10 Year Anniversary

Hardesty LLC over the last 10 YEARS

CFO Placements

$4.1B

Mid-market M&A transactions supported

Private Equity Clients

Unique Job Positions

Hardesty LLC continues to celebrate its Tenth year in business, tallying record results for the firm in 2021, growing topline revenues over 40%.

Making it to ten years is a key milestone for any company, as it cements market presence, brand awareness and a recurring client base. It’s a BIG DEAL!

Add the impact of the COVID pandemic; lockdowns, the sudden shift to remote working, massive logistics dislocation and unprecedented Federal intervention, it takes a special kind of expertise to pivot and thrive.

Hardesty has proven that it is THAT kind of firm, but more importantly we were able to continue delivering the top tier talent that we have become known for.

How many companies make it to 10 years?
Inc. Magazine reports that 96% of small businesses fail in their first 10 years.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is a bit more positive placing that figure at a still staggering 75%. According to Lending Tree, the type of business makes a huge difference with medical fields, SaaS, and software on top today while small consulting firms, retail, apparel, and traditional communications fare the worst. Professional services firms generally beat the averages however the results for firms specializing in retained search, interim and fractional C-suite executives, and specialized staffing are highly variable.

For a new small professional services business, according to Fortunly and Entrepreneur, there are five crucial elements to beat the odds and get to 10 years on a sustainable upward trajectory.

Have a product the market wants and business plan to deliver it

Be well capitalized and manage cash carefully

Build a solid, experienced team and leverage your network

Maintain focus, expand carefully, be ready to pivot

Out work/out compete the competition

When Karl Hardesty started Hardesty LLC, he was building on a proven model that he helped develop as the Regional Managing Partner for the largest national CFO firm, Tatum. After Tatum was sold to Randstad in 2010, Karl formed Hardesty, LLC to develop a more focused and high-touch executive services firm catering to the middle market entrepreneurs and private equity firms.

That experience made it clear that middle-market firms frequently need highly capable executives quickly, often on a moment’s notice. The firm that can deliver the proper talent will earn repeat business and become the gold standard.

As a former Big Four partner and CFO for both public and private companies, Karl Hardesty and his core team of equally experienced executives, had a firm handle on building the practice and managing cash flow. This foundation of strength was critical to attracting partners and key executives in the early years as well as allowing the firm to expand across the country and demonstrate the ability to source talent in both large and small markets. The firm earned several Fastest Growing Firm Awards during the formative years.

That network has allowed Hardesty to fill C-Suite roles, VP and Director level talent across 41 of the 50 US states and Canada. It has also allowed Hardesty to amass an enviable track record of a 99+% fulfillment rate on executive search engagements and lower the average time for a permanent recruitment placement to only 47 days. Hardesty has frequently been able to deploy interim and fractional C-Suite executives in less than a week.
All of that foundational work and the firm’s national network meant that Hardesty was able to respond when Middle-Market businesses had to pivot with the onset of the COVID 19. The team was able to support every kind of engagement, the mass movement to remote work, and engage a record number of Private Equity deals in 2020 and again in 2021.
This broad-based level of success demonstrates that the Hardesty Team has the insights and the 21st Century skillsets to be the “Go-To” partner for Middle-Market companies. That combination of capabilities and capacity aligns with the critical factors that the experts agree are necessary for success in the Middle-Market.

According to the National Center for the Middle Market and MYOB, the research shows that there are five critical keys to success.

Building a team via a talent plan

Have a clear, actionable strategy

Use a big company approach to systems and processes

Be flexible responding to your market and externalities

Build a team of trusted advisors

This is why Hardesty is the best resource for middle-market businesses, private equity, healthcare and many more industries for the next 10 years and beyond.