Operational leadership embedded in your company, typically 10–20 hours per week. Kamyar Shah builds the decision systems, throughput infrastructure, and scalable operating model that let your company grow without proportional cost increases.
Schedule a Conversation →A fractional COO is an experienced part-time executive providing operational leadership across operations management, business strategy, process improvement, and organizational design, without the cost of a full-time hire. They help founder-led companies between $2M and $100M build the decision systems and scalable processes that allow growth without proportional cost increases.
Engagements are structured to address the specific challenges of your organization. Scope is defined collaboratively at the outset and adjusted as priorities evolve.
Most mid-market companies do not have an operations problem. They have a visibility problem. The CEO makes decisions alone or with trusted advisors. Information flows around formal channels. Operational bottlenecks surface as urgency rather than as data. When a customer delivery slips, a team learns about it from the founder's reaction, not from a consistent review process.
The cost is not just in a few missed deadlines. It is in decision latency that creates cascade effects. A product decision waits three weeks for the CEO to make a call. That decision then blocks another decision. The sales team commits to a delivery date before operations confirms the timeline. Good people leave because they spend 40 percent of their energy on political navigation instead of execution.
The tangible impact maps onto three areas: decision latency, operational throughput, and scalable infrastructure. Decisions that were stuck get made within 48–72 hours because the right person now has explicit authority. The same team produces 20–35 percent more output without adding headcount because friction — unclear priorities, undocumented authority, unnecessary approval chains — has been removed.
Scalable infrastructure means the company can double in size without adding a proportional management layer. Documented processes, clear reporting structures, transparent metrics, and explicit delegation systems allow new hires to inherit a functioning organization rather than rediscover how it works. The cost of coordination does not increase proportionally because the structure does not require it. For companies that need this architecture built across the full business in a structured diagnostic engagement, operations management consulting addresses process design, decision rights, and accountability systems together.
A fractional COO engages typically 10–20 hours per week. This constraint forces focus on architecture and systems rather than tactical execution. A full-time COO gets pulled into daily management. A fractional COO focuses on the structural problems that, once fixed, manage themselves. Companies that need execution-level oversight alongside strategic leadership often pair this engagement with a fractional operations manager who handles the day-to-day operational layer.
Results appear in phases. In the first 30–45 days, decision cycles visibly shorten. In 90 days, operational throughput gains become measurable — the same team is delivering more output. In 6–12 months, the scalable infrastructure effects compound: new hires onboard faster, the organization handles volume increases without adding management layers.
The fractional executive model has moved from early-adopter strategy to mainstream operating decision. According to Fractionus's 2025 Fractional Work Report, 74 percent of companies report lower risk with fractional versus full-time executive hires, and 25 percent of U.S. businesses have already adopted fractional hiring. Gartner projects that by 2027, more than 30 percent of midsize enterprises will have at least one fractional executive on retainer.
On cost, the math is straightforward: a fractional COO engagement at two days per week runs $180,000 to $200,000 annually — a 50 percent or greater reduction compared to the $400,000 to $600,000 total cost of a full-time COO with salary, benefits, and equity. The Interim C-Suite Services 2025 ROI analysis found that top-tier fractional engagements deliver 5 to 10 times return on the engagement cost, with measurable operational improvements typically appearing within 60 to 90 days.
A structured 30-day assessment of your operational state: processes, team structure, KPIs, and decision-making. Kamyar identifies the highest-leverage fixes and the constraints holding your company back. The output is a prioritized action plan, not a generic report.
Start Here →Building the operational infrastructure your company needs to scale. Process documentation, KPI framework, org chart redesign, and hiring plan — designed for execution, not for a presentation deck.
Learn More →Ongoing fractional COO engagement where Kamyar functions as an active operational leader. Regular cadence, clear deliverables, direct accountability to results. Available in 10–20 hours per week structures.
Get Started →Pricing depends on scope, engagement frequency, and the specific operational challenges being addressed. Most engagements are structured as monthly retainers. A conversation is the fastest way to determine fit and scope before any commitment is required.
Initial engagements typically run three to six months. Many clients extend well beyond that as the scope evolves from fixing foundational problems to scaling what is working. There is no long-term lock-in; engagements are structured around your goals, not a contract term.
Growth-stage companies between 10 and 200 employees are the best fit. These organizations have outgrown founder-led execution but are not yet at the scale to justify a full-time COO at market rates.
Most clients identify quick wins within the first 30 days through the discovery and assessment process. Systemic improvements to process, accountability, and team performance typically become measurable within 60 to 90 days.
A fractional COO brings the same executive-level operational expertise as a full-time hire but works across a defined engagement scope. Faster to engage, lower in fixed overhead, and easier to scale up or down as your needs change.
Most mid-market companies do not have a fractional COO problem. They have an execution gap: the strategy is right, but the systems to deliver it are missing or fragmented. A 20-minute conversation is enough to identify the highest-leverage operational change available to your company right now.
Schedule a Conversation →Bringing Consulting to You — Where Strategy Meets Execution — Kamyar Shah