What was one of my biggest challenges in the first year of setting up Hyper Recruitment Solutions? Suppliers.

When setting up Hyper Recruitment Solutions (HRS) I was fortunate enough to do so off the back of BBC1’s The Apprentice, which provided a £250k cash injection and business partner in Lord Alan Sugar. As fantastic as this was, it did not mean things would be plain sailing and actually made some parts of my set-up, which I assumed would be simple, a big challenge.

What the programme did for HRS was tell people who we were. While it was great to give us a boost, it also let every supplier in the country know that I had a pot of money to spend. What a brilliant lead. Recruiters would follow up on such a lead without hesitation. And this is exactly what happened. Every channel people could use to get in touch with me got extremely busy (and continues to be so). 

I had never quite appreciated the true volume of options available and the ways people would find to try and sell to me. Some might say that this saved me from having to do my own research. A fair point, but when each supplier assumes that I am going to spend all my investment on their services alone, and they can inflate their prices to reflect this, I would say not. 

Other suppliers offered to provide services for free in return for an extensive PR campaign, using Lord Sugar’s profile and my five minutes in the spotlight. Getting something for nothing may sound great but we’re all smart enough to know there’s no such thing as a free lunch. 

A big dilemma I had was finding suppliers I could trust, those who were going to create a real partnership with my company and therefore those worth spending money on. I may have had a fair amount to invest but when you factor in creating a complete commercial infrastructure from scratch, to enable us to compete with the big names already in my market space, you can pretty much write that figure off. 

So when selecting suppliers, I did what I always look for my customers to do with HRS — understand their full offering and the value it can bring, how it differs from their competitors and lastly the price. My method of selecting suppliers was to judge them initially on the first three points mentioned, shortlist on these and then finalise on cost. This value-focused buying, instead of cost-based, would ensure I got the service and relationship I needed first and foremost. 

The right businesses can really enhance your service offerings, and you can make some excellent strategic relationships. As much as I have enjoyed finalising my key suppliers, the journey in getting there was a lot tougher then I ever imagined. 

So the main advice I would give is: take your time, thoroughly research your options, ask for case studies on satisfied customers and don’t be shy to network with other business owners or suppliers. And never forget: there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Ricky Martin is managing director and founder of Hyper Recruitment Solutions. Find out more at www.hyperec.com or @Hyperec_HRS on Twitter