Scaling Your Recruiting & Staffing Firm: How Jon Davis Grew to $300M and Sold, Plus Lessons on Contracts, Relationships, and the Blueprint to Exit

What does it really take to grow a recruiting business to $300M, scale contract staffing revenue, and execute a profitable exit—while keeping your team together? In this high-impact episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, host Benjamin Mena sits down with industry veteran Jon Davis, who reveals the exact strategies that turned his firm into one of the most successful staffing organizations in the country.

Whether you’re running a solo desk or scaling an agency, this episode is your roadmap to recurring revenue, massive valuation, and building a business buyers fight to acquire.

🎯 2026 Sales and BD Recruiter Summit: https://bd-sales-recruiter-2026.heysummit.com/

 

🚀 Sponsorship: Atlas – AI-first ATS & CRM

Atlas combines your ATS and CRM in one AI-powered platform. It automates tagging and admin, syncs resumes and emails, and uses AI to create polished profiles and reports—so you can focus on relationships, not data entry. Centralized outreach, reporting, and analytics keep you fast and efficient.

Try it free or book a demo → https://recruitwithatlas.com

Why This Episode Matters

Jon went from “mattress on the roof” beginnings to leading a multi-hundred-million-dollar staffing company. He shares the real growth lessons agency owners never hear—how to avoid burnout, when to pivot, how to fix broken processes, and how contract staffing can transform your business into a sellable asset.

You’ll hear how he and his team tripled market presence, built sticky client relationships, navigated M&A, and executed an exit without losing a single recruiter.

What You’ll Learn

• Why relationships STILL outperform automation—and how elite recruiters nurture trust at scale

• The recurring revenue formula: How to launch contract staffing even if you’ve only done direct hire

• What buyers actually look for in a staffing firm (and why process > personality)

• How to leverage EOR/back office partners to scale without building internal overhead

• The exact frameworks Jon used to make his business “acquisition-ready”

Key Takeaways

1. Contract Revenue Drives Valuation
2. Firms with 50%+ contract revenue win the highest multiples. Build recurring revenue now.
3. Start Small, Grow Fast
4. You don’t need to beat Adecco or Randstad. Win through relationships, speed, and niche expertise.
5. Process = Profitability
6. Document everything—BD, sourcing, compliance, onboarding. Processes make you scalable and sellable.
7. Relationships Remain the Moat
8. Clients and candidates stay with recruiters who show up, communicate, and solve their biggest problems.
9. Stop Waiting for Perfect
10. You can launch & scale contract staffing with today’s EOR, funding, and automation tools. Complexity is optional.

If you want to scale your firm, build real enterprise value, and prep for a major exit—this is the playbook.

🎧 Hit play now, subscribe, and connect with Jon & Benjamin for more high-performance recruiting insights.

Sponsors & Links

🎯 2026 Sales and BD Recruiter Summit:

https://bd-sales-recruiter-2026.heysummit.com/

🚀 Atlas – AI-first ATS & CRM

Automates tagging, syncs resumes/emails, and generates polished profiles & reports.

Try it free or book a demo → https://recruitwithatlas.com

🤝 Elite Recruiter Community

All summit replays, roundtables, Billers’ Club & split space.

Join for $49/month → https://elite-recruiters.circle.so/checkout/elite-recruiter-community

 

⚡ Free Trials

Pin (AI Recruiting Assistant) → https://www.pin.com/

PeopleGPT & AI Agents → https://juicebox.ai/?via=b6912d

📩 Podcast Email List → https://eliterecruiterpodcast.beehiiv.com/subscribe

▶️ YouTube: https://youtu.be/fB4XmqtrvyU

🔗 Follow Jon Davis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondavislinked/

🌐 Host – Benjamin Mena: http://www.selectsourcesolutions.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmena/