Tom Amos was one of this year’s top10 Dynamic Entrepreneurs and he is transforming the world of recruitment.
He had the idea for Sidekicker while working at Deloitte fresh out of Uni, with the idea that hiring temporary staff should be as simple and easy as ordering an Uber.
There was currently no one in Australia who had digitalised the traditional phone and email process of recruiting temps. Sidekicker is now the fastest way to hire temporary staff, taking less than 30 seconds to post a job, 90% of jobs are filled in under an hour.
Dynamic Business had a chat to Amos about being his business and what he has learnt so far.
1. What are you currently up to in your business?
One of the great things about Sidekicker’s technology is that a flexible online solution for finding staff can be successfully applied to a number of industries. Over the past 6 years, we’ve had really strong success in bringing a new way of hiring staff to labour categories including hospitality, events, promotions and business admin. Right now we are working on launching our tech into new industries, offering businesses access to staff online in areas including general event labour, exhibition stand builds, logistics and warehousing.
2. Top 3 lessons learned so far?
1. There are plenty of highs and lows when building a startup. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt is to not get too caught up in over-celebrating the highs or letting the lows get you too down as it can very quickly take your focus away from the end goal.
2. Focus on what you can control, not what is out of your control.
3. Align your values with those you choose as suppliers, investors and staff in the same way you’d align your values with someone you’d choose to marry. Working alongside people with strong ethics and high moral code is integral to building a sustainable business.
3. Favourite thing to do in order to de-stress?
It’s important to get your brain thinking about things other than work–allowing you to switch off at the end of the day or on the weekend. Find things you’re passionate about and channel your energy into learning new things not related to business. For me, I’m learning how to surf and I love playing golf and getting involved with the St Kilda football club. My favourite thing to do is hang out with my cavoodle Bernie.
