Fractional COOs and CFOs exist for a good reason.

Growing businesses need senior operational and financial expertise long before they can justify a full-time hire. The gap is real, and the intent behind fractional leadership is sound.

But in practice, the model often falls short and we believe the need is better served by Projects for Big Leaps, Business Coaching and Education that brings the knowledge truly in house.

A Quick but Important Caveat for Hiring a Fractional COO or CFO

Before we go any further, it is worth saying this plainly.

Most businesses should not be hiring a full-time COO or CFO as early as they think they should either.

Senior titles do not magically create clarity, momentum, or good decision-making. Hiring too early can be just as damaging as hiring too late, adding cost, complexity, and hierarchy before the underlying problems are even well defined.

The issue is not fractional versus full-time, it is when and how senior expertise is applied.

Where the Fractional Model Breaks Down

Fractional roles work best when the scope is tightly defined, clearly bounded, and actively protected.

In reality, that rarely happens.

Scope drifts. Expectations blur. Fractionals get pulled into work they were not hired, or best placed, to do. And once the original problem is solved, they often stay on, delivering diminishing value at a senior price point.

We have seen this from both sides.

Businesses lose focus and momentum. Fractionals end up acting as expensive glue, filling gaps rather than solving them properly.

There is also a deeper structural shift underneath all of this.

The Work Has Changed but the Model Has Not

Much of the day-to-day operational and financial work that fractionals historically handled is now being absorbed by better tools, systems, and automation.

Reporting, forecasting, process design, operational cadence. These no longer require continuous senior human input in the way they once did.

The need has not disappeared but the delivery model has not kept up.

What remains is the work that still requires senior judgement. Trade-offs, sequencing, decision-making, and clarity. And that kind of work does not benefit from being spread thinly over months just in case.

The False Choice Founders Are Given

At the other extreme sits traditional consulting.

Consulting brings structure, frameworks, and consistency, but often at a price point, pace, and cultural distance that most startups and SMEs simply cannot accommodate. Many consultants have never operated inside the messy, resource-constrained environments they are advising on.

So founders are left choosing between:

• ongoing senior headcount they do not really need, or

• polished advice they cannot fully use

Neither option is particularly satisfying.

Why Fractional Is Not Fulfilling Work Either

There is another side to this that is discussed less often.

Being fractional goes against everything we believe makes work meaningful, for the business and for the individual doing it.

Fractionals are rarely building something end to end. They are not fully accountable. They are not working towards a long-term outcome they truly care about. Instead, they are spread across a handful of businesses, hovering just long enough to be useful before their impact naturally tapers off.

That is not purposeful work.

It is senior expertise reduced to a day rate.

And it is not how we believe the best operators, CFOs, or COOs do their best thinking.

A Different Motivation Entirely

Our motivation is simple.

We are passionate about helping as many founders, operators, and startups as possible. About lowering the barriers to entry to entrepreneurship. About fuelling the startup economy. About supporting people who might not otherwise be able to access high-quality operational and strategic help.

We know the best way to do that is not by staying embedded in a small number of businesses for extended periods with diminishing returns.

It is by helping many businesses through focused, high-impact projects, and by sharing what we learn through education, tools, and repeatable frameworks.

A Different Way to Apply Senior Expertise

That is why we work in a project-based way.

Clear objectives. Defined start and end points. Outcomes over time served.

We apply senior human input where it adds the most value, judgement, prioritisation, and decision-making, and let systems, tools, and teams carry the work forward once the project is done.

Because the goal is not to stay embedded forever.

It is to leave the business stronger, clearer, and easier to run.

Beyond the One Senior Brain Model

This approach also recognises something else. No single individual has all the answers.

By working as a team, with shared frameworks and complementary strengths, we bring broader perspective and deeper challenge than a single fractional ever could.

And because the work is repeatable and learnable, it improves over time, for us and for our clients.

So, should you hire a fractional COO or CFO?

Sometimes but far less often, and for far less time, than the market would have you believe.

The real issue is not whether senior expertise should be fractional, full-time, or external.

It is when and how that expertise is applied.

Most early, growing businesses do not need ongoing senior headcount.

They need clarity, sequencing, and good decisions at specific moments then systems, tools, and teams that can carry the work forward without constant senior input.

That is why we believe senior operational and financial expertise works best when it is:

• applied deliberately, not continuously

• tightly scoped around real outcomes

• used to unlock progress, not create dependency

Not long-running fractional roles. Not premature full-time hires. Not traditional consulting.

Something more focused and better suited to how modern businesses actually grow.

If you are currently weighing up a fractional COO or CFO or simply trying to work out what kind of senior input would genuinely move your business forward a short discovery conversation can help bring clarity.

No sales pitch. No obligation. Just a chance to pressure-test your thinking and work out what actually makes sense for where you are right now.

Pay As You Go COO Discovery Call

45min

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