About Us

We don’t work with just anyone. And that is a statement borne of humility, not arrogance. Our senior partners meet with every business owner who contacts us in order to understand their issues in detail. If we believe we can help, we say so (and mean it). If we don’t believe we’re the answer to your problems, we’ll tell you that as well and recommend someone for you to work with that would be a better fit.

Middle market businesses and large public companies are worlds apart, and our focus from day one has been exclusively the middle market. We don’t hire young MBAs and teach them how to be consultants. We hire middle market operators and merge their experience with our processes. Our executives and industry experts have been business owners and operators. So the Operating Partners who would be working with you understand the culture in middle market firms. They roll up their sleeves and work inside your company, with your people, to help it make rapid, productive changes that quickly lead to increased profitability.

Our people have run hundreds of companies in dozens of industries. In many cases, they have already solved the very issues you are now facing. Often more than once at different firms. As for your particular business, we invest the time upfront to make sure we both understand your specific needs and will be able to help you address them successfully.

If we agree – after learning the details of your current situation and goals – that we are the right firm to assist you, then the risk to you is low. Our team is led by successful middle market veterans. We work alongside you, integrating with your team to discover what could be done, deciding what should be done, and helping get it done. Most importantly, you are always in control – of the process and the purse strings.

And, if we don’t meet or exceed our projections for annualized EBITDA growth? We will refund the difference or continue working (at no additional cost) until we do.

Because we have delivered for hundreds of clients over the past two decades. As previous business owners and operators ourselves, clients trust we understand their challenges, especially those unique to the middle market. And we know how to solve the toughest problems without impacting the ongoing business.

Yes. While the bulk of our efforts take place in the first few months, we are available for as long as our clients need us. In fact, many clients continue to work with our advisory services because they trust our opinions and value our insights.

A core FortéOne value is that a company’s most vital assets are its people. We understand the importance of quickly building a strong working relationship with not only management teams but also individual employees. By working with us, you are making an investment in the future for yourself and your people.

In a word, results. Our work revolves around improving profits in both the short and long term, with a target of delivering at least two- to three-times our fees in improved profits within 18 months. In many cases, the financial results we deliver for clients far exceed these targets.

Because business is getting more complex and all the specialized skills needed over time are simply not possible for a middle market company to have on staff. As you grow, you’ll naturally encounter issues that people in your firm – even very smart people – just aren’t equipped to solve. And it can be a full-time job to run a company (or department) and a full-time job to implement needed change. The effective solution is using industry leaders and specialists, who can devote themselves to assisting you for a short time, who have already solved similar problems. Solving tough issues for middle market firms is what we do at FortéOne.