When Don’t You Need a Fractional COO
Photo by Linda Eller-Shein from Pexels.
In case this is your first visit, I’m John Gauch – a seasoned fractional COO, sales coach and mentor. Over 20+ years, I have applied my growth and operations skills to help dozens of startups, building one high-impact venture to nearly $100M in revenue and a second to exceed that benchmark. I began my career as a tech lawyer in New York City. I developed my expertise in progressive roles in business development, finance, sales, marketing and product, working along the way with companies like Amazon, IBM and Microsoft.
There are many great reasons to build a business. Maybe it’s a creative outlet for one person. Someone else might be obsessed with solving a nagging problem they observed out in the world. Perhaps a third person never fit into a traditional corporate job and has a ton to offer in a role and company of their own creation.
Business building is about changing the future. A successful new business makes the world different from what it is today.
One thing is for sure: founders have the opportunity to make a huge positive impact on the lives of their customers and stakeholders.
There are many situations when a founder could use the extra set of hands an operating partner offers. And there are a few when it may not make sense.
Read also: Defining our Terms: What is a Fractional Leader Anyway?
When you've got the below covered between yourself, any co-founders, and your team, keep doing more of the same.
The Founder
You’re not struggling with scaling yourself, and you’re not missing any key capabilities.
You are spending the vast majority of your time on the activities you alone can do and where you have the greatest leverage.
Your vision is clear, you understand the external environment, and you have a plan.
The Business
You have demonstrable evidence that you’re onto a compelling new business opportunity: traction.
The business is growing the way you want and meeting cost and expense targets.
You have practices and processes in place to surface and address the assumptions and unknowns you still need to test or clarify.
You have the time to learn what you need to know, through financing or company profits.
You’ve built the supporting infrastructure to scale.
Read also: Overlooked Traits of Successful Startup CEOsThe Team
You’ve got the right team members with the right skills and experience in the right roles.
The organization is learning quickly and efficiently.
The team is covering the delegable parts of the business and handling them well.
You’re not struggling with team alignment or direction.
If you’ve got the above covered, you’ve eliminated many of the most significant unknowns relating to the business. You probably have a good read on your next moves. You may not have an absolutely certain path forward, but you are in control of the situation.
Read also: What I Need to Know to Make Investor Referrals
Growth businesses come in all shapes and sizes. Some are venture-backed. Some are bootstrapped. Some have been around a year or two, others a decade or more.
One truth applicable to all founder-led businesses with big ambitions is that the founder needs to be free to work on the parts of the business where you can have the greatest impact, not trying to do it all. If that describes your situation, keep going; if it doesn’t, consider what you need to make a change. It can be the single-most valuable move you make.
If there are aspects of your business or your work life that you want to change, I’m always happy to talk about what you’re working on.