Fractionals United Blog

Being a fractional isn't easy. I already blogged about the challenges to consider before going this route so I won't repeat them, but there are others I wanted to address: context switching not being able to coast required experience and expertise personal limitations Context Switching It is challenging having more than one client, whether fractional or otherwise, but if you're a fractional, you need to focus on a regular basis to get results. As a Fractional COO, since I run companies, I have to be available daily and the only way I've been able to do this is with strict time blocking.  This means that I literally have blocks on my calendar per each cilent/type of work I do, and I have synched my SavvyCal scheduling links per time block. So Client A can only schedule a meeting during the Client A time block, Client B during the Client B time block, etc.  I actually discussed this in detail with Shadi Yazdan on her podcast, The Raw Founder, which you can listen to here...

Saturday, June 3, 2023 It started as a typical warm sunny day in Austin as Jane woke up with the sun to start the day. Jane is an entrepreneur CEO who started her consumer product goods company right here in this kitchen where she is brewing her coffee. She has fought hard over the past few years through all of the changes in the pandemic and is now on track to beat every sales forecast the company has set, and this is for the third quarter in a row. "That coffee smells amazing," Jasmine says, entering the kitchen. "I am going to need some of that before I even think about opening this laptop." Jasmine is Jane's partner and has recently left MEGA CORP after a 13-year career in finance and operations and is on an entrepreneurial journey of her own as a Fractional CFO. "Just pouring us both a cup," says Jane. "I know you like to start posting your content on socials early to get your name out there for your consulting stuff."  ...

I've caught myself saying the following more times than I can count: "Fractional work allows me to have all the fun associated with working at a startup without the bullsh*t associated with a startup." For most of my career, that has been true. But based on a recent experience, I have started thinking about the times when the bullsh*t of a startup does rear its ugly head and how I could advise new fractionals on how I've approached it. Here’s my list for how to know when to walk away. Reasons to Walk One of the most powerful concepts that I learned in that time is the concept of "firing a customer." There are many reasons why you might need to let a customer go: Nonpayment or chronic late payment; Violation of terms and conditions—for example, work outside scope; Unreasonable demands or expectations—3 AM replies; Abusive behavior; Lack of engagement—they forget they hired you; Misalignment of a target market; Merger and acquisitions; Legal reasons; Strategic...

Fractionals United has turned four months old today and we have over 1750 members. Below is a chart showing our growth month over month. This is the first time I've shared our growth metric on social media since we hit 1000 members, since it's no longer my primary goal and focus. As other founders with limited resources have discovered before me, and many will discover after me, it is best to focus on one major goal. If you try to focus on more than one at a time, you risk not accomplishing any well. My first focus had been to get us to 1k members, which I was told was when we'd become attractive to sponsors. My current focus is getting sponsors to support the community. Many from within and without have told me to just charge a small membership fee, and although in principle that is not wrong, given that it is so hard for fractionals to find work, it is wrong in this instance for me and this community. I do fortunately have volunteer leaders and other fractional community ...

If you've read any of my previous posts either here or on LinkedIn, you know that I believe fractional is a win-win: employers get leaders who can help them scale and optimize, despite not being able to afford that level of talent full-time and leaders can get more flexibility and control over their time and careers, as well as diversify and keep themselves challenged and growing But does that mean that every leader should quit their full-time job and go fractional? No. Like everything in life, there are downsides to going fractional, and I thought it only fair to spell out the three main challenges so that anyone considering going fractional understands both the pros and cons before making that decision. Leads As someone who was a fractional COO for years before "fractional" was a thing, and is newly back to this world, the biggest challenge of being fractional is finding the work. This is a challenge I face and that 98% of the fractionals I speak with—both inside and ou...