The idea of hiring in part time executive help into start-up and scale-up companies has been around a while but is growing in popularity. I'm going to take a look at what the benefits are of bringing in someone part time into your business and how it can help supercharge your growth plans.
Let's start by saying the idea of having an experienced hand on board in the guise of an NED or board advisor is as old as the hills and often a very valuable appointment. The purpose of this blog though is to discuss the merits of an experienced hand coming on board to execute the strategy and get stuff done. Stuff that you're either too busy for or don't have experience of yet.
Bandwidth
Speaking from experience, I know there's often just not enough hours in the day to do everything you need to do. Sometimes that means you don't get important stuff done and sometimes if you're spreading yourself too thin, you're not doing things as well as you should.
Delegating more isn't always as easy as saying, I appreciate that. Learning how to let go of certain things and taking a bit of time to get someone else up to speed on what you want done is really liberating. We all think that nobody else can do it as well as we do but there's a trade off in terms of all the additional value you'll add by having a bit more time.
Very often, there might not be anyone to delegate to. This is where fractional help can come in really handy. Buy in just enough time and of the right experience to get your stuff done. Someone that's been there and done it before, knows the ins and outs, knows what not to do and will be on your side when you're up against it is a calming and reassuring thing.
Not only that, as a business owner you often get drawn into things that aren't the highest priority but might still need to be done. Having someone you can trust available when you need them will free you up to do the things you SHOULD be focusing on that are going to have the biggest impact for you.
With competing priorities for your time, it's just as important to work out what not to do when deciding on how you can deliver the most value
Affordability
It's all well and good talking about delegating to people, but what if there's no-one there to delegate to or you don't have the budget for a fulltime appointment to delegate to? This really is the sweet spot in the benefits case for hiring a fractional exec; get as much or as little as you need and only pay for that amount. It's the perfect way to get experienced help in through the door at an affordable cost.
Compare the monthly cost of getting an experienced COO or CFO in for a hand full of days a month versus the cost of that experienced person as a full time hire. You're not just saving on a full time salary but also on the employment related costs like pension and NI contributions.
It's the ultimate in pay as you go and a perfect solution for when your business is scaling up; take as much as you need and scale the input if and when you need.
Experience
There can be a lot of making it up as you go along when you're breaking new ground with your business. Nothing wrong with that but doing something from a place of experience and having done it before is usually a better way.
Having someone onboard who knows the pitfalls, quirks, has relevant contacts and can navigate the waters better than you could from a position of inexperience shouldn't be underrated. It can help you get where you want to faster and more cost effectively and will bring more ideas around how to make whatever you're doing even more successful.
Hiring a fractional exec will help you deliver quick wins and instant impact instead of scratching around and experimenting with ideas that may or may not work. Just think about that, rapid progress towards what you want to achieve.
Urgency
You might need someone faster than you could find a permanent team member. Getting a fractional exec is perfect for this as they're often able to deploy at short notice and will be focused on delivering instant value add for you.
It might be you have an urgent need to get someone into an operational role or maybe there's a distinct body of work that needs to be done.
Whatever the scope, you'll find a fractional exec will be focused on delivering instant high impact for you, their reputation is based on it.
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