, the second you stop talking to your market, and I've seen this like managers who haven't been on the tour for five, 10 years and it's, [00:24:00] you're telling me how to do something or suggesting that I do something this way. But you're wrong. Like the technology has changed, the way people interact has changed, like decision making, processes changed.
We're very digital now. I think I read a report there in the next 10 years, 80% of decision makers have be millennials. So they're gonna make digital decision making processes. Not, Hey, get on the phone. Get on the phone. Get on the phone. Understand that you need to talk to people. Yeah.
But ano annoying people, like the good old fashioned days of the two thousands, like you start to piss people off now versus, actually understanding and understanding the. Your decision maker's process, which is why I always wanna stay in the game. And I get that this probably, is gonna take, is not gonna be me forever.
If this business grows to 15 plus, I either gotta hire a ceo, which is not something I'm necessarily against. Or I've gotta step away. So it's too two definitely like pretty big decisions that will come to me in the next few years that I have to be big enough to take. Cuz I think.
There's so many. I see it as, in, in some of the recruitment [00:25:00] channels and stuff like 50, a hundred people, businesses that like of get stuck in that middle of still trying to be a good biller, but also trying to make like huge strategic decisions. And there's a point where you have to drop one or the other.
And I, it's something that a decision I'm not really looking forward to, but something that I'm gonna have to make at some point. Yeah.
Dualta Doherty: The search firm owners never do and they're happy. Yeah. So the, , I don't know. It definitely does change. I need variety, so yeah, like right now I'm working on something and I'm putting a few pieces together and my day is pretty free.
I'll do this, I'll speak, I've got three decent candidates that I spoke to on Friday that I'm excited about, and my team will present them out and make all that happen and people give me calls and it all, that stuff's fun and it's interesting and there, there's always something else and something different to do.
But if I was to have to do middle management, run a p and l all day, I'd walk in front of traffic.
Stuart Mitchell: I'll be holding your hand[00:26:00]
Dualta Doherty: Two for one, two for one. I know, but when you have to do it to get to a structure, like it's, of course it is. You you went out you went out on your own. Did you vent many potential business partners that you were thinking about, or was that a big decision? And before you go into that, what was the day you decided to settle up?
Stuart Mitchell: Good question. I think a lot of people knew I would do this before I actually knew myself. Something you mentioned to me years back surely your, this is happening to you. I remember you mentioning it obviously you're gonna do this and even people I've worked with, like, when are you doing this?
Clients like, thought it was your business, et cetera. So
Dualta Doherty: I only thought it because you were into it like a Yes. Yeah. So there's that obsessive compulsive thing where I'm like, nobody's gonna be able to control that.
Stuart Mitchell: Yeah. And I, on top of that, I know. . I'm not an easy person to manage cuz I am obsessive and I have, and I do have a, I will never say yes because, just because, right?
Like I need to know why. So I think, there were certain things that I [00:27:00] saw from a pattern of, I got. I got through all the promotions that I could and I still couldn't really influence that change. So towards the start of last year, I had those conversations internally of Hey I feels that this might be coming.
I wanna air this and see if I'm not just thinking this. And I think, reach that eventuality that, towards the start of last year is when I thought about it. I then put things on pause. So I wanted to have my kid in April, and so that was a priority. And then, As soon as I got back I knew that my heart wasn't really in, in working for a business.
And so made that decision had plenty of interest from an investment standpoint, had plenty of interest, started to vet potential like true partners to come with me. And. Decided that, I used one of the shops to help me set up from a platform perspective and was super useful, but I really wanted to do this my own way.
And so I wanted to be, I wanted to own the full stake of the business, drive it myself. And I was fairly adamant on that. And then, from an investment standpoint, I was fairly careful, careful [00:28:00] around money for the last couple of years so that I could not pay myself for six months a year.
Sold my Porsche was fairly smart around how I wanted to do this cuz I didn't want to just get out there and make dumb decisions, try and get invoices in really quickly. I wanted to be really process driven about this. But yeah, took some time off. August ju I left at the end of July.
I started mid-September, so I took six weeks out. Proba, retrospectively I probably should have taken. A bit longer. But I miss a game, right? You know me, I'm obsessed like I wanna do this. , and six weeks on my hands, I was getting a bit bored. Kicked things off mid-September. Made my first hire in November.
And those first eight weeks of miserable, I was so lonely. I didn't realize I was. It's gonna be quite that difficult. It's tough because those it's really, not being, and particularly my wife doesn't work, I left a really comfortable situation. So if I've had a bad day, I definitely can't go to her cuz she's gonna panic and worry about the scenario.
For me it was a case of having somebody on board that I can have these discussions with when things don't go great was amazing. But now could not be, [00:29:00] wish I did it sooner. That's what I said to everybody. I wish I did it sooner. Yeah really grateful that I made that decision.
Good stuff.
Dualta Doherty: When are you buying back to
Stuart Mitchell: Porsche? So I couldn't I had to have a think about when I'm gonna get myself a new car. And what triggers I could, I, we've had a good month and I could not hire somebody in Q Q2 and go and buy it then. I've decided to be pragmatic and choose a person.
I'm looking at the Audi qa, rs as my next toy. I would imagine, look, if we carry on like we are summer I, I didn't, I probably didn't even need to sell it. We got off a little bit faster than than I thought, but I just wanted. Cure my, cure, my paranoia, and have, and not have to make bad decisions.
So I miss it for sure. It was amazing. Loved every second of owning it for two and a half years, but yeah, hopefully have a new fancy toy by uh, may, June, July time.
Dualta Doherty: Lovely. Any message to anybody who's thinking of setting up by themselves or moving to America or following the journey that that you've [00:30:00] done?
Stuart Mitchell: So I'll start with move Moving to America. I think this is the, like for me it was the best decision I've ever made. Like it is like it, it'll leapfrog your career. I was a fairly mediocre villa in London for two years. I was a hundred hundred Grand. Bella had the opportunity to come to the US and my life is way further ahead than I ever thought it would.
the opportunity, the recruitment has afforded me. The cities I've lived in New York, Los Angeles, spent a year in San Diego loved every moment of it. And so anyone who's thinking about it, I also know people that have come here for two years, three years, five years, and just had the best times of their life, made more money than they thought and gone home.
Homer isn't going anywhere. But I've also seen people come here. Be part of huge, make more money than they even fathomed that they could even bill, let alone make. And ultimately do it. There's so many great options out there and
the worst case you do is go [00:31:00] home. I could never recruit in the UK again.
My wife would love for us to live in England and go do recruitment, but I just can't imagine going back to 10% rates and nobody knowing who I am. So not for me. Setting up on your own is a slightly more nuanced question. I think everyone at face value is like, yeah, go do it. But I think the first thing you have to think is okay, can I still recruit?
Cuz some people have passed that. Am I organized enough to take care and document everything I do? Particularly in the US there's a lot of like tax crap and stuff like that you have to manage. And thirdly can I. Can you deal with the level of emotional attachment to deals that you used to remember when you were a rookie in that first interview?
Like first deal, like it brings you all the way back to those raw emotions when you're a business owner, which is great, right? Because I haven't felt anything for years when I did a deal or whatever it said, great. Another deal like, but it will really drag you back to wow, like displacement or you have a dropout, like when it's like 30, 50, 70 grand and it's your money.
Yeah. Like bang, like it hits. [00:32:00] So you gotta be ready. Back to the level of emotional attachment that it was like your first week on the sales floor when you got a contractor at Fargo. Yeah.
Dualta Doherty: Oh man. Look. Good advice there. Look, Stuart, will you come back on when you've got 10 people? Yeah. Deal.
All right, Dom. Thanks so much for coming back on. Really appreciate it. Best of luck for the future. Sure do. Great.
Stuart Mitchell: Appreciate it. Good fun. Thanks for having me.
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