And honestly? If you're thinking about starting your own agency, your timing couldn't be better. Here's what I keep noticing: Most recruiters are still stuck doing the same tedious stuff. Sending endless emails back and forth just to schedule one interview. Playing phone tag with candidates. Chasing people down for updates. Meanwhile, the smart ones are figuring out how to automate all that boring admin work. They understand that real value isn't sending calendar invites or reminder texts. It's reading between the lines in conversations. Building trust with people. Making those human connections where everyone wins. My prediction: The agencies crushing it in 5 years won't be the huge established ones. They'll be the scrappy ones who realized they could spend most of their time actually talking to humans instead of managing their inbox. Starting fresh right now? You've got a huge leg up on the "we've always done it this way" crowd.