AISS › The Desk

How to Start a Solo Recruiting Desk

Going solo fails on one thing more than any other: the BD stops the moment you get busy.

Starting a solo recruiting desk comes down to picking a niche you can own, building a daily rhythm that keeps business development running even when you get busy, and systematizing the admin before it drowns you. The recruiters who make it independent are not the best sourcers, they are the ones who never let their pipeline run dry, because they treat BD as a non-negotiable daily habit rather than something they do when work is slow.

Who this is for

Recruiters going independentFirst-time firm foundersCorporate recruiters going agency

Why recruiters run with AISS

What a new solo desk has to get right

What to take away

Frequently asked questions

What kills most new solo desks?

Feast-and-famine billing caused by BD stopping the moment a placement gets busy. The fix is treating business development as a protected daily habit that never pauses.

Do I need a niche to start?

A defined niche is the fastest path to being known and referred. You can broaden later, but starting narrow gets you traction and word of mouth sooner.

Who built this

Lee Fossey, Founder of AISS
Lee Fossey
Founder, AISS · 30 years in executive search

Lee Fossey has spent nearly thirty years in executive search and talent acquisition, running business development, building desks, and billing at the top of the market. AISS is the system he built to run his own desk: the BD, sourcing, sequencing, and follow-up handled by an engine in his own voice, so his hours go to the conversations that actually close. He would rather show you the desk working than sell you on it.

See AISS →

Want the whole system?

Build a Million-Dollar Desk is the complete operating system behind a seven-figure desk: the rules, the day, the number, the plays, and your first 90 days. Not motivation. A method you can run Monday.

See the Million-Dollar DeskRequest early access to AISS
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