The Fractional Value Proposition

It doesn’t take long scrolling LinkedIn to discover the rapidly growing world of fractional professionals; people who are retained on a project basis or part-time basis to provide executive leadership for a growing business. This is a fantastic opportunity for startups to get focused support at a fraction of the cost of having someone on payroll. Be clear that although this is a high value proposition solution, it’s temporary. Nonetheless, we fractional leaders can be your guide to the next level, lay foundations for early team success, and prepare Founders to become CEOs.?

Here’s how it works and why it makes a ton of sense.??

The Context?

Ok, let’s say you’re a founder with 10-ish employees. You’re hiring more soon and then you plan to hire more soon after that, and faster. You’re probably asking yourself, “When do I need a Head of People (or HR, or whatever you’re calling it)?”

Now. You want to be thinking about this, planning for this, and being proactive about this now. Or, if you’re more than 10 already - you want to be doing all of this now.?

You're talking about a strategic leader who’s got experience hiring effective revenue driving team members. Not only that, but they'll optimize those headcount dollars by retaining those folks, leveraging the best of? company culture, and customizing processes and policies.

The Math

Depending on where you’re hiring, your first full-time People leader will cost roughly $130k - $170k in starting salary, not including 25%-30% more in company benefits.?

Most startups have an impossible time justifying that spend on a role that isn’t dedicated to revenue generation (although they enable rev gen, but that’s another blog post) and I totally get that.?

There are experienced People leaders out there with the strategic heft and operational tools to get you from here-to-there relatively smoothly and fast. I’m one of them :)

The ROI?

Fractional leaders have done a lot. We’ve seen it all (or close to it). We’ve probably encountered challenges very similar to yours and have helped founders overcome them. And whether we're charging by project, or by the hour (my pricing range is $450 - $5,000), you’re getting a serious return on your investment.

In addition to all of that experience, we're focused on delivering only the highest value exchange. We're not bogged down by the unavoidable inefficiencies that are part of every company’s day-to-day. The objectives are clear and it’s our - or certainly my - prerogative to deliver them fast (because I have other clients) and with sustained results (so that I can retain your business).

The “Inside-Outsider”?

If you’re thinking that it’s counterintuitive to have an “outsider” helping you with internal culture and people matters, think again! As experienced “insider-outsiders”, fractional People people are expert relators and synthesizers. We onboard ourselves and are innate relationship-mappers. And don’t forget, we chose a career with the word People in the title… we’re usually pretty amazing with them.?

As an “inside-outsider”, we can maintain objectivity that, for internal personnel, will almost always become clouded by company politics, and where there’s a group of people doing anything together, there will always politics.

Let's Explore

These are just a few of the ways in which a fractional People person brings value to your company. I'd love to hear what you've got going on and, if we don't happen to be the right match, I can help you find the one for you. I also know a lot of people in other verticals (Marketing, GMT, and operations) and will happily facilitate those connections too.