Does your business need a fractional COO?

What is a fractional COO + does your business need one

If you’re growing but still stuck in the day-to-day, something needs to change.

You don’t need more hours in the week. You need someone to sort out how the business runs behind the scenes. That’s what a fractional COO does.

Let’s break down what the role actually is, how it works and when to bring one in.

What a fractional COO actually does

A fractional COO is a part-time operations lead. Senior level, but not full-time. They bring structure, experience and systems to businesses that are scaling fast but running messy.

They help you:

  • Fix what’s breaking behind the scenes

  • Design how work gets done across the team

  • Get decisions out of your head and into a rhythm

  • Build the delivery and ops capacity you need to grow

  • Lead better by not doing it all yourself

They don’t just advise. They roll up their sleeves and make it happen.

Why growing businesses bring one in

You’ve hit that point where more sales just means more stress.

The team is busy but not always aligned. You’re the fallback for too much. The gaps between sales, delivery and ops are starting to show.

A fractional COO gives you:

  • Clarity on what’s working and what isn’t

  • Systems that support growth

  • Space to lead without firefighting

  • Confidence your team can run without you

How to know if it’s time

This role isn’t about headcount. It’s about stage.

It’s time to consider a fractional COO if:

  • You’re the only one who knows how it all fits together

  • You’re spending too much time managing, not enough time leading

  • Delivery feels chaotic and hard to repeat

  • The team needs direction, not more tools

  • Growth is on hold because everything still relies on you

What it looks like when we do it

At Inpurpose, we call this fractional change leadership.

We come in a few days each month, work with you and your team to fix how the business runs, and help you build something that can scale. Just practical hands-on support to reduce founder dependency and increase team performance.

Final thought!

You don’t need to be in firefighting mode forever.

If your business is growing but still depends on you to hold it all together, a fractional COO might be what gets you out of the weeds and back to leading.

See how we help →

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How to improve small business operations when everything feels chaotic

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How to improve team performance in a small business