Have you ever found yourself with thoughts like “my revenues are up but I don’t feel like I’m getting ahead” or “I need someone to run this project”? Situations like these are examples of how COOs can help small businesses and start-ups, but many owners and founders don’t realize it. A small business benefits from engaging a fractional COO.
COOs aren’t just for large businesses
Large complex businesses aren’t the only ones that need COOs. Small businesses and even start-ups benefit from engaging a fractional COO.
Small businesses may think that they can’t afford a COO. It’s true that a small business may not be able to justify the expense of a full-time COO. They still need the experience and focus on operations that a COO brings. The fractional model makes the COO expertise available to smaller organizations by using a cost-effective part-time model.
It isn’t uncommon for one of the founders or the CEO to the fill both the roles of CEO and COO. When starting out and resources are limited, that may be the best option. The roles are different, however. The CEO focuses on growing the business, casting vision, building culture, and fostering relationships. COOs focus on day-to-day operations. They ensure that teams work well together, remove roadblocks, and deal with details. It is rare to find individual that both excels at and enjoys performing both roles simultaneously.
How a small business benefits from a Fractional COO
In cases like this, a fractional COO will free up the CEO to do what they do best. They can take ownership of projects that the CEO doesn’t have time to shepherd. COOs facilitate communication between departments. They can dig into the numbers to identify trends or potential problems that can be addressed before they become too disruptive.
Fractional COOs can be hands-on with ownership of projects and responsibilities as discussed above, or they can take on a more advisory role. Small businesses are often built around talented, energetic people. They will benefit from someone to help them grow the business smartly so that it is sustainable and profitable as it scales. The business may have the on-the-ground resources but needs someone with experience to help guide them. You can’t just add more people to a business as it grows; you have to intentionally improve your processes and do things differently if you want to be more profitable and more efficient. Fractional COOs have the “been there done that” experience to help you grow the right way. They help you reap the rewards of growing your organization.
If you need extra executive bandwidth or want to ensure you are building a scalable business, consider engaging a fractional COO. Contact us to learn more. CONTACT US or http://linkedin.com/in/cmatt
https://opalpg.com/2020/08/17/small-businesses-benefits-fractional-coo/
