We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Brandes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.

Alright, John thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started sooner or later?

In my previous career, I was dissatisfied for a while. Looking back, I wish I made the decision to leave and start my own business a decade ago. I don’t want to dwell on regret because I love what I do now.

Those years were foundational to who I am today. They provided me with valuable skills and experience. I can’t change the past, and the feeling of making it happen for yourself is priceless.

If anyone is teetering between “Should I stay or should I go?” I can’t encourage enough to say “Do it!” I wouldn’t change a thing. Nothing beats the opportunity for personal growth, creative expression, and the chance to shape your own destiny.”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I worked for 19 years at my previous company. I started out in sales, then management and ultimately, as the Chief Revenue Officer. I felt it was time for a change. I embarked on a job search and was underwhelmed by the process. I figured I’d create my own opportunity. Initially, I started SalesBountyHunter as a sales consulting business. But I kept getting pulled into recruiting. A friend needed to fill a key hire before tax season and asked me to help. After filling that role, I had qualified candidates leftover and thought, “let me see if I can find a job for them.” So I called job ads until I got hired. I repeated and placed more than 20 candidates in my first year.

I try to bring a human element. We talk to each candidate and if they’re not a match we screen to see if there is another role they might fit.

I never thought much about being a recruiter. But I enjoy talking to people and love helping businesses solve talent crises. After about 6 months in business, I realized 75% of my revenue was coming from recruiting and decided to pivot to that fully.

We offer recruiting services and headhunting. Basically, if you’re looking for talent, we will track them down for you. I serve most businesses and am seeing a lot of overlap with the legal industry. I’ve placed four attorneys so far and a number of other law firm roles like office managers, legal billing, and paralegals.

We’re most proud of a recent success. A firm called us up and said they needed multiple attorneys yesterday and that we are not the only firm they engaged. So we set out to win that race and we did!

We are zealous, tenacious, and driven by an unwavering desire to win. We are a recruiting and headhunting firm that believes in treating people like people, not numbers on a screen.

Our competitive spirit and dedication to quality set us apart. Our mission is to match talent with opportunities, ensuring mutual success. By delivering results, we enable our clients to focus on what they do best. You Eat What We Kill!

We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.

My previous business had a successful exit. It landed in our laps. We weren’t looking to sell. A buyer walked in one day and offered. I looked around at my partners and said “We aren’t selling.” And they both said “Well…” I later found out my wife had been praying for some way for us to get out of the business.

The partners put me in charge of the negotiations. This pretty much consisted of me holding firm on the price while the buyers tried to knock it down.

I negotiated for them to assume any unknown liabilities and to stick to the original offered price. It wasn’t a life-changing exit by any means. We paid off all our debt, walked away with something, and bonused our operator who did such a great job.

The biggest lesson in that whole process is being willing to walk away. By the end of the deal process, we were ready to walk away from the business. But we were also able to walk away from the deal if it didn’t meet our needs.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Early on it was all grit and determination. Brute force of calling out to potential customers. My first “non-friend” client took weeks of follow-up to turn into a client.

Now, the best source is referrals. Doing a great job for someone and having that rewarded with a recommendation feels amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: salesbountyhunter.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salesbountyhunter/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/btyhtr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/salesbountyhunter/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SalesBountyHntr
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/salesbountyhunter-palm-beach-gardens-4

Image Credits
Peter O’Hara Photography