Imagine a business that is past the raw start-up stage and is focused on growing and scaling. The entrepreneur and founder can clearly see the vision of what the business can and will be. But it takes more than a vision to get there. Often what is lacking are the operational fundamentals that drive the business day to day to get to that full potential. To implement, document and improve the processes that allow for growth and scale the entrepreneur needs someone to fill the operational role – usually a COO. While the founder may be fully equipped to fill that role often the temperament that makes them a good founder and CEO – that visionary, broad thinker – is not ideal for the COO role.
But what if the scope of the COO role isn’t large enough for a full-time COO? What if the expense of bringing on another executive is too great for the budget? Does the founder have to choose between getting the help needed to scale the business and the risks of hiring a COO? The answer is not always. The founder can bring in a Fractional COO.
A Fractional COO is an operations executive that will work less than full-time yet perform the operational duties needed to scale. Common types of engagements for a Fractional COO include:
Strategic goals to tactical execution: a three-year strategic goal and a vision are critical to growth but they mean little without accretive yearly and quarterly goals and then the tactical execution to drive the organization to meet those goals
Process development and documentation: the key to scaling is to develop repeatable, consistent processes that are quickly and easily learned and followed by all in the organization
Organizational management: developing organization charts for the current situation and future growth, put in place plans for personnel development and training and ensure good communication between managers and personnel
Best practices implementations: from running more effective meetings to better ways of performing employee reviews to putting together dashboards and KPIs a Fractional COO can help the business with the day to day basics of running the business
Projects: specialized projects for growing the business are very important but often there are not enough employees with the knowledge and skill – or hours in the day – to achieve them; the Fractional COO can be very effective at managing and completing those projects without significant extra burden on the organization
If growth is the focus yet challenges such as budget, personnel and “operational opportunities for improvement” are proving a roadblock then a Fractional COO is worth serious consideration.
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