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Fractional CMO, consultant, agency, growth partner.

Four different purchases. None of them is wrong. The difference is what each one leaves you carrying.

Where to start

The fractional market is organised by function. Your week is not.

You buy a CMO, a COO, a CFO. That works when you already know which function the problem sits in.

At £2m to £20m the stall rarely sits in one. This month it is pricing. Next month it is whether the second channel is worth funding. Then a hire. Then why operations keeps missing the date.

A fractional CMO can help with a quarter of that, and a good one will tell you so.

So the first question is not which title to buy. It is whether you can already name where the problem is.

The options

Five ways to buy senior help.

What each one gives you, what it leaves you carrying, and when it is the right buy.

  • A fractional CMO, COO or CFO

    What it gives you

    A senior specialist, one or two days a week, owning one function properly. Cheaper than a permanent hire and available now.

    What it leaves you carrying

    Everything outside that function, and the judgement call about whether that function was the constraint.

    Buy this when

    You know what is wrong, it sits in one discipline, and the job is to run it better than it is being run today. If that is you, this is the cheaper and better buy. Go and hire one.

  • A consultant

    What it gives you

    A good recommendation, arrived at properly, by someone who has seen the pattern before.

    What it leaves you carrying

    Building it. On top of everything else you already do.

    Buy this when

    You have the team and the capacity to execute, and what you are missing is the read.

  • An agency

    What it gives you

    Channels run well, by people who run them all day.

    What it leaves you carrying

    Deciding which channel is worth running, and what happens to the business if the answer is none of them.

    Buy this when

    The channel is proven and the job is scale and craft.

  • A permanent growth or commercial director

    What it gives you

    Senior, permanent, all of their time on you.

    What it leaves you carrying

    £200k+ a year, committed before you know which problem you are hiring for, and a team still needed underneath them.

    Buy this when

    The role is permanent-sized and you can name it.

  • A growth partner

    What it gives you

    Senior operators in the seat across growth, commercial and operations. Targets agreed up front. Reported weekly.

    What it leaves you carrying
    • Less. That is the purchase, and it is priced that way.
    • The same people find the constraint and fix it.
    • One hour a week from you, four team hours at the start.
    • Everything built stays yours, and stays running.
    Buy this when

    You cannot yet name the constraint, or it crosses more than one function.

The difference that matters

Ask who answers for the number.

  1. Consultant

    Answers for the recommendation.

  2. Agency

    Answers for the channel.

  3. Fractional

    Answers for the function, and the days.

  4. Employee

    Answers for as long as they stay.

  5. Partner

    Agrees the target before starting, and answers for the target.

That is the structural difference. Everything after it is a pricing conversation.

Where the line sits

If you can name the constraint, do not buy a partner.

Name it, buy the specialist who owns that discipline, and keep your money. We say the same on a call, and we turn businesses down on exactly this basis.

The partner model earns its price in one situation. The constraint is not named, or it does not sit in one function, and you want the people who find it to be the people who fix it.

Worth a look at how that runs?

Three depths, what each one carries, and what it costs. Then decide whether to talk to us.

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