What does a fractional COO engagement cost?

Monthly retainer scoped to commitment level (typically weekly or twice-monthly). Quoted up front against deliverables.

How is this different from a coach or consultant?

I sit in the business as an operator. I own outcomes, attend leadership meetings, make decisions, and build. Not external advice.

Do you take on multiple clients?

Yes — a small portfolio of fractional engagements. Each gets defined commitment hours and deliverables.

Will you be in person?

Hybrid — regular remote cadence with on-site days across Ohio. Quarterly planning often on-site.

How long do engagements run?

Most run 6–12 months. Some convert to long-term part-time roles; others end at full-time COO hire.

Will you sign an NDA and non-compete?

Yes to NDA. Non-compete scoped narrowly to direct competitors, not the industry.

Can you help me hire my full-time COO?

Yes — role design, scorecard, interview process, decision, and onboarding. Often the natural end of the fractional engagement.

What size businesses?

Best fit roughly $1M–$25M revenue with 5–75 people. Founders and owner-operators.

Services

Fractional COO — Operations Leadership Without The Full-Time Hire

Operations leadership without hiring a full-time COO. Weekly or twice-monthly engagement scoped to clear deliverables. Real operator presence in your business — not a slide-deck advisor.

Request consultation Book strategy session

What a fractional COO does here

I sit in your business as the operations leader you can't yet justify hiring full-time. Operating rhythm, cross-functional execution, process design, hiring decisions, vendor management, and the bottleneck work that's currently stuck on the owner's calendar.

Engagements run weekly or twice-monthly with clear deliverables per cycle. I'm in your leadership meetings, your weekly business review, and the working sessions where decisions actually get made. I also build — process, dashboards, automations, integrations — when the work needs hands, not just guidance.

Most engagements run 6–12 months. Some convert to part-time COO long-term; others end clean when you're ready to hire a full-time operator and I help recruit, hire, and onboard the successor.

Weekly operating rhythm and accountability
Cross-functional execution and unblock work
Process design and documentation
Hiring and org design
Vendor management
Successor recruitment and onboarding

Why work with James

Operator background, not a deck-only consultant. Every credibility marker below is something I've actually built or run — not theory.

10+ Years Building Businesses

Multi-Company Owner

Software Developer

AI Platform Builder

Business Systems Architect

Sales Process Designer

Marketing Strategist

KPI & Operations Expert

How a fractional COO engagement runs

Diagnose

First 3–4 weeks: read the business, the team, the systems, the metrics. Find the unblock work.

Install rhythm

Weekly leadership meeting, monthly business review, quarterly planning. The cadence the business runs on.

Unblock

Take the top 3–5 owner-stuck items off the owner's plate and run them.

Systematize

Process, documentation, automation so the work doesn't bottleneck on people again.

Hire ahead

Org design and hiring of the next critical roles. Onboard them into the rhythm.

Hand off

Recruit and onboard the full-time successor when the business outgrows fractional.

Examples of this work

Anonymized examples of engagements that fit this scope. Names and identifying details withheld.

Founder unbottlenecking

Founder was every approval, every escalation, every cross-team decision. Installed an operating rhythm and a delegation framework. Founder offloaded most operational decisions within a quarter and got back to growth work.

Multi-location operations

Owner running multiple locations with no consistent ops standard. Built process, hired location managers, installed weekly ops review. Standards converged and the owner stopped firefighting.

Post-Series-A operating maturity

Company had just raised and needed real operating maturity before scaling. Installed planning, OKR-style accountability, and cross-functional cadence. Ready for the next two hires.

Frequently asked questions

Website Development That Converts

Operator-built websites engineered to convert, rank, and scale. Modern stack, AI-ready, owned by your team — not locked in a template.

AI Consulting From An Operator Who Actually Builds

AI strategy and implementation for businesses that want results, not slideware. Identify the right use cases, build, deploy, and own the outcome.

AI Automation That Removes Real Work

AI-powered automation across sales, ops, finance, and support. Identify the highest-cost repetitive work and replace it with reliable AI workflows.

Business Consulting From An Operator

Operator-led business consulting: strategy, sales, marketing, operations, and systems. Outside perspective from someone who has actually built and run companies.

Business Strategy For Owners Who Have To Live With The Decision

Operator-led business strategy: focus, sequencing, market bets, and the operating rhythm to execute. Built for owners, not for hand-offs to interns.

Sales Consulting From An Operator Who Has Carried A Bag

Sales consulting that builds real motions, real pipelines, and real accountability — not just a training day and a deck.

Ready to talk specifics?

Request a consultation, call, text, or book a paid strategy session to dig in.

Request consultation Call James Text James Strategy session

Call or text — 24/7 · (740) 401-9448