Going once, going twice…
These days, you can buy just about anything you want on the Internet. From expensive baubles to cars to an iced cookie shaped like a praying Jesus, whatever your heart desires is just a few clicks away.
Thinking about starting a staffing company but don’t want the hassle of growing your own business or hiring staff? No problem – you can get that online too.
For a cool $2 million, you can buy your very own staffing agency, complete with 8 full-time employees, $400K+ in inventory, and offices based in Reno, Nevada.
The company, which claims to be a specialized agency with both a retail and workforce division that complement each other, kept its name anonymous on BizQuest.com but listed its gross revenue at $3,269,000 – not an eye popping number, but nothing to scoff at.
Apparently the business of auctioning off HR and staffing businesses online is alive and well.
A quick search on BusinessBroker.net netted 131 staffing companies for sale. Everything from IT to healthcare to clerical staffing was represented in the results, including one agency franchise resale that claimed to be over 25 years old and have 600 offices all over the world.
These companies don’t come cheap. Building a book of business and establishing a reputation takes years of blood, sweat, and tears, and that’s reflected in the asking price.
Many companies listed were asking for upwards of $13 – $50 million for their assets.
But agencies aren’t the only staffing entities looking to unload their properties online.
Historically the business of buying and selling properties in the HR space has been extremely lucrative.
Anyone who is in the market for a job board, an ATS, or a social network for staffing professionals can look to eBay or other auction sites for prospective properties.
So what does an individual in the market for a job board look for when considering his next big purchase?
Niche job sites exchange hands the most, probably because they’re relatively inexpensive to snap up and can result in decent returns.
First, buyers scrutinize the influx of visitors. Quality organic traffic and a high number of unique views are a good indicator of the popularity of a site.
Then they take into account how much total revenue the sites generate, between postings, backfill revenue (or when you use other job boards to pre-populate your own), and ads.
Buyers also look at SEO rankings, or where the site shows up in search results (the higher the better), and if there is a job seeker community attached to the site.
The value of these staffing properties, including the agency above, is not just measured by its revenue, but also its potential. Where has it been and where can it been a year from now?
If you’re a buyer, what do you look for when you’re in the market? Would you be comfortable buying a business online?
