“If the business is so good, why not do it yourself?”

April 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Brian Calsyn

Brian Calsyn
(how he sees himself, anyway.)

When I was in the business of providing training, software and support services to would be recruiting company owners, that was a tough one to get past. Not that I didn’t have a response, and of course it was true:

We’ve made the decision, with our model, to be the “pick and ax” folks and make a small amount of money on a large number of transactions.

Even though it was accurate, typically you felt that it just didn’t satisfy the instigator of the objection. Those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach.

That question has always resonated with me. “Why don’t you just start an executive search firm yourself, and chuck all the hassle and headache of training new operators?”

I have been helping people start and grow their own businesses for the past 15 years and recently have figured out (I’m slow) that I am ready to move on.

Oh, the irony in going from wholesale to retail. I built a company training people to start healthcare recruiting businesses and now I’m doing precisely what my company used to train people how to do – starting a healthcare search firm.

What prompted the switch?

A couple things, really. One, I’ve always been attracted to high-level searches. I have worked CFO and CIO positions, but not on an ongoing basis. However, I know more than a few of the studs that fill $300-$500k positions and I have always respected them, envied them and felt like I fit in.

Two,  I have been working with people I put in business years ago, who now have vibrant companies doing millions of dollars in annual business. Their daily interactions are with business people as they solve business and career problems. Coming from a recent history of continuously training new operators and being committed to supporting them, no matter what, that is pretty appealing. If they don’t think a recruiter is working out, they can say, “have a nice day,” and move on. I can’t, couldn’t, I should say.

In the past 15 years I have had a variety of high-growth business ventures around the recruiting industry. From investing in pending personal injury claims, generating sales leads with research software, or establishing offices in healthcare recruiting, I have had some unique businesses.

They have all had a “non-franchise” growth model though, recruiting start-up operators that pay for training and deliverables and then become a sort of independent sales force. Problem is, you can’t fire them because they paid good money to get involved. I have lived with the “walk away” my entire career and now I am looking forward to having that option with my recruiters.

I’m not just hanging out my shingle and going solo. I’m starting a “super” search firm with recruiters, sourcers and researchers that I will manage personally, from one location. I have found one specific medical niche, along with a hospital executive niche, that I think will grow like crazy for the next few years. It’s all due to the ACA (Affordable Care Act) that will finally be implemented on January, 1, 2014.

As my friends and family know, I’m an entrepreneur by necessity. I made some bad decisions when I was in my early 20s and got caught with drugs. It put a black mark on my resume that ruled out typical corporate employment. I am definitely a hunter. Every position I have had for more than 20 years was either my own business or a partnership with a company that was familiar with me and my capabilities. Commission sales and business ownership has always been my only path toward significant income.

You can read more on my background at my LinkedIn page but the short of it is that I have had companies that have done millions of dollars in annual revenue, and profit, I have also funded bombs that never got out of the starting gates. Here are some highlights:

  • Co-founded the first litigation finance company and took it national with 400 sophisticated investors and a network of attorneys reviewing cases
  • Invented a personal injury claim settlement website that let claimants settle their own claim without an attorney
  • Built a $2-3 million per year company furnishing training and software to 1000 recruiting firms
  • Founded and grew a healthcare recruiting network to 700 members and $9 million per year in annual revenue before litigation killed it

I have put over 2,000 people into their own businesses in the past fifteen years. I have had the good fortune of getting to know a large number of awesome, high-integrity, genuine people and watching them build great businesses. Unfortunately, as with any sales oriented venture, there are other types of people too.

You have self-starters and go-getters, you also have needy folks, negative people, as well as those that are clueless or never satisfied. And yes, some percentage either don’t do the work necessary or don’t have the aptitude for it and fail. Unfortunately, a portion of those that fail will also seek to blame someone, with the easiest target being the company/person that got them into the business. Then you get complaining, whining and worst of all – attorneys.

With all the potential in healthcare search, who needs it?

Not me, not anymore anyway.

I have helped a lot of people build six and seven figure businesses. In the last year I have been working with two of them that have seven figure healthcare recruiting businesses. I have taken somewhat of a shellacking financially in recent years and in the process of building things back up I have been working an active recruiting desk with them.

What that means is that I contact hospitals, physician groups, and medical companies to determine if they have personnel needs they can’t handle on their own. When they do, I contract with them for search services. In other words, I enter into retained or contingency search agreements where they agree to pay me $20,000 to $40,000 if I recruit a candidate for them that they eventually hire.

Once a contract is in place I start canvassing, selling and screening candidates before submitting them to my client. After submitting the candidate, I seek to manage and control the interview process to affect a positive outcome, the hiring of my candidate and payment of my search fee.

Typically, it’s not so much that a company can’t find applicants. They usually can. It’s more a matter that they can’t find the right candidates, with the right experience and skills. Here’s an example:

I have a client (employer) looking for a physician in a particular specialty (that I intentionally will not disclose) to cover three locations and help grow the practice. Two year track to partner with $300,000 annual guarantee for first two years and a friendly partner buy in. They had six applicants, most of them straight out of their fellowship, the others low quality docs. But that’s not what they want. The client wants a stud who has built a practice, managed mid-level providers and can develop new business. That guy/gal has to be recruited away from what they are currently doing. My candidate has a successful practice, wasn’t looking when I called him, but is willing to listen because he would like to be part of something bigger. Finding that person, unearthing them, is the value of a true headhunter. The best candidates are already in positions, but have issues with their compensation, their partners, their location, etc. The only way to find them is with aggressive sales effort.

Over the last year, working exclusively with commission salespeople, healthcare executives, doctors, and others looking for solutions to their business problems, has been incredible. First, search is a fun business for a “hunter.” I dig it and I’m good at it. Even more though, I am working today with decision makers and producers, straight shooters that want more growth, more income, more control, and they view me as a professional conduit to get it. They have a problem, I have the solution. No complaining, no whining. They use me, or they don’t. They want the job, or they don’t.

At the same time, a big shift has occurred in key areas of healthcare that has really gotten my attention. It relates to the Affordable Care Act, which takes effect January 1st, 2014. As you might imagine, the healthcare world is scrambling, placing their bets on what next year will look like and who they will need on their team. I have identified a handful of medical specialties and healthcare executive roles that are seeing tremendous growth pressure right now. These areas will continue to expand over the next two years, while even others will develop.

I can make a pretty good living just doing this on my own. However, I am looking to do more, much more. I am determined to build a multi-million dollar search firm with commission salespeople I manage myself. Problem is, doing it from scratch and slowly, over time, expanding with commission based recruiters will take too long, three to four years by my estimate.

With the right help I can reach the same levels in one year, and that is where you might just come in. If you have read this far, maybe you recognize the growth and change occurring in healthcare. If you also would like to capitalize on that recognition with a nice financial return, but would like “passive,” behind the scenes, involvement, I may have something for you to review.

To learn more, submit my confidentiality agreement and I will send you my business summary and brief you on what I’m doing. If you have questions or want to talk immediately, call me right now at 314-753-0369 (anytime).

I’m excited with this new venture.

Sincerely,

Brian Calsyn Signature

 

 

Brian Calsyn

 

Filed Under: Brian Calsyn, Uncategorized Tagged With:

Johnny Cash

February 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Johnny cash nixonNo, I don’t have this date, Johnny Cash’s birthday, circled on my calendar with a special alert. However, I am a Johnny Cash fan and always have been.

My grandmother was only into the “gospel” side of Johnny Cash. Still, Johnny and June Carter Cash records, the Oak Ridge Boys (God love her) and of course the gospel according to Elvis were all over the farm house. When I was 7 to 10 years old, I started to recognize them and since there was nothing else to do there besides throw rocks at cans and hammer nails into stuff, I listened. Wasn’t impressed, but I listened.

I know you are appreciating the fact that I did not link to a video of Cash doing gospel, and you are welcome.

Never got into the Oak Ridge Boys, but when I hit those teen years and found out that “Johnny” was an outlaw, a hooligan, a sinner. I began to look at him in a favorable light. I read a Reader’s Digest article on his troubles with amphetamines  drinking and the law, and I remember thinking that old people couldn’t be hellraisers.

Of course, I was thinking of him as old, because by then 1980s, he was. Anyway, I think he was always trouble, from the very beginning and that’s what I liked about him. Check out the sarcasm in his impersonation of skinny elvis:

Anyway, there is an attraction to the “fallen angel makes good story.” Yes, I also thought Folsom Prison Blues was the coolest album, but once I saw the movie, Walk the Line, I had a new appreciation for Johnny Cash, and even more, June Carter. I had no idea as to the personal struggles Johnny Cash had gone through, and the extend of his downward spiral.

However, it was June Carter that impressed. I know that Reese Witherspoon is an actress and you can’t take the dramatization 100%, but the patience and the toughness she displayed was special.

As for cash, the description of why he wore black says a lot:

I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It’s still my symbol of rebellion – against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others’ ideas.

Would the White Stripes still happened? Yes, probably. Were they influenced by Johnny, you bet. What do they have to do with this rant? Nothing, but it’s never a bad idea to include a White Stripes live video, like Ball and a Biscuit:

Filed Under: Brian Calsyn

Yarn Bombing with Christine Calsyn

August 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Yarn Bombing of Christine Calsyn on a Drinking Fountian

Yarn Bombing of Christine Calsyn on a Drinking Fountian

My lovely wife has always been a creative inspiration to me. She has more creativity in her “throw-away” thoughts than I do in my greatest epiphanies.

But when Christine showed me her most recent work of art, I really didn’t know what to make of it.

I’ll be honest. After seeing her make “real” art with oil, charcoal, glass and wood, the knitting caught me off guard. In addition, my possessive nature wanted to “own” the art. Leaving it to the elements in a public park seem, well, crazy.

As it soaked in I again was blown away by my better half and her artistic nature.

Turns out, she is not alone. There are others and they are determined to warm up the cold, lonely parts of our surroundings. It’s called “Yarnbombing” and Wikipedia defines it this way:

Yarn bombing, yarnbombing, graffiti knitting or yarnstorming is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth rather than paint or chalk. While yarn installations – called yarn bombs or knit bombs – may last for years, they are considered non-permanent, and, unlike graffiti, can be easily removed if necessary. The practice is believed to have originated in the U.S. with Texas knitters trying to find a creative way to use their leftover and unfinished knitting projects, but it has since spread worldwide.

Due to the nonpermanent nature of yarnbombing there are some suggestions that seasoned yarnbombing and knitting activistsmake for your work.

YarnBombing by Christine Calsyn on water fountain

Yarnbomber and her art

  1. Have fun!  Since it is a form of grafitti, you may choose to do your yarbombing undercover.  Think Ninja knitting….. Many have tagged before you in masks, ski caps, costumes. You may choose to do the same or rather by cover of night or early morning. There are others of us who are happy to tag in public.  Either way, have fun.
  2. Take an alias……If you choose to be an anonymous yarnbomber.
  3. Leave a note.  Do you have a message for those that find your art work?  Do you want to lead them to the online gallery where all the work will be displayed?  Maybe there’s another fiber artist out there that wants to join our ranks.  Feel free to attach a note.  I suggest having it laminated to protect it from the rain.
  4. Take a picture.  There is no way to guarantee that your work will not be removed.  Take a picture that day or come back the next to photograph your work.  You can download your photos to our Facebook page (Rebel Yarns), blog (rebelyarns.wordpress.com) or online gallery (http://www.galleryandstudio.org/).  Many of these pictures will be used in our final gallery exhibit.
  5. Drop off swatches.  Any size, any color, any shape. There will be a box located at the Framing Mill where you can continue to drop off swatches until the spring.  We will sew these together for our final yarnbombing project, an installation artpiece for the G.A.S. Gallery.
  6. Spread the word.  Tell your friends & family, start a knitting circle, teach your kids , their classroom, their scout troop.  Yarnbomb alone, in a group, as a neighborhood.  The more tags there are the more fun we’re having, the more our community has to look at.  Post to MOL, keep up with the Facebook page and blog.  Start a yarn swap.  Be creative.  Look around your neighborhood, what needs more color, a greater sense of humor, a touch of beauty, a simple statement.

Suggested websites for yarnbombing inspiration and information

http://www.yarnbombing.com/

http://www.identityschool.org/

http://www.magdasayeg.com/knitta_please_gallery.html

http://www.ladiesfancyworksociety.com/

http://knitthecity.com/

http://www.microrevolt.org/knitPro.htm – allows you to upload any graphic to a web application, which will automatically turn your picture into a chart suitable for knit, crochet, or external application.

Filed Under: Yarn Bombing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pink Slime

March 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Pink SlimeA friend tells me of seeing a Taco Bell worker years ago carrying out trash. One of the boxes said, “USDA Grade F” and below that it clearly said, “EDIBLE.”

How’s that for good eats?

Taco Hell has long been accused of deep fat frying their hoof and snout parts to tenderize. Hasn’t kept me away from a crunchy taco once and awhile. Pretty ingenious if you ask me.

Now “Pink slime” is getting headlines. It’s a food additive made up of the unwanted parts of a cow after processing. The spare beef trimmings are treated with ammonium hydroxide (sounds bad) to kill off E. coli, salmonella and any other living organisms (bacteria).

While food manufacturers have been doing this type of thing for a long time, the catchy name and pictures like this are getting web and media play.

Last month McDonald’s decided to cease using the additive in its hamburgers.  It was reported this decision came after prodding by TV chef Jamie Oliver. On his “Food Revolution,” the disgusted food activist says the additive is made of “all of the bits that no one wants.”

Duh. That’s kind of the point of food manufacturing, sell as much of the extra stuff as possible. Throughout history smart business people have looked for products they can create with by-product. Milk, cheese and butter are a few of them.

Bitch about it all you want, it is your choice. Alcohol, drugs, tobacco, red dye additives.

Isn’t this always the argument used? Problem is when you don’t know what’s in it. That was the beef (sorry) with the tobacco industry. They knew if killed people and didn’t share it, as a matter of fact they put addictive agents into the tobacco.

Today everybody knows that tobacco kills. It wasn’t that long ago that conventional wisdom, especially among the ignorant, had doubts.

We’re slowly figuring out that meat kills and chemical food additives kill. The food manufacturing industry isn’t going to volunteer it. Confrontation and refusal to partake in the scam is the only way we are going to avoid this poison.

News outlets reported last week that the USDA has determined the additive is safe to eat. The department is so satisfied with the stuff that it plans to buy 7 million pounds of ground beef containing “pink slime” in coming months for the national school lunch program.  Understandably, this has created a whole new stink.

The same group sticks by the Taco Bell menu and Twinkies. They never did anything to stop McDonalds from killing people, activists did.

As reported in LA Times:

Texas mom Bettina Siegel has a petition going at Change.org to get the additive out of school lunches.

An ABC News report on Wednesday stirred up more anti-pink-slime sentiment. ABC cited a former U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist in saying that 70% of supermarket ground beef contained the additive.

Meanwhile, over at the Cattle Network, American Meat Institute President J. Patrick Boyle  defended the process as well as the product in an article Thursday, saying the “lean beef trimmings” were “absolutely edible” and that using them ensured that “lean, nutritious, safe beef” did not go to waste.

Boyle goes on to say that media reports create an inaccurate picture.  An opinion piece on the site refers to “pink slime” as a “headline writer’s dream.”

It would indeed seem great fodder for a snarky British tabloid headline, considering that in the United Kingdom lean beef trimmings are banned for human consumption.

Brian Calsyn

Filed Under: Brian Calsyn, Health Tagged With: ,

Peyton Manning Kicked Out

March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If Peyton Manning isn’t safe, who is?

Peyton ManningOver the past 14 years Peyton Manning was arguably been the most effective quarterback in professional football. With 399 touchdowns, routine post-season appearances, two superbowls, one fat ring with a lot of rocks and numerous records, he has put Indianapolis on the NFL map.

So what?

Fact is, Peyton Manning has had three neck surgeries and sat out the entire season last year. There is no way of knowing if he will ever be the same, or even if he will ever play again.

Indianapolis Colts ownership doesn’t want to risk $26 million on a question mark and who can blame them.

As an aside, I always find it interesting that professional sports fans love to spend someone else’s millions.

“Just pay Peyton what he has coming, he deserves it.”

This is $26 million. People get jacked in East St. Louis for $50. If a company is going to be sold for $5 million there would be an audit and attorneys everywhere.

I want to be clear, I have the deepest admiration for Peyton Manning. He is a stud’s stud. I was sold when he chose to stay his senior year at Tennessee even though he was highly touted as a #1 pick in the draft.

In business (yes Virginia, football is a business), it has to be “What have you done for me lately?” It sounds cold and it is, but that is how employers work, and it’s really how candidates should work too.

Not everybody has $26 million in the balance, but if you are staying in a job for sentimental reasons, you are a sucker.

Conversely, if your business is making retention decisions based on previous performance, while ignoring current production, that is just one pebble in the container marked, “you are going to fail.”

Brian Calsyn is a sales, recruiting and marketing professional who has never been paid a dime to play a sport.

Filed Under: Brian Calsyn Tagged With: , , ,

Brian Calsyn’s Observations

March 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Anyone else feel a different vibe in the air today? Anyone else feel like the end is near?

Not the end of the world, silly. The end of the sucky downtrodden days where nobody (people or companies) want to spend anything.

I’m feeling a new kind of love today. I call it the, “how can you help me make money” love.

People (and thus businesses) want to make some money. We all seem to be crawling, one by one, out of the shelter and walking freely in the light of day. The masses are no longer worried that the sky is falling, now they want a new car.

Whether the shelter collapsed under the pressure of the enemies onslaught, or held up just fine given the attack, we originally came out to scrummage for the things we need to survive. I think most of us have already moved past this point and now want to rebuild, grow our sales, increase our cushion.

We’ve sacrificed for a long time, gone without, fixed it instead of buying new. We are all deserving of a little frivolous spending, aren’t we. Of course, you have to have it to spend it, and for many it will take some risk-taking to get there.

Revision: It always takes some risk taking to get there.

Not everybody is out. I also know that new survivors are walking out into the light every day. They are hungry, some are pissed, but most are thankful.

The consensus seems clear: No more doom and gloom, let’s get to work and rebuild this thing.

Whether it is my healthcare clients that are picking up the pace, even more (they never went south, they just slowed) or manufacturing clients that are going crazy, people have business to do, things to sell, workers to hire.

They’re quiet about it too. When private companies are kicking ass they never tell anyone. Ask them how they are doing and you’ll get a short, “we’re good.”

In down times ask the same question and you’ll get an emphatic sales pitch on how incredible they are doing.

Are we tipping with hundreds quite yet? No.

Do we feel better about dining out in the first place? Yes.

Filed Under: Brian Calsyn Tagged With: , , , ,