Fractional COO
You have outgrown the way you run the business, but a full-time COO is a $300k commitment you cannot justify yet. A fractional operator closes that gap.
Book a callMost companies between $5M and $20M hit the same wall. The founder is still the operating system. Decisions queue behind one person, process lives in people’s heads, and every new hire makes coordination harder rather than easier.
The obvious fix is a COO. The problem is that a competent one costs $250k–$350k all-in, takes four to six months to hire, and is a bet you make before you know whether the role is what you actually needed.
Engagement shapes
Systems ownership and the operating rhythm.
Above, plus developing the layer beneath you.
Full operational ownership, transaction prep.
What a fractional COO does
A fractional COO takes operational ownership on a part-time, ongoing basis. Not advice. Ownership.
- Runs the operating rhythm. Weekly and monthly cadence, the metrics that get reviewed, and the follow-through that makes reviews mean something.
- Owns the systems that carry revenue. CRM, pipeline, forecasting, and the handoffs between sales, delivery and finance.
- Documents what only exists in someone’s head. Process, ownership, escalation paths — so the business stops depending on specific people remembering things.
- Builds the layer under you. Most engagements are partly about developing the managers who will eventually not need a fractional COO.
When it is the right call
Good fit
- ✓Revenue is growing but margin is not
- ✓The founder is the bottleneck on decisions that should not reach them
- ✓Forecasting is a guess, and the number moves for reasons nobody can name
- ✓Systems were chosen ad hoc and now nothing reconciles
- ✓Preparing for a raise, a sale, or a PE process
Poor fit
- ×Under roughly $3M revenue — coordination problems are not expensive enough yet
- ×You need a specific function built rather than the connective tissue between them
- ×What you want is a strategy engagement with a deliverable at the end
How this differs from the alternatives
| Fractional COO | Management consultant | Full-time COO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output | Working systems | Recommendations | Working systems |
| Accountable for results | Yes | No | Yes |
| Time to productive | 2–4 weeks | 2–4 weeks | 4–6 months |
| Annual cost | Fraction of a salary | Project fee | $250k–$350k all-in |
| Right when | Ops is the constraint | You need an outside read | Ops complexity is permanent |
The honest version: a fractional COO is a bridge. If the operational complexity is permanent and growing, you will eventually want someone full-time. The engagement should make that hire easier — clearer role, documented systems, and a much better idea of what you are hiring for.
What we do differently
Most fractional COOs come from a general operations background. We come from revenue operations, which means the systems that carry your revenue — CRM, pipeline, forecasting, quote-to-cash — are the part we go at first.
That matters because in most companies this size, the operational problems that look like people problems are actually systems problems. Deals slip because nobody owns the stage definition. The forecast is wrong because the pipeline is dirty. Handoffs drop because there is no defined handoff.
Start with a diagnostic, not a proposal
A short engagement that maps where revenue leaks between your systems, and what it costs you. You get the findings whether or not we work together.
Book a callCommon questions
- How many days a week?
- Usually one to three. Below one day it is hard to hold accountability; above three you should be considering a full-time hire.
- How long do engagements run?
- Typically six to eighteen months. Shorter than that is a project, not an operating role.
- Do you replace our existing team?
- No. A fractional COO works through your managers, not around them. Where the engagement ends with a full-time hire, the handover is part of the work.
- What does it cost?
- Most engagements run $6,000 to $18,000 a month depending on days per week and scope. See our cost breakdown for how engagements are structured.
Related
- What a Fractional COO CostsNobody publishes real numbers for this, so here they are. What fractional operators charge, how engagements are structured, and what moves the price.
- Revenue Operations ConsultingRevenue operations is the connective tissue between sales, marketing and delivery. When it is missing, the symptoms look like people problems.