Just what is a Fractional COO???

The right time to hire a chief operating officer (COO) is just before trouble appears in your company. The reality is that most startups realize they need a COO too late. Signs that you need a COO:

• You are spending too much time working?in?your business and not?on?your business.
• You are feeling constantly overwhelmed and struggling daily in your company.
• You know you need to strengthen and solidify your leadership team.

A COO — especially your first one — should come from outside your company. ?An external person, with experience, can bring in huge amounts of learning; much more than an internal hire.

The COO Position

Typically, the leader of a company is a visionary. As the visionary, you operate best when you are thinking long-term, generating big ideas, fanning a fabulous culture and cultivating strategic relationships.?

But your COO is your closest partner, coach and guide.?As a coach and mentor, your COO not only supports your personal and professional business development but that of the entire company.

The COO is the quintessential "change champion." They define needed changes, lead the change effort, manage the change and even celebrate change success.

When you need a COO, you are looking for someone typically with years of experience and education — much more than most companies can afford.?But can you afford one?

Consider A Fractional COO

If you cannot afford the likes of what your company needs, then how do you move forward? You cannot keep struggling in your visionary role while being the full-time integrator.

A fractional COO is a business professional with many years of experience who is willing to work in a temporary capacity, part-time, for a rate that would be significantly lower than hiring someone full time. You can bring on talent with experience as a business owner, business coach/consultant or former full-time CEO without all the costs. Fractional COOs bring to your company many benefits:

• Given the breadth and the width of experience a fractional COO has, they can bring in best practices from many years.
• Typically, a fractional COO works remotely with your company. This saves you from creating a separate executive office.
• Fractional COOs do not require an elaborate executive hiring process — thus, you do not have to build separate HR processes for just one position.
• Being a contract employee, the fractional COO does not require executive benefits, bonuses or perks.
• The fractional COO is there to work themselves out of a job — they focus on building your company so you can truly afford a full-time COO in the future, and they can even help you find and hire their replacement.

Reach out to me if you need a Fractional COO, at the fraction of the cost of a full time one.