Fractional COO Services for Small Businesses

Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner looking for a way to get more done in less time?

If so, then this is the place for you.

In this article we’ll look at some top reasons small businesses find value in a fractional executive suite.

Fractional COO services offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to add a leader to their team with a specific skill without absorbing the full expense of hiring a seasoned executive. This can be an attractive option when compared with other types of executive management such as professional executive coaching – which requires a large upfront investment in coaching fees and ongoing monthly charges or having to establish a formal board of directors. 

The benefits of having a COO in your company are numerous. They include:

  1. Better overall productivity
  2. Improved communication and employee engagement
  3. More efficient decision making
  4. Providing critical skills training and establishing KPIs for core teams
  5. Streamlined sounding board for growth strategies and strategic planning
  6. Greater profitability

But how does a small business afford adding a Chief Operating Officer role?

The answer is simple: by avoiding the high overhead of long term contract negotiations and benefits packages of a full time employee. You want a COO that is generating a return on investment in their first few days of operations. Hiring the right person for the role and for the right amount of time that the business needs them is quite a challenge.

That’s where a Fractional COO comes in.

A fractional executive role supports your entire company in executing your strategic plan and achieving company goals on a part time basis instead of being a full time executive. A full-time COO joins your company’s leadership team and brings with them executive leadership and extensive experience but also a long term commitment which may not be what you projected in your business plan. Paying for such a breadth of knowledge in daily operations and pursuing business growth and business development is expensive. Full-time hires like this running small business operations daily can cost over $250,000 year once you factor in benefits packages and bonuses. Most small companies, under 100 employees don’t need this much work and therefore can’t ever make a return on that full-time cost. This is why fractional executive suites exist. With a fractional COO you can achieve all these benefits while only paying for the hours they are actually on contract. So if you’re ready to grow your business and take it to the next level, consider adding a fractional COO service to your business model.

How much does hiring a Fractional COO with experience cost?

When you are evaluating business strategies and executive services to reach your long term goals it’s important to understand the costs. Some fractional leaders charge hourly and others charge on a contract basis. Our operations expert charges a base fee for a set minimum number of hours. There are no added fees, no benefits costs, and no reimbursements to worry about. The fractional C-suite is the future of small business through the gig economy, and allows you to avoid paying an annual salary. Fractional leaders charge anywhere from $100 to $400 per hour depending on experience. We provide a detailed explanation of how our rate competes making sure you know exactly what you are getting into before signing up during a free 15 minute consultation. We set a fixed contract minimum and negotiate competitive hourly rates for any work beyond that. As small business owners ourselves, we have extensive knowledge how the demands of business, project management and limited resources will vary from one week or month to the next. No business should have to pay for unused hours in months when the business need didn’t justify it. If they were going to, they probably should have just hired a business leader with a full time salary – but that’s what they were trying to avoid in the first place!

Do you want a helping hand growing your business so you can spend more time at home or with the family?

SBG Consulting offers a suite of solutions including Fractional COO services from our consultants. Our business model is designed to help small businesses increase their productivity and profitability. We provide training, coaching, and consulting services on topics such as leadership, operations, process improvement, sales management, marketing, technology, and financial performance. Contact us today to learn more about our Fractional COO service!