Not ready for a fractional COO yet? Fill one seat first.
A fractional COO runs the business through the people in it. If every client, sale and delivery decision still comes to you, an operator has nobody to hand work to, and you end up paying senior fees for help you can't use yet. Most founders at this stage need one hire first: a delivery lead, a marketing lead, or someone to own the admin and the numbers.
Signs you are early, not stuck
You are early if the business still depends on your hands as well as your decisions. An operator fixes how decisions move through a team. Until a team layer exists, the fix is a hire, and the right hire costs less than a fractional COO and takes more off your plate this year.
- Turnover sits under roughly £500k.
- Sales, delivery, marketing and money all run through you.
- You still do most of the client work yourself, as well as deciding about it.
- A retainer of £2,600 a month would take more than a tenth of your turnover.
If two or more of those describe you, put the money into a hire first.
Which seat to fill first
Your first hire should take the biggest pile of work that lands on you by default. Four seats cover most small service businesses. Pick the one that matches where your week goes.
A delivery lead
Clients love the work, but you check every piece before it goes out. Hire or promote someone who knows the craft to run delivery, hold the standard and train the team. Most service businesses need this seat first. An operator can steer a business, but can't run a delivery team that has no lead.
A marketing lead
Work arrives only through your own network, and a quiet month worries you. Hire someone to run marketing so enquiries land without you making every call. Keep the selling yourself for now. Founders tend to hold client relationships and sales until the business is well past £1M.
Operations or admin support
Your week disappears into invoices, scheduling, chasing and the inbox. A capable operations assistant, even two days a week, gives you those hours back within a month.
A bookkeeper
You find out how the month went when the bank balance tells you. A bookkeeper who closes each month, plus a simple cash forecast, gives you the first pillar of the Firm Foundation Framework: Financial Visibility.
How to tell which one
Track one ordinary week. Each time someone brings you something, or you pick up a task nobody else can do, write it down. Five working days of notes will name the seat.
Log it
One line for every interruption and every task that lands on you, Monday to Friday.
Sort it
Tag each line: delivery, marketing, admin, money, or a decision only you can make.
Hire for the biggest pile
The largest pile is your first seat. The "only me" pile shows you what to keep.
Founders often ask me for a COO when they need one good hire first. I would rather tell you that on a call than sell you a retainer you can't use yet.David Schofield · Purpose In Action
When to come back
Come back when the questions reaching you are about how the business runs: who decides what, what the numbers say, and why the same problem keeps returning. An operator has something to work with at that point.
- Someone other than you owns delivery, marketing or the numbers.
- Turnover has passed roughly £500k and keeps growing.
- Your team brings you decisions you want them to make themselves.
- Good people are in place, and the business has still outgrown the way you run it.
From there, the ten-sign self-check takes two minutes, when to hire a fractional COO covers the timing in more depth, and the 4-Week Operational Assessment maps where your structure breaks.
Questions founders ask
What size business needs a fractional COO?
Fractional COO work tends to pay back in founder-led businesses turning over £500k to £15M, with a team big enough to hand decisions to. Below £500k, the fees take too large a share of turnover and a first hire does more good.
Should I hire an operations manager or a fractional COO first?
Hire an operations manager or assistant if you need someone to run daily tasks. A fractional COO designs how the business runs and develops the people who run it. The full comparison is in fractional COO vs operations manager.
Can a fractional COO help a business under £500k?
Sometimes, on a light advisory basis, when the founder has a team and the problem is how decisions move through it. If you still do most of the work yourself, a hire will help you more.
What should a founder hire first?
The seat that takes the biggest pile of work only you handle today. For most service businesses that means a delivery lead. If work comes only through your own network, it means a marketing lead.
Will Purpose In Action talk to me if I'm not ready yet?
Yes. Book a 30-minute Operational Clarity Call and you will leave knowing which seat to fill first, even if the answer is that you don't need a fractional COO yet.
Not sure which side of the line you're on?
A 30-minute Operational Clarity Call will tell you. If the answer is a hire, you'll know which one, and you can come back when that person is in place. Or send a two-line note to [email protected].
Book an Operational Clarity Call →