Today, I want to share something that happened recently that completely changed how I think about our business—and it might just transform how you think about yours, too.

So, I’ve just moved house. And if you’ve ever moved, you know it’s chaos, right? Boxes everywhere, trying to find the kettle, wondering where you packed your phone charger… But, moving forced me to do something I hadn’t done properly in months, maybe even a year: I stopped.

Not by choice, really. I had to stop. And at that stop, something fascinating happened. I started seeing our business differently. I began noticing patterns I’d been too busy to spot. I realised I’d been so caught up in the day-to-day that I’d stopped asking myself the most important question: “Is what I’m doing actually working?”

Here’s the irony – and I’m smiling as I say this – we help recruitment businesses with their marketing strategy. We’re always telling our clients to take time to plan, review, step back, and look at the big picture. But was I doing that myself? Not really.

So today, I want to discuss the power of taking a break—a real strategic pause. What if I told you that the fastest way to grow your recruitment business might be to stop and think? Let’s dive in.

The Recruitment Hamster Wheel

Let me paint you a picture. I bet it sounds familiar.

You wake up and check your emails before getting out of bed. What if there’s a hot vacancy? You get to your desk, and your day explodes. There’s the client who needs someone yesterday. There’s the candidate who’s just received a counteroffer. There’s the interview feedback you need to chase. The LinkedIn messages. The job ads that need writing. The screening calls. The candidate who ghosted. The client who has suddenly changed the brief.

And then… you blink, and it’s 6 pm. You’ve been busy all day – you’ve barely had time for lunch – but when you sit back and think, “What did I actually achieve today?” sometimes the answer is… not as much as you’d hoped.

This is what I call the Recruitment Hamster Wheel. You’re running fast, working hard, and busy, but are you moving forward?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: busy does not equal effective. In fact, I’d argue that being constantly busy can be dangerous for your business.

Why? Because when you’re stuck in the day-to-day, you miss things. You miss that your market is shifting, and the skills clients need are changing. You miss that the BD activity you’re doing every week isn’t bringing in new clients. You miss that one of your “big” clients costs you more time than they’re worth. You miss that you’re marketing to the wrong people, in the wrong way. You miss the forest because you’re staring at individual trees all day.

I was doing this, too. We work with recruitment companies worldwide—UK, Australia, US, Canada—and we’re passionate about helping them build effective marketing systems. But when my house move forced me to slow down, I realised I’d been so busy delivering for clients that I hadn’t stopped to ask what we needed to do differently.

The cost of never stepping back isn’t just missed opportunities; it’s burnout, frustration, and that feeling of working harder and harder but not really getting anywhere. Sound familiar?

What Reflection Reveals

Okay, so here’s where it gets interesting. When you take that pause and create space to reflect, you start seeing things you couldn’t see before.

Let me share what happened to me during my break.

We’ve been creating marketing content for recruitment businesses for over 17 years. We have systems, templates, and frameworks—we know what works. But during my two weeks of forced downtime, I started really looking at our own numbers.

I noticed something: We were spending a disproportionate amount of time on one particular type of marketing activity, but when I traced it back to actual results, it wasn’t delivering. Meanwhile, something else we’d been doing almost on autopilot was quietly bringing in our best clients.

How did I miss this? Because I was too busy to stop and assess.

This is the 80/20 rule in action, which applies to every recruitment business. 20% of your clients probably generate 80% of your revenue – but do you know which ones? 20% of your marketing efforts probably generate 80% of your leads – but are you focusing on those? 20% of your sectors or specialisms might be where your real competitive advantage lies – but are you positioning yourself there?

Taking a break – taking time to reflect – reveals these patterns.

When I stepped back, some questions emerged for me, and I bet they’ll resonate with you.

First, which clients are actually profitable? Not just in fees, but in your time? We all have that client who pays well but is so high-maintenance that the hourly rate is actually terrible.

Second, which marketing activities work? Are you posting on LinkedIn because it works, or because everyone says you should? Are your email campaigns generating meetings, or just sitting unread?

Third, what’s changed in your market that you’ve missed? AI is transforming recruitment. The skills candidates need are evolving. Hybrid working has changed what clients want. Have you adapted, or are you still recruiting like it’s 2019?

Fourth, where are you reacting instead of leading? Are you chasing jobs, or are clients coming to you? Are you always on the back foot, or are you seen as the expert?

During my reflection, I realised we needed to shift our focus. We’d been creating general recruitment marketing content, but what our clients really needed was more specific, more strategic, more focused support. That insight didn’t come from working harder – it came from stopping long enough to listen to what the market was telling us.

And I bet if you stopped long enough, you’d uncover insights just as valuable for your business.

Working On Versus In Your Business

Alright, let’s talk about something that might sting a little.

Most recruiters – and I say this with love, because we work with recruiters every day – most recruiters spend 100% of their time working in their business and 0% working on it.

What’s the difference?

Working in your business means taking job specs, screening candidates, making placements, chasing feedback, and filling the pipeline.

Working on your business means defining your niche and positioning, building a marketing strategy, creating systems that work without you, planning which clients to target, and asking, “Where do I want this business to be in 12 months?”

Here’s the reality: if you only work in your business, you don’t have a business—you have a job—a busy, stressful, self-employed job.

Taking a strategic break forces you to work on your business. When you step back, you can’t just keep doing the same tasks—you have to think differently.

Here are the questions that strategic breaks force you to confront.

Are my BD efforts targeting the right clients? Maybe you’re focusing on big corporates because they have many roles, but your sweet spot is growing SMEs who need a trusted partner. Maybe you’re spread too thin across sectors when you should be niching down.

Is my marketing consistent or reactive? Be honest – is your LinkedIn presence a coherent strategy, or do you post when you remember? Are you building brand awareness or just hoping referrals keep coming?

We see this all the time. Recruitment businesses will tell us, “Marketing doesn’t work for us,” but when we dig deeper, they’ve never actually done marketing. They’ve done random posting, sent a few emails, and tried LinkedIn for a week. That’s not marketing—that’s dabbling.

Am I building a business or just a job? Could your business run without you for a week? Do you have processes, systems, and a brand identity? Or is everything dependent on you personally picking up the phone?

One of our clients—let’s call him Mark—is a tech recruiter. He’s a great guy and excellent at building relationships. But when we first met him, he was working 60-hour weeks and felt like he was barely keeping up. We asked him to take a strategic Friday afternoon—just one afternoon—to map out where his revenue was actually coming from.

One client he’d been chasing for two years had given him exactly two placements. Meanwhile, a smaller client he’d almost overlooked had given him twelve. He’d been so busy “doing the work” that he’d never stopped to see which work was worth doing.

After that reflection, Mark shifted his focus. Six months later, his revenue was up 30%, and he was working fewer hours—not because he worked harder—but because he worked smarter.

That’s the power of working on your business instead of just in it.

I know what you’re thinking: “This sounds great, but I can’t just stop. I’ve got placements to make, clients to serve, a business to run!” I get it. But here’s the good news – you don’t need to move house to create strategic thinking time. Let me show you how.

How to Take a Strategic Break

Okay, let’s get practical. Because I promise you, your business won’t fall apart if you take time to think strategically. In fact, it’ll probably get stronger.

Here are three ways to build strategic breaks into your routine – no house move required.

The Quarterly CEO Day

Block out a full day – ideally away from your office – four times a year to review your business. Book it in your diary like you would a client meeting. Because if you don’t schedule it, it won’t happen.

What do you do on this day? Review your numbers – what’s working and what isn’t. Assess your marketing – are you visible and reaching the right people? Look at