Insights
A deeper dive into what drives middle market success in Family and Private Equity owned companies.Our team of experienced, multi-industry veterans at FortéOne have assisted hundreds of middle market businesses, just like yours. We hope you find their insights interesting and valuable for your company.
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7 lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in the food manufacturing industry
In recent years, there has been a focus in the food industry on lean practices, eliminating operational waste and redundancies, …
6 Steps to Professionalize Your Sales Organization
As a sales organization grows, there often comes a breaking point where individual team members can no longer move the …
7 signs profits are dipping because of poor supply chain management
When it comes to increasing profits, most middle market companies focus on sales. While certainly important, the fastest way to …
The Position of Choice
The Founder’s Trap occurs when a leader is so essential to a company’s day-to-day operations that the business requires their continued daily involvement to sustain and grow. Until they escape that role, the Position of Choice will remain out of reach. …
Successfully Increase Prices During a Time of Hyperinflation
It’s all over the news. INFLATION! JPMorgan’s recent Business Leaders Outlook Pulse survey results stated 100% of respondents were facing business challenges …
Seven Signs Your Company Performance Is a Real Problem
Every business experiences dips in profits and stalled growth throughout its lifecycle. Though nerve-racking, these natural ebbs and flows in …
3 Ways Middle Market Construction Companies Can Improve Financial Performance
In the construction industry, the finance and accounting functions of middle market companies often operate in a way that results …
Six Signs Your Portfolio Company Needs Leadership Assistance
In a perfect world, private equity investors are able to sit back after purchasing a promising portfolio company and wait …
The End of Globalization: Creating Value in a Storm
The fourth piece in our “End of Globalization” series discusses the challenges (and ways forward) for creating enterprise value in uncertain times. …
Why leadership alignment is so important and how to achieve it
The global marketplace is incredibly competitive, and it is getting harder and harder for middle market businesses to compete. While …
Recruiting in the Great Resignation
The pandemic has created a significant shift in the relationship between employee and employer. During the height of the pandemic, …
How to grow your business by growing your base of loyal customers
When most middle market business owners think of growth, they think of sales or profit growth. But in reality, …
“Air Cover” for the Poor Performers and Uninformed
Fortunately for all the mediocre performers out there, there’s a sea of excuses coming for you to hide behind. I …
The End of Globalization: Leadership in a Perfect Storm of Disruption
The third piece in our “End of Globalization” series discusses the tough road ahead for Middle Market business leaders. …
Are you still trying to beat the competition? Snap out of it!
19% of the Fortune 100 Fastest Growing Companies scaled through category creation – and they captured 51% of the cumulative …
The End of Globalization: Information and the Middle Market
The second piece in our “End of Globalization” series highlights the need for quality Information for Middle Market business leaders. …
How to become a Market Disruptor with the FortéOne Accelerator
Historically, it was thought that competitive advantage came from having superior products, faster delivery times or cheaper pricing. For decades, that business strategy proved to be effective, but today businesses can no longer survive using these tactics. …
The End of Globalization: What the Invasion of Ukraine Signals to Your Middle Market Business and How to Prepare
The first piece in our “End of Globalization” series highlights specifically the impact the Ukraine-Russian conflict will have on Middle Market business leaders. …
Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast, But the Category Leader Consumes All
We’ve all heard the famous Peter Drucker saying “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This means that the Culture of your company …
Why Some Leaders Fail to Scale Their Business
Most leaders today strive to scale their business. And why not? Bringing in more revenue and increasing the value of …
Demystify Change Management in the Middle Market Before you go Extinct
It is a full-time job to lead a company and a full-time job to change it. Seeking outside help for Change Management initiatives means that you are ready to take your Middle Market business to the next level. …
FortéOne Names Craig Speed New President
October 14, 2021 – FortéOne, a national middle market consulting firm, announced today that Craig Speed has been named its …
How middle market construction companies can unlock millions in cash
It is rare for a middle market construction company to have company-wide visibility into cash flow in a way that …
Financial metrics and reporting best practices in the construction industry
Profit fade has been plaguing the construction industry for years. Companies start the year with high expectations, but as individual …
Middle Market Manufacturing: How to Create Impactful Change
Across the U.S. Midwest from the end of WWII to the 1980s, most towns and cities had multiple middle market …
5 Instances Where Creating a New Business Strategy is Worth the Investment
For some middle market business owners, the thought of creating a new business strategy makes them want to pull their …
$85MM Protein Manufacturer
Working with the Family Board to return company to profitable status in order to sell at the highest value. …
$80MM MEP Contractor
Working with the President and Family Board to define and implement changes required to enable growth at increase profits …
Why Strategy is Essential to Privately Held Company Success
In our work, we have met owners and management teams at hundreds of privately held middle market companies. Most all …
The Art and Science of Acquisition Integration
Successful integration of multiple companies is one of the most complex projects any business leader can undertake. We have worked …
How family-owned, middle market businesses can prepare their business for sale
You may think that running your business and preparing it for sale require different skill sets, and for some companies …
Can a Virtual Middle Market Business Transformation Program be Successful?
Given the reduction or even elimination of brick and mortar presence for middle market businesses during the pandemic, an experienced partner in virtual transformation is the asset you may not have known you need. …
Why You Need a Supplier Relationship Management Program
Despite the many benefits, it’s rare for middle market businesses to have contracts with suppliers or even a supplier relationship …
Middle Market Perspective on Distribution and Transportation
Middle market companies often view distribution operations as an inbound receiving function to support manufacturing—necessary to receive, store, and ship …
Inventory and Obsolescence Management
Middle Market Inventory Management We ask a lot of questions when we begin an engagement. At the start of an …
Order Management and Customer Service Optimization
Middle Market Perspectives Order management and customer service in the middle market has evolved slowly over the past 20 years. …
Manufacturing Optimization
Manufacturing and the Middle Market Across the US Midwest from the end of WWII to the 1980s, most towns and …
The Evolution of Procurement to Spend Management
Companies large and small underestimate the importance of effective procurement management. Over the years, we have seen that most of …
Inventory Planning and Optimization
Inventory and the Middle Market Middle Market companies often have a love/hate relationship with inventory. Inventory provides a feeling of …
Operations Diligence – Assessing the Foundation for Future Performance
Years ago, Fram oil filters had a catchy commercial; “pay me now or pay me later” – which meant you …
Middle Market ERP – A Process for Eliminating the Drama
ERP – the Fear of Failure The business battlefield is littered with failed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects, and the …
Recruiting Executive Talent for the Middle Market
Challenges Faced in Upgrading Middle Market Leadership The most common issue we encounter when working with Middle Market companies is …
Supply Chains Post-Pandemic: Balancing Risk and Cost
Private Equity and Family Business owners as well as their Supply Chain leaders have rarely experienced the supply chain disruptions and failures that have occurred in recent months due to the travel and production breakage resulting from this COVID-19 pandemic. These supply chain challenges are likely to continue for many months, and there is a critical need to react appropriately to minimize the impact and build a more resilient supply chain for the future. …
Survive & Thrive in the COVID Pandemic: Private Equity Investors – Do not Miss This Opportunity
The rapid turn of events brought on by the COVID crisis has dramatically changed priorities for Private Equity groups across all their initiatives. To survive and thrive during the pandemic, company leaders require simultaneous ability to excel during crisis, retain customers & employees, prioritize & forecast clearly, and successfully position & grow sales and profits—NOW. …
The Value and Characteristics of a Competent CFO in Middle Market Companies
Having worked with hundreds of middle market companies over the past 20 years, FortéOne has learned that a competent Chief …
Private Equity as a Maturing Asset Class
In the last 20 years, the world in which private equity firms acquire, build, and sell businesses has changed drastically. …
A Guide to Effective Sales Leadership
What does it take to increase a company’s top line? There are a number of steps you can take, but …
Preparing Your Private Business for Sale
Once you officially begin the process, selling your business can take between six and nine months, on average, to complete. …
Voice of the Customer
Studies show that acquiring a new customer can be anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining and …
Maximizing Manufacturing Margins with Value Engineering
Manufacturers large and small all hope to achieve the same thing: manufacture more products, with higher margins. Of course, in …
Why you Need to Conduct a Supplier Risk Assessment
An unreliable supplier can cause irreparable damage to middle market businesses. Economic growth or decline, newly imposed tariffs, or issues …
The impact of a slowed global economy on Middle Market U.S. supply chains
Despite the fact that the U.S. economy is strong, farmers, manufacturers, and U.S. companies are experiencing serious distress because other …
How to Achieve Position of Choice
As a business owner, you want to develop options for how you position your business as it grows. Will you …
Optimizing your supply chain to avoid distributor chargebacks
To reach the largest market possible, many middle market businesses use distributors to take their goods from a warehouse or …
How the 2018 Transportation Crisis Affected Middle Market Businesses
The economic boom in America over the last several years has created jobs, boosted consumer spending, and driven up profits …
How to avoid these 4 common accessorial fees
Up until very recently, middle market companies contacted carriers on an as-needed basis and paid the spot pricing determined at …
The FortéOne Way: Delivering Value, Knowledge, & Strategic Decision
Lessons learned & Finding Solutions for the Middle Market. …
Private Equity-Owned Tool Distributor
Improved performance through enhanced operations, process, and leadership. …
Privately Held National Technology Distribution Company
Revised Strategy with new Client Targeting, Pricing, and Sales Approach. Revenues up by 2.5X in 4 years, and Profits improved over 300%. …
$30MM Business Services Provider
Keeping up with the demands of a large customer was taxing production capability and created concern about losing the customer if delivery expectations were not met. …
Private Manufacturing Firm with Seasonal Demand
Revised Strategy with new Financial Controls, Internal Processes, Pricing Approach, and Sales Targets. Margins up over 20% in first 6 months. …
$180MM Industrial Components Manufacturer
Keeping up with the demands of a large customer was taxing production capability and created concern about losing the customer if delivery expectations were not met. …
$280MM Industrial Building Manufacturing & Construction
Understanding how to manage the complex relationship and decision-making structures inherent in multiply family ownership businesses. …
Privately Held Consumer Product Company
Taking immediate control to stabilize a chaotic organization and turn around issues with cash flow, profit projections, and supply chain in China. …
$260MM Snack Food Manufacturer
Working alongside business owners and Investment Bankers to implement change and demonstrate improvements that add value. …
$200MM Food Manufacturer and Co-Packer
Effective solutions and rapid implementation to turn around declining performance and train management on how to sustain long-term improvements. …
$85MM Protein Manufacturer
Working with the Family Board to return company to profitable status in order to sell at the highest value. …
$35MM Sugar-free Bakery that Ships Frozen Products Nationally
Partnering with ownership and management to rapidly improve sales and operating results to maximize company value. …
$30MM Frozen Baked Goods Manufacturer
Focusing on opportunities for material improvements in profitability and enterprise value. …
