How a Recruitment Firm Owner Attained Billings of $1.2M While Growing a Team, with Darwin Shurig, Ep #156

Dec 15, 2022

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If you’ve ever tried to grow a recruitment firm, you understand the crazy balancing act of being an effective billing manager. It’s extremely challenging to hire, train and manage a team while at the same time maintaining your personal production.

That’s why I’m especially excited to share this interview with Darwin Shurig.

In addition to building a team of 11 people, Darwin is personally responsible for over $1.2M million in 2022. Darwin founded Shurig Solutions Inc. in 2015; based in Plainfield, Indiana, specializing in recruiting regulatory affairs, quality and engineering talent for the medical device and pharma industries.

Darwin was listed as an MRI Top 10 Managing Partner for 2020 and is the number 2 cash biller for revenue as a franchise owner within the MRI Network in 2022. Prior to joining the recruitment industry, Darwin has a clinical background of over 20 years of sales, operations and management within medical devices, diagnostics, medical distribution, and sleep therapy.

Episode Outline and Highlights

[04:48] Joining the recruiting game - what motivated Darwin to join the industry after 20 years of medical device distribution experience?
[12:06] What is your WHY? Darwin explains the purpose that drives him.
[15:11] Enormous success in a short period of time - critical success factors.
[25:20] Darwin describes a typical day when he first started his business.
[26:55] The value of content marketing when scaling a recruitment business.
[31:00] Focusing on your DIG - discipline, industry, and geography.
[34:14] The benefit of hosting webinars for your industry.
[44:06] What is the expert interview strategy?
[49:10] Darwin shares the most significant challenges he faced when growing his business.

How Darwin Achieved Consistent Growth in 7 Years

Never in a million years did Darwin imagine he would eventually become a recruiter. He joined the industry relatively late in his career - after 20 years experience in sales, management and operations roles in the medical device industry.

Darwin’s success in recruitment is astonishing given that he only joined the recruitment industry 7 years ago. Since 2015, he has incrementally increased his firm’s billings to $2.2m, with Darwin personally contributing $1.2M in 2022. At the same time, he has grown a team of 11 people.

I asked Darwin what he considers his success factors. Below is the recap of what he shared:

Utilizing Digital Media and Automation
Bringing value to other people that is not tied to revenue.
Focus on your own skillset and what you can control - Attitude, Effort, and Focus.
Clarity on your identity and sharing your value proposition.

The Importance of Adding Value to the Industry You Serve

Darwin mentioned one of the challenges in approach when joining the recruitment world is whether he wanted to be a generalist or a serious subject matter expert within the industry. He obviously went for the latter which resulted in leverage to scale his business. This is how he puts it:

“I think that is so important - you should never make decisions solely on money… You are bringing value to many people and I think that the Pinnacle Society is a great example of this… It is about what you can bring to the table and the value that you bring.”

Darwin shared how he started the SSI Educational Webinar Series as a way to add value to his ecosystem.

Our Sponsors

This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro and Recruitment Entrepreneur.

i-intro® is an end-to-end retained recruitment platform. Their technology and methodology allow recruiters to differentiate themselves from the competition, win more retained business, bigger fees and increase their billings. Their software combined with world-class training enables you to transition from transactional, contingency recruiter to consultative, retained recruiter. Instead of being perceived as a “me too” vendor, you’ll be positioned as a “me only” solutions provider. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter. Book your free, no-obligation consultation here: www.recruitmentcoach.com/retained

Recruitment Entrepreneur is the world’s leading Private Equity firm specializing in the international recruitment industry. If you’ve dreamed of starting, scaling and selling your recruitment business, this is your chance. James Caan and his team at Recruitment Entrepreneur are actively seeking ambitious recruiters who they can invest in. They provide everything you need to grow a successful recruitment business including: funding, financial expertise, coaching and mentoring, operational strategy, backoffice support, marketing and talent attraction solutions. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter. Start a conversation here: https://www.recruitmentcoach.com/vc

Darwin Shurig Bio and Contact Info

Darwin understands the key qualities that companies look for in candidates to grow market share while enhancing their positive culture and team environment. He has a clinical background of over 20 years, including 15 years of sales experience within: medical devices, diagnostics, medical distribution, and sleep therapy; 8 years in sales management success; 3 years in operations; and extensive experience in negotiations and business development before starting SSI. He founded Shurig Solutions, Inc. in 2015; Darwin is responsible for business development, contracting, marketing, and recruiting strategy, personally responsible for over $3.8 Million in revenue generation, created the SSI Educational Webinar series, created the “Candidate Experience- Best Practices Prep”, is a conference presenter for Talent Management Best Practices, a member of the esteemed Pinnacle Society, and leads the SSI team in daily marketing, BD and recruiting activities. Darwin was recently highlighted in the Creative Classics book “The American Entrepreneur” published in 2020, was listed as an MRI Top 10 Managing Partner for 2020, and is the number 2 cash biller for revenue as a franchise owner within the MRI Network in 2022. When Darwin is not in the office, Darwin loves sports, music, nature, charity, traveling, and spending time with his 3 children and wife, Jamie. He additionally has a serious addiction to anything with Peanut Butter!

Darwin on LinkedIn
Shurig Solutions Inc. website link
Shurig Solutions Inc. on YouTube
Shurig Solutions Inc. on Facebook

People and Resources Mentioned

Wes Ashworth on LinkedIn
Sharon Hulce on LinkedIn
Cathy Stewart on LinkedIn
Joe Mullings on LinkedIn
The Pinnacle Society website link

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