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AFTER building his own labour hire company, Labour Solutions Australia owner Andrew Northcott is now focused on creating entrepreneurs through a recruitment franchise model.
The original blue-collar labour hire business continues to grow with 530 staff, but with white-collar LSA Recruitment in full swing, Northcott expects total revenue of $32 million this financial year.
Both companies fall under the LSA Recruitment Group banner.
“It’s built on an owner-operator model – we get the top recruiters from around the country, who are sick of working for employers that are KPI-driven, they can use their expertise out on their own but as part of LSA Recruitment,” he says.
“It’s certainly something no one else is offering, that they can leverage off a national presence and the great processes and technological practices we have.
“To see people become entrepreneurs in their own right, that’s something great for me, to see them make that transition to being business owners.”
Northcott made the transition himself at 21 with $800 in the bank by contracting himself out to do landscaping jobs.
“I think with that naivety, not knowing what you don’t know, the business journey is about learning as a business and a person throughout. My attitude has changed and now I have a more measured approach,” he says.
“Certainly it’s not without having some of those innate characteristics of being an entrepreneur, they’re elements you never want to lose, but I operate at a more strategic level.
“I lead a simplistic life and I don’t get too caught up in some of the other aspects of business life – (money) it’s not relevant really, I just want to see the business grow.”
He attributes the company’s growth to labour market conditions and the company’s ability to prepare for the future.
“(Growth) It’s mostly due to businesses wanting to have a millionflexible and reliable outsourced workforce, given the industrial relations environment and the macroeconomic environment,” he says.
“We’ve had a strategic outlook and a very measured approach. The business has been established for six years now and we’ve learned from the mistakes of the early days.”
For a full profile list on Brisbane’s 2010 Young Entrepreneurs, including interviews with all of the finalists, get a copy of the special annual edition of Brisbane Business News – out now in more than 500 greater Brisbane newsagents.
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