The Partnership · Fractional COO and part-time operations director · from £3,500 a month
I lead the back end. You run the front.
For the founder who is done being the person everything comes back to, who wants to stay front and centre growing the business and hasn't got a minute left to oversee the back end too. I'm your part-time operations director, what some people call a fractional COO, I lead what happens behind the scenes and keep it moving week in, week out, and I look ahead so the business is set up for growth and stays that way.
Where you are now
It's working. It's just still all on you.
The quick questions
“Have you got a sec?”
All day, from everyone. Each one only takes a minute, and by the end of the day your own list hasn't moved.
The big decisions
Nobody else will make them
Who to hire, what to charge, which job to say no to. They all sit with you, usually at night, usually on your own.
The drift
You sorted it once
You got things straight last year and then it slowly slid back, because you got busy and nobody was looking after it.
What happens next
Things drift.
The hard bit isn't building it. It's keeping it that way.
A new starter joins and nobody shows them how it's done. Someone leaves and takes half of what they knew with them. A bigger job comes in and the usual way of doing things stretches until it snaps. You get busy, the Friday check slips, and three months later you're back in the middle of it all.
Nothing went wrong. Nobody was looking after it.
What I look after
What I lead, so you can run the front.
01
The projects
The things that need to happen behind the scenes, each with an owner, a next step and a date.
02
Ownership
Kept on track as people join and roles change, so it never goes back to landing on you.
03
The numbers, every month
Put in front of you in plain words, so you're never guessing how the business is doing.
04
Who to hire next
What they'd actually do, how to bring them in, and how you'll know it's working.
05
The decisions
I take the ones I can, and bring you the ones that really need you.
06
The way things are done
Checked and improved as the business grows, so it keeps getting more efficient instead of slowly slipping back.
The first four months
How it builds, month by month.
Take things off you
I get under the skin of how your business really runs and take ownership of the projects and decisions that are sitting with you. The weekly update starts straight away, so from week one you know exactly where everything is, and most owners feel lighter within the first three weeks.
Get the team owning it
Who owns what gets agreed and written down, and I start running the team check-ins myself. The questions that used to come to you start coming to me, and things get followed through without you having to chase.
Tighten it up
A simple monthly view of the numbers that matter, in plain words, with what I'd do about them. We find where your processes are slowing you down or costing you money and improve them, and we plan your next hire properly, so it isn't a panic in a busy fortnight.
Set up for growth
We map where the business is going over the next year and what the back end needs to keep up with it, agree the priorities for the next quarter, then decide together whether we carry on. By now you should be spending your time on the front of the business, not the back.
What a month looks like
A rhythm you can rely on.
A short written update, so you always know where things are.
A call to go through what's moved, what's stuck and what needs a decision.
Messages or voice notes for the things that can't wait.
The numbers in front of you, with what I'd do about them.
Looking for what to improve next, so the business keeps moving forward.
What it feels like
Your new starter's first week is already planned. The numbers land before you've thought to ask. When a job slips, the person who owns it tells you, and tells you what they're doing about it.
Why it's worth it
Senior help at the back of your business, without the senior salary.
Compared with hiring
A fraction of a full-time director
No salary, National Insurance, pension or recruitment fees, and no months waiting for someone to find their feet. You get senior experience from month one, for a fraction of the cost.
No hiring risk
Someone who already knows your business
No job adverts, no notice periods and no hoping you've picked the right person. I already know how your business runs, so I'm useful from the first week.
It builds on itself
Every month adds to the last
Each process we tighten, each decision that stops landing on you and each hire done properly makes the next month easier, so the value grows the longer it runs.
You're not paying for hours. You're paying for the back of the business to be led properly while you spend your time on the front, where the money's made.
What it isn't
Let's be clear about the job.
It is
- Someone senior leading the back end of your business.
- Someone who tells you straight when something isn't working, and brings a solution.
- Someone who knows how your business runs, because we built it together.
It isn't
- Someone to answer your inbox or run your diary.
- A bookkeeper or an HR department. For anything legal, I'll point you to an employment adviser.
- A replacement for your team.
The investment
From £3,500 a month, four months minimum.
Think of it as the senior person at the back of your business, without the senior salary.
It takes a little while for something like this to settle in, which is why it's four months, and by the third and fourth month you should be able to feel the difference. For most of you reading this, you already know what being the person everything comes back to has cost you, and the expensive option is being in the same place three months from now.
Questions
Before you ask.
From £3,500 a month, four-month minimum. Think of it as the senior person at the back of your business, without the senior salary.
Do I have to do the Fix first?
Not always, but it usually makes sense. It gives me a proper understanding of how your business runs, and it gives us something solid to look after.
What is a fractional COO?
It's a senior operations person who works in your business part-time rather than full-time. That's what the Partnership is. I lead the back end of your business for a set monthly fee, without you having to hire someone full-time.
How is this different from hiring an operations manager?
An operations manager needs managing. I lead it, make the decisions that don't need you, and bring years of doing this in big organisations and in my own business, without the salary, the recruitment or the risk.
Why a four-month minimum?
It takes a little while for something like this to settle in. By the third and fourth month you should feel the difference, and that's the point to judge it.
What happens after four months?
We map out where the business is going and what that means for the back end, then decide whether we keep working together.
Will you work with my team directly?
Yes, where it makes sense. I'll introduce myself properly and explain what I'm there for, so it never feels like someone checking up on them.