Strategic Operating Partner & Fractional COO

Strategic Operating Partner

Three ways to work together

Strategic Advisor

$3,500 a month

Two working sessions a month

A senior operator in your corner. We set the priorities with you; you and your team carry them out.

An operating review in month one, with a written report on the three biggest constraints
A 90-day plan with an owner, a deadline and a measure for every priority, reset each quarter
A weekly scorecard of 5 to 15 numbers, each with one owner
Two 90-minute working sessions a month, each ending with a written action list
A delegation list: the decisions and tasks to hand off first, and to whom
Replies between sessions within one business day
A one-page summary every month

Fractional Operating Partner

$10,000 a month

About one day a week

Your part-time COO. We run the operating rhythm with your leaders and build what is missing.

Everything in Strategic Advisor, plus:
We run your weekly leadership meeting and a quarterly planning day
An accountability chart with decision rights: who owns each function, number and decision
Your core workflows written down as step-by-step procedures, starting with intake, delivery and billing
Monthly one-to-ones with each of your leaders
Hiring scorecards, interview plans and onboarding for key roles
A review of your systems and software: what to keep, connect or drop
A monthly owner report you can read in ten minutes

Embedded Operating Partner

$18,000 a month

Two to three days a week

An interim COO inside the business while we build the team that takes over.

Everything in Fractional Operating Partner, plus:
Direct oversight of operations, service delivery and the leaders who run them
Weekly coaching for your managers
A 13-week cash forecast, margin by service or client, and an annual budget
Pipeline and capacity planning, so you sell what the team can deliver
Leadership of the big changes: a restructure, a new system or a hiring push
Recruiting a permanent COO or operations lead, with a written handover plan

At some point the people, systems and habits that built a business stop being enough. You have built a company, hired people and won a customer base, yet more and more still lands on you. Decisions keep coming back to you, things fall through the cracks, and growth stalls because everything still runs through you.

Where we come in

As your operating partner, we find what is holding the business back and build what is missing: management, accountability, systems, revenue processes or hands-on operational leadership. The result is a business with the structure for its next stage of growth, and an owner who can stay involved without managing every moving part.

It fits when

Decisions wait for you, and work stalls until you get to it.
Your managers run their teams, but nobody runs the business with you.
Growth adds work and stress faster than it adds profit.
You can’t take two weeks off without the business slowing down.

Your first 90 days

Days 1 to 30: operating review. Interviews with you and your leaders, and a look at the numbers, workflows and tools. You get the written findings and your first scorecard.
Days 31 to 60: fix the biggest constraint. The 90-day plan is under way, the meeting rhythm is set, and the first roles and procedures are written down.
Days 61 to 90: make it stick. An owner for every number and decision, the next quarter’s plan, and a review of what changed on the scorecard.

Against a full-time hire

The median pay for US chief executives, a group that includes COOs, was $213,990 in May 2025, before benefits (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). The Fractional level is $10,000 a month, and month to month after the first six.

Marketing and operations, planned together

More demand only helps if the business can handle it. When an operating partner works with a search or social media program, we plan the two together: the marketing brings in the work, and the operating side gets the team, systems and service delivery ready for it.

Authority includes the Strategic Advisor. Every level also works with Foundation or Growth on the pricing page, or on its own.

What's included

Organizational leadership: management structure, roles, accountability and decision-making authority
People and teams: hiring, onboarding, managing employees and developing leaders
Operations and systems: workflows, processes, technology, service delivery and execution
Revenue and financial visibility: sales processes, billing, revenue accountability and performance information
Growth capacity: coordinating departments and building the infrastructure for expansion
Owner priorities: clarifying decisions, delegation and the owner's changing role

FAQ

Questions about Strategic Operating Partner

Which level is right for us?

Strategic Advisor suits owners with a capable team who need an experienced outside view to set priorities. Fractional suits businesses where nobody owns operations day to day. Embedded suits periods of heavy change, such as a restructure, a hiring push or an owner stepping back. The operating review in the first month confirms the fit, and the level can change as the business does.

How is this different from hiring a COO?

A full-time COO is a large, long-term hire: the median pay for US chief executives, a group that includes COOs, was $213,990 in May 2025, before benefits (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). We give you senior operating leadership at the level of involvement the business needs now. Many owners use the Fractional or Embedded level to build the management team first, then decide whether a full-time hire makes sense.

Do you work with our existing team and systems?

Yes. The work starts with the people and tools you already have. We document how the business runs today, fix what is not working and add only what is missing, so your team can run it without us.

Can we combine it with a marketing package?

Yes. Authority includes the Strategic Advisor, and every level works with Foundation or Growth, or on its own. It counts as a growth program for the integrated rate, so Growth with a Strategic Advisor comes to $9,900 a month. Build the combination on the pricing page to see the totals.

What do we get in the first 90 days?

An operating review in the first month, with written findings and your first scorecard; a 90-day plan with an owner, a deadline and a measure for every priority; and by day 90, an owner for every number and decision and the next quarter's plan. The Advisor level guides your team through it, while the Fractional and Embedded levels run the work with your leaders.

Who leads the operating partner work?

Margret DeBruyn, our Chief Operating Partner. She has spent more than 25 years leading and growing businesses, including a $60 million company she ran as CEO, and holds a master's degree in organizational psychology. Meet Margret.