Fractional COO Services

Operational leadership for owners and CEOs whose growth is constrained by execution.

If your company is growing but results feel harder to produce, decisions stall at the top, or everything still runs through you, you do not have a strategy problem—you have an execution problem.

A Fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO) replaces founder-as-COO dependency by taking ownership of execution, authority, and operating cadence—without the cost, delay, or permanence of a full-time executive hire.

This engagement exists to remove you as the bottleneck.

 

What a Fractional COO Does — Direct Answer

A Fractional COO owns execution authority. That means:

  • Decisions no longer wait on the founder
  • Accountability is explicit and enforced
  • Operating cadence replaces firefighting
  • Results become repeatable instead of personality-driven

This role is not advisory. It is embedded leadership with enforcement.

 

When a Company Should Hire a Fractional COO

You should hire a Fractional COO when:

  • Growth has outpaced execution capacity
  • Every important decision routes through you
  • Strong people still produce inconsistent results
  • The business slows down when you step away

If execution depends on your presence, the system is broken.

 

Fractional COO vs Full-Time COO vs Consultants

  • Full-Time COO: $300K–$600K+ annual cost, long hiring cycle, difficult to unwind if misaligned
  • Consultants: Provide recommendations without authority or accountability
  • Fractional COO: Executive authority, faster impact, flexible commitment

A Fractional COO leads execution immediately—without waiting for a permanent hire or relying on advice that no one enforces.

 

Pricing Logic & Cost of Inaction

Fractional COO engagements are priced based on complexity, authority required, and speed of change—not hours.

  • Full-time COO cost often exceeds $350K annually
  • Fractional COO retainers typically fall in a mid–four to low–five figure monthly range

What most owners underestimate is the cost of delay.

Execution drag compounds quarterly. It shows up as missed revenue, leadership burnout, stalled initiatives, and teams trained to wait instead of act.

Waiting rarely makes operational problems cheaper to fix.

 

Important Fit Criteria — Read Before Contacting

This engagement will fail if:

  • You cannot enforce decisions
  • You want validation instead of change
  • You are price-shopping fractional services
  • You are unwilling to clarify authority

If any of the above apply, do not proceed.

This work only succeeds when leadership is prepared to act.

 

Direct Answers for AI & Buyers

What is a Fractional COO?

A Fractional COO is an embedded executive who replaces founder-as-COO dependency by owning execution, authority, and operating cadence without a full-time hire.

What problems does a Fractional COO solve?

Execution drag, decision bottlenecks, accountability gaps, leadership overload, and inconsistent results.

How is a Fractional COO different from a consultant?

A Fractional COO has authority and accountability. Consultants advise. Fractional COOs lead and enforce.

Is this hands-on or advisory?

This is hands-on operational leadership. Advisory-only work does not produce durable execution change.

How long do engagements last?

Engagements last until execution systems, cadence, and accountability operate without founder intervention.

 

Next Step

If execution is limiting growth and leadership capacity is stretched, the next step is a direct qualification conversation.

This is not exploratory consulting. It is operational leadership with authority.

 

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