By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

If you want to know how to buy a staffing agency before it is listed, start with the people who fund, insure and supply staffing owners: payroll funding firms, workers’ comp brokers, staffing software vendors, American Staffing Association members and staffing CPAs. Then stay recent, because they mention a tired owner to the buyer they think of first.

Here is the scene. A workers’ comp broker is on a renewal call with the owner of a light industrial staffing firm. Two big clients, one office, payroll every Friday. The owner says he is tired of floating payroll and wants out within two years.

The broker knows two buyers. He calls the one who texted him last month.

Why do staffing owners sell to someone they already know?

Because a staffing agency is its recruiters, its client relationships and its cash cycle. The owner pays workers before clients pay invoices. An owner handing that over wants a buyer someone vouched for, not a stranger with a letter.

The field is large and fragmented. The American Staffing Association says there were around 27,000 staffing and recruiting companies in the U.S. in 2021, operating close to 54,000 offices, and that nearly 2.2 million temporary and contract employees worked for staffing companies in an average week in 2024. Thousands of owners means thousands of quiet exits. The ones that never list go to whoever the owner’s circle remembers.

Who hears first when a staffing owner is ready?

The people who touch the money and the risk every week. This is my map, a framework, not data.

Who	What they notice first	What they want from a buyer	How you earn a place
Payroll funding or factoring firm	An owner stretching the cash cycle or asking about exit options	A creditworthy buyer who keeps funding with them	Ask how they underwrite staffing deals
Workers’ comp insurance broker	Renewal talk about retiring or selling	An insurable buyer who keeps the policy	Ask which owners have no successor
Staffing software or back office vendor	Seat counts flat, an owner skipping updates	The account stays after the sale	Meet the regional rep, ask who is stuck
ASA state affiliate and owner peer groups	Peers who stopped coming	A buyer who keeps the recruiters	Join, attend, volunteer once
Staffing CPA	Owner age, margins, the “what is it worth” question	A buyer who closes and keeps the client	Send them diligence work they can bill on
Staffing employment attorney	Owners asking about contracts and noncompetes before a sale	A buyer who handles the transition cleanly	Ask what trips up staffing deals

The vendor rows are the ones most buyers skip. ASA membership covers staffing firms and industry solutions providers, the suppliers of goods and services to staffing firms. Those suppliers see dozens of owners. A regional rep who likes you is worth more than another listing alert.

How do you get in front of staffing owners as an outsider?

Join honestly and say exactly what you do. The American Staffing Association describes itself as “the voice of the U.S. staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry.” Its membership page lists state affiliates, ASA affiliated chapters, Staffing Firm Owners Peer Groups and Staffing World, which it calls the industry’s premier event. Ask the membership team what someone buying a firm can join. Then say, “I am buying one staffing firm to run for the long term, and I keep the recruiters.”

For the association side in depth, read trade association acquisition targets. For working accountants into your search, see CPA referrals for business acquisitions.

What do you check first in a staffing deal?

Concentration, people and cash. Before you talk price, ask:

1. How much revenue comes from the top three clients?
2. Do those client relationships sit with the owner or with the team?
3. Which recruiters bill the most, and will they stay?
4. How is payroll funded between paying workers and collecting invoices?
5. What does the workers’ comp history look like?

The SBA’s guide to buying a business says to consider hiring an attorney and an accountant. In staffing, pick ones who have done staffing deals before.

How to buy a staffing agency: the 90 day plan

Here is how I would run it.

1. Days 1 to 14: pick the lane. Light industrial, clerical, healthcare, IT or professional. One region. A revenue range. Your lender or funder conversation done.
2. Days 15 to 30: the money and the risk. Meet two payroll funding firms and two workers’ comp brokers who write staffing. Ask who the respected owners are and who has no successor.
3. Days 31 to 45: the association. Join ASA or your state affiliate. Attend one meeting. Volunteer for one thing.
4. Days 46 to 60: the vendors and the numbers. Two staffing software or back office reps, two staffing CPAs, one staffing attorney.
5. Days 61 to 75: the brokers. Two or three specialists from the IBBA broker directory and from referrals. Send a one page buyer profile.
6. Days 76 to 90: one coffee a week with an owner. Peer talk, no pitch. End with “who else should I know?”
7. Day 90 onward: a note per person, a real reason to reach out every six to eight weeks.

What do you text the people who hear first?

Short, specific, under 40 words. Illustrative examples.

To a workers’ comp broker:

“[Name], thanks for walking me through how you write staffing accounts. If an owner ever wants a quiet talk about what comes next, I keep the team and the policy. Glad to just listen.”

To a payroll funder:

“[Name], good to meet. I am buying one light industrial staffing firm in the region. Your take on the cash cycle was the clearest I have heard. Mind if I check back in a few weeks?”

To a broker, 60 days later:

“[Name], still buying light industrial staffing in the region, funder lined up. Saw your post on the healthcare deal you closed. Congrats. Anything coming that fits?”

For the owners and connectors already in your phone, start with how to find owner direct business deals in your network. The full system is at deal flow for business buyers.

Where does this break?

Between conversations. You meet two funders, two comp brokers, two vendor reps, two CPAs, an attorney, a broker and five owners. That is 15 people. By month four you are deep in diligence on another firm and nobody has heard from you. Then the comp broker hears the owner is ready, and he calls the buyer he talked to last week.

That is the job I built FRONT OF MIND for. After a meeting, say a name and a sentence out loud, snap a business card or badge, or take a selfie together, and it is filed under the event. Then it opens on your 10 minutes for today. Each person has a one line reason why today: they posted, their company was in the news, you met weeks ago and never followed up, or they are going cold. Every draft is a text style message, 40 words max. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits. Ask Liala “who do I know who funds staffing payroll” and get the right people with why.

It runs in your phone’s browser and can be saved to your home screen. There is no native iPhone app yet. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them. Export or delete anytime.

Start free with your first 25 contacts and see which comp broker comes up first.

See how it works