From Laid Off to In-Demand: Liam Haghighat’s Blueprint for a Solo Fractional Recruiting Business

What would you do if you got laid off three times in nine months? For Liam Haghighat, the answer was to build something of his own. Liam – a law graduate turned agency recruiter – faced a rollercoaster of setbacks in 2022, getting laid off 3 times in 9 months from in-house recruiting roles. Instead of giving up, he transformed those setbacks into fuel for a new venture. Today, Liam runs a thriving solo “fractional” recruiting business serving early-stage startups, and his journey from pink slips to prosperity is nothing short of inspiring.

In a recent episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, Liam shared how he went from laid off to in-demand, along with practical strategies for solo recruiters. This article distills Liam’s story and playbook – from what fractional recruiting really means, to setting up a one-person recruiting powerhouse with AI, to the common mistakes to avoid. Liam’s experience is a blueprint for resilience and innovation in the recruiting world.

Meet Liam Haghighat: Law Grad to Recruiting Leader (After 3 Layoffs)

Liam didn’t start out in recruiting – in fact, he holds a Master’s in Law and spent a year working as a paralegal. A chance conversation with a successful friend in recruiting opened his eyes to the industry’s potential. “He basically had loads of cash,” Liam recalls of that friend, who urged him to give recruiting a try. Enticed by the opportunity to earn more than the modest junior legal salaries, Liam made the leap into agency recruiting in his early 20s.

Seven years in agency recruitment forged Liam’s skills and resilience. He joined a large recruiting firm as a trainee and was “thrown in the deep end” – cold-calling with a blank slate of clients, hustling to build his desk from scratch. The grind taught him how to handle rejection and sharpened his sales instincts. By 2021, Liam had parlayed that experience into an in-house talent acquisition role at a tech consultancy, drawn by the new challenge (and the booming TA salaries of the time).

Then came the curveballs. As the tech market whipsawed, Liam was laid off not once, not twice, but three times in rapid succession. “The first time was a massive shock… the third time I literally started laughing because I thought, this can’t be serious,” he says. After applying to hundreds of jobs with little response, Liam realized it was time for a new plan. He had always wanted to run his own business, and the turmoil became the trigger to finally do it.

“I just thought, ‘Screw it – I back myself. I’m just gonna do it.’ Nowadays you don’t need an office or a team; you need a laptop and Wi-Fi… so I just did it.” – Liam Haghighat

In mid-2022, Liam took the plunge and launched his solo recruiting consultancy. Day one wasn’t glamorous – he sat at his desk thinking “What do I do now?” – but he quickly got to work planning his go-to-market strategy and tapping his network for early clients. Within weeks, he landed his first projects through former contacts and began refining his business model. Crucially, he decided not to be just another recruiting agency or contractor. Instead, Liam committed to building a fractional recruiting service from the start.

Fractional Recruiting 101: A Flexible Alternative to Agencies & Contractors

What exactly is “fractional recruiting”? In Liam’s case, it means acting as an embedded, on-demand talent acquisition partner for client companies – essentially providing the expertise of an in-house recruiter, but on a part-time or project basis. This model is not just a fancy word for contracting or contingency recruiting. As Liam explains:

• A fractional recruiter offers a service for a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire, giving clients the benefit of an experienced recruiter on an interim basis. It’s often structured as a retained or subscription-style service rather than a commission per hire. The fee might be based on a set scope of work or time period, agreed upfront, rather than unpredictable hourly billing.

• Unlike a typical contractor, a fractional recruiter isn’t merely charging by the day with no end-product – it’s about delivering a result (e.g. a number of hires or a revamped hiring process) for a fixed monthly or project fee. “You’re basically offering a retained service or, in my case, a subscription style service… priced either by time or (in most cases for me) via scope,” Liam says. This allows for predictable revenue for the recruiter and predictable costs for the client.

• Another misconception is that fractional recruiters are just part-time employees. In reality, a fractional consultant often charges a premium retainer (in Liam’s words, “a pretty decent retainer”) – on an hourly basis it can be higher than a full-time salary – but the client only commits to a short-term engagement. The company isn’t stuck with a long-term hire on the books, which is a big advantage if their hiring needs might change in 6 or 12 months. The flexibility is mutual: the recruiter isn’t a permanent employee, and the client can scale the service up or down as needed.

How is fractional different from contingency recruiting? Traditional agency recruiters often work “contingent,” only getting paid a hefty fee (often ~20% of the candidate’s salary) when a hire is made. Liam deliberately steered away from that model. Having seen the feast-or-famine nature of agency commissions, he chose a fractional/retained approach so he “could forecast revenue” and have a more stable income stream. “The fractional model is more of a retained style model… it’s safer for me as a solo business owner because I actually know what I’m going to earn,” he says.

Contingency recruiting can be lucrative, but it’s unpredictable – one week your pipeline is full, the next it falls apart in a flurry of canceled reqs or lost candidates. Liam didn’t want to constantly “chase his tail” in that cycle. By securing clients on fractional agreements, he could count on a baseline of monthly revenue while focusing on delivering value, not just one-off placements. He also found that trying to mix contingent agency work into his offerings would “dilute the message” of his fractional model. So he went all-in on fractional, positioning himself as an embedded Talent Partner rather than a contingency recruiter.

Filling a Gap for Startups: Why Liam Chose Early-Stage Founders as His Niche

From the outset, Liam nichéd down to serve a specific market: early-stage tech startups. “I made a decision quite early on to focus on early stage startups… founders who didn’t have an internal talent team,” he notes. Why startups? Because that’s where Liam discovered a real pain point that a fractional model could solve.

Early-stage founders typically have three options when they need to hire key team members:

1. Do it themselves (DIY recruiting). Many founders try this first, but “founder-led hiring can take 20–30 hours a week”, time that would be better spent building their product or selling. It’s a huge opportunity cost for a CEO to trawl LinkedIn and screen candidates instead of driving revenue.

2. Hire a full-time recruiter in-house. This sounds great in theory, but Liam points out a flaw: hiring needs at a startup aren’t consistent month to month. “Hiring isn’t linear – when you’re not hiring, you’re still paying that recruiter’s salary. What are they going to do?” It becomes a non-revenue-generating fixed cost, which is tough to justify in a lean startup where every team member ideally contributes directly to building the product or acquiring customers.

3. Use traditional recruiting agencies on contingency. Agencies can deliver results fast, but the cost is exorbitant for a small company. At ~20% per hire, “those fees start adding up pretty quickly” for high-salary technical roles. Liam gives an example: a founding engineer on a six-figure salary would incur a five-figure agency fee each – “you’re talking big, big fees, a lot of outlay in recruitment costs,” he says. For a venture-funded startup with limited runway, spending $100K+ on agency fees to build a team is hardly ideal.

Liam’s fractional recruiting service emerged as a fourth option that combines the best of all worlds without the downsides. For a flat monthly fee or scoped project fee, a startup can get “an internal talent partner on an interim basis” – essentially a plug-and-play recruiter who embeds with their team, manages the hiring process, and delivers results. The subscription-style model means they pay a predictable cost (far lower than multiple agency fees) and can scale the engagement up or down as hiring needs evolve. As Liam puts it, “you get an internal recruiter without spending a fortune on huge hiring fees.”

This approach hit a nerve in the market. Startup founders were willing to use external help if it didn’t break the bank on fees. By filling this gap, Liam quickly gained traction. He landed his first few startup clients through his network and proved the fractional model’s value by delivering great hires for far less cost than a traditional agency. Before long, he was turning down offers for permanent roles from companies impressed by his work – he had found his groove as a free agent. (As Liam jokes, being a fractional consultant can be “the world’s best interview” for companies, and a few have dangled big salaries to lure him in-house, but he’s stayed committed to his business.)

Liam’s Playbook for a Successful Solo Recruiting Business

How did Liam go from zero to a fully booked solo practice in under two years? He followed a clear game plan. If you’re a recruiter considering going solo, here are the key pillars of Liam’s success – a tactical blueprint you can apply:

• Define your value proposition and ideal client. The first step is getting crystal clear on your service offering and target market. Liam developed a solid go-to-market strategy by deciding what unique value he would offer (an embedded fractional service instead of the usual agency pitch) and who it would help most. He identified that his ideal client profile (ICP) was founders of Seed to Series A startups with no internal recruiting team. This focus guided everything from his messaging to his product offering. “Having that defined value proposition and defined ideal client… would apply to any service-based business, because ultimately you are a service provider if you’re fractional,” Liam says. In short: don’t try to be everything to everyone. Pick a niche where you can stand out and add real value.

• Offer a flexible, retainer-based service (not just contingency or hourly contracting). Liam structured his business to solve clients’ problems, not just bill hours. He moved away from pure day-rate contracting after realizing it “capped” his growth. “If that is your sole method of pricing, you’re essentially an employee without any benefits… you are capped by how much time you have in a day,” he notes. Instead, Liam prices projects by scope or on a monthly retainer, which scales better and provides predictability for both him and his clients. Takeaway: Consider productizing your service (e.g. monthly packages or project fees) rather than selling only your time – it’s a win-win.

• Build a sales engine and pipeline (don’t rely on hope or your rolodex). One of Liam’s strongest messages for new solopreneurs: You are now in the business of sales, so embrace it. Launching a recruiting business means consistently prospecting, marketing, and selling your services. Liam knew he couldn’t just hang his shingle on LinkedIn and wait for referrals. He developed a go-to-market sales strategy from day one, leveraging both personal outreach and content. “If you don’t put in the time to create a sales strategy… the brand and content are all irrelevant because you won’t be around long enough to make any of that work,” Liam emphasizes. In practice, this meant Liam tapped into his existing network for warm leads and built a repeatable outbound system to generate new leads. He also recognized that once you go solo, some contacts may pull back – people know you’re now a vendor selling something, so warm and cold outreach both require skill and persistence. Liam advises making peace with this reality: you have to proactively sell, every week. The good news is he figured out how to do it efficiently – more on his tech-assisted sales tactics shortly.

• Leverage technology and automation to punch above your weight. Being a one-person business didn’t stop Liam from operating like a whole team. He harnesses AI and automation tools to multiply his output. “Technology’s leveled the playing field… AI and automation allow you to run a business as if you’ve got staff,” Liam says. His three favorite tools: Clay, LaGrowthMachine, and ChatGPT. Clay is a data enrichment and outreach automation platform that Liam uses to research prospects and manage cold outreach campaigns – “I run campaigns through Clay and LaGrowthMachine, and it’s like I’ve got two SDRs working for me full time,” he says. LaGrowthMachine automates multi-channel outreach (LinkedIn messages, emails, etc.), helping him scale personalized touchpoints with potential clients. And ChatGPT serves as his brainstorming assistant and copywriter, helping him draft messages, structure ideas, and even create content. With these tools, Liam can accomplish in minutes what used to take teams days: for instance, pulling a list of target companies and contacts, or researching open roles and finding the hiring managers nearly instantaneously. The result is a one-man powerhouse: Liam maintains a steady flow of new business without hiring a sales team. “Now, if you are a solo recruiter with a decent software budget, you can tackle big projects and compete with the big agencies,” he says, because you can work faster and more efficiently than they do. Embracing these tools is not just a productivity hack – it’s increasingly a survival skill.

“AI won’t replace recruiters, but it will replace recruiters who don’t use AI.” – Liam Haghighat

• Consistently create content and build your personal brand. At first, Liam wasn’t naturally comfortable putting himself out there on LinkedIn – he describes himself as a natural introvert who had never been active on social media. But he knew that to grow his business, he had to get visible. “If I don’t market my business, nobody else is going to,” he realized. So Liam pushed himself to start posting useful content for his target audience of founders and recruiters. He shared insights on hiring, documented his journey, and offered tips (just as he’s doing in the podcast). Over time, this consistent content established Liam as a credible authority in his niche. When your network continually sees you talking about, say, startup hiring challenges and solutions, you stay top-of-mind. Liam’s content efforts have paid off in both inbound leads and community growth. It didn’t happen overnight – his first LinkedIn video took 18 takes to record out of sheer nerves – but by sticking with it, he transformed from a quiet observer to a thought leader in his space. The lesson: Even if it’s outside your comfort zone, investing in your personal brand via content is invaluable. It amplifies trust, showcases your expertise, and attracts opportunities you might otherwise never hear about.

• Stay resilient and keep refining your focus. Liam’s journey underlines the power of resilience and adaptation. He took the punches of multiple layoffs and turned them into motivation to build something new. As a solo business owner, he continues to wear many hats – “head of finance, marketing, delivery, sales – my head is hurting from the weight of the hats,” he laughs – but he finds excitement in the challenge. He also regularly refines his strategy: doubling down on what works (early-stage tech, his fractional model) and discarding what doesn’t. For example, when some corporate clients offered him lucrative full-time roles, he passed – chasing short-term security would have meant giving up the freedom and growth of his own business. This clarity of purpose has been key to his success.

Common Mistakes Solo Recruiters Make (and How to Avoid Them)

Building a solo practice isn’t easy – and many new independent recruiters stumble early on. Liam openly shares a couple of mistakes he made out of the gate, so that others can learn from them:

• Trading time for money on day-one. Initially, Liam treated his fractional business like contracting – billing clients by the day. He quickly learned this model was unsustainable. “I also had the misconception when I first went fractional that it’s essentially contracting… The problem with day-rate work is if that is your sole method of pricing, you’re essentially an employee without any benefits,” Liam says. Relying purely on selling your time means you’ll hit an income ceiling and stretch yourself thin. If a client expects you two days a week and something urgent arises on day three, do you work for free or break your agreement? It gets messy. Liam’s fix: he shifted to value-based pricing – project fees or monthly retainers tied to a scope of work. This way, he can scale his impact (and income) beyond the 40-hour week, and clients know exactly what they’re getting for the price.

• Hiding behind “busy work” instead of selling. Like many new entrepreneurs, Liam initially spent too much time polishing his brand and materials, and not enough time selling. “I got really obsessed at the start with having an awesome pitch deck, an awesome logo… all the marketing material, when I should have just been contacting prospects,” he admits. In the first couple of months, he perfected his website and one-pagers but had no clients – “it’s all well and good having an awesome PDF, but if you haven’t got anyone paying you, it’s irrelevant,” Liam says bluntly. This is a common trap for solo professionals: spending weeks tinkering with Canva designs, color schemes, or CRM setup, while doing zero outreach. The reality: Those things can wait; your business doesn’t exist until you have paying customers. Liam’s mentor gave him a wake-up call by asking how many leads or clients he had – and didn’t care at all about the pretty pitch deck. The message sank in. Liam’s advice: Prioritize sales and client-facing activity from Day One. Don’t worry if your branding is 70% perfect – go get that first contract now, and fine-tune the logo later. As a solo recruiter, your time is your most precious resource, so invest it where it moves the needle. “I see this happen all the time… [people] creating folders in their inbox or a one-pager on Canva, but they’ve made no sales calls and sent no emails,” Liam warns. Focus on actions that generate business – everything else is secondary.

• Trying to be everything to everyone. Another mistake is failing to niche down or differentiate your service. Liam deliberately did not diversify into contingency recruiting even when others questioned him, because he knew it would muddle his positioning. He also zeroed in on the startup niche rather than trying to service every industry. New solo recruiters sometimes fear turning away business, so they say yes to everything – any role, any model, any client. But that dilutes your effectiveness. Liam’s success came from committing to a specific model and market, which made him far more compelling to that audience. The takeaway: figure out what you do best (and enjoy most) and lean into it. You can’t be a specialist and a generalist at the same time. By carving out a niche, you become the go-to expert for that slice of the market.

• Going it completely alone. While it’s a “solo” business, Liam is the first to say you shouldn’t isolate yourself. He benefitted from mentors and peers who had taken similar paths. A mentor of his (a seasoned entrepreneur) wasn’t afraid to call him out when he was majoring in minor things early on, which helped Liam course-correct fast. He also joined communities of other independent recruiters and even started a coaching program for solo recruiters (the “Solo Recruiter Launchpad”) to share knowledge. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or invest in coaching/mentorship. Someone a few steps ahead can often spot your blind spots and accelerate your growth. As Liam notes, having a mentor or supportive community is like a shortcut – you can learn in 5 minutes what they learned in 5 years.

By avoiding these pitfalls and following the playbook above, you’ll set yourself up for success as a solo or fractional recruiter. Liam’s journey shows that with the right strategy and mindset, a one-person recruiting business can compete with the best of agencies – while offering a lifestyle of flexibility and the satisfaction of building your own brand.

Ready to Learn More? 🎧 Listen to Liam’s Episode & Join the AI Recruiting Summit

Liam’s story is packed with more insights and details than we could fit here. To hear the full conversation and all of his tips, be sure to listen to his episode on The Elite Recruiter Podcast (titled “From Laid Off to In-Demand: The Ultimate Guide to Building a Successful Solo Fractional Recruiting Business”). You’ll get even deeper into how he markets himself, pricing specifics, and the mindset that keeps him moving forward.

And if Liam’s embrace of AI in recruiting piqued your interest, you won’t want to miss the upcoming AI Recruiting Summit 2025 – a free virtual summit dedicated to the latest strategies and tools for recruiters in the AI era. This event (hosted by The Elite Recruiter community) will help you future-proof your recruiting desk and leverage technology just like Liam has. Additionally, The Elite Recruiter is hosting a “Finish The Year Strong 2025” Summit, aimed at giving recruiters the motivation and game plan to crush their Q4 goals and head into 2026 on a high note. Make sure to register for these summits to level up your skills, get inspired, and connect with like-minded professionals. They’re designed to “help you move the needle, achieve your goals, and make 2025 the year you wanted it to be”.

Call-to-Action: Follow The Elite Recruiter Podcast for more elite insights, listen to Liam’s episode for a masterclass in solo recruiting success, and sign up for the AI Recruiting Summit 2025 to stay ahead of the curve. Liam Haghighat turned turmoil into triumph – with the right knowledge and mindset, you can too. Here’s to finishing this year strong and seizing the opportunities ahead in 2025!