The senior layer a smaller business has been missing.
The company is solid and the owner knows every part of it. What it lacks is a second senior mind, and at this size it cannot yet carry one every day.
Why a full-time director is not yet the answer
Hiring a permanent CFO or COO is the obvious move. For most owner-run firms (the Dutch MKB) it is not:
A director's salary outweighs the need
For a business of this size, a director-level salary plus employer costs is a weighty fixed commitment.
The contract is built to last
A permanent contract is slow and costly to end, so a wrong appointment is hard to reverse.
The owner has no time to recruit
A proper executive search runs for months, and the owner cannot spare the time to run it.
Two days, not five
Most businesses of this size need two days of senior input, not five.
Your fractional executive gives the business a set share of the week, inside the team, deciding within their own function and accountable for what comes of it. For an owner-run company that has outgrown its own management, it adds a second senior mind without a second director's salary.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Founders carrying a C-suite function themselves with no time left to lead
- Businesses that need senior capability two or three days a week, not five
- A specific gap in finance, operations, marketing, technology or people that is holding growth back
- Teams that cannot yet justify, or afford, a full-time executive salary
- Owners who want an operator accountable for outcomes, not a consultant with a deck
Not for
- A junior or purely execution role a full-time manager should own
- A one-off project an agency could deliver and hand back
- Businesses wanting a figurehead rather than someone who does the work
- A pre-revenue idea with no function yet to lead
What a smaller firm gets from us
An owner-run company has no HR department to catch a poor hire. We stay involved after the match so you are not on your own with it.
Light-touch governance
Short reviews with you and your executive at agreed points, sized for a small company, and a plain word when the work slips.
More than one specialist
Behind your executive sits our collective of 800+, so a tax, systems or people question beyond their own field still finds an answer.
Your brief, kept current
We do not keep anyone waiting in reserve. We keep your brief up to date, which keeps a replacement search short if it is ever needed.
Hands-on by temperament
We match for people who will do as well as direct. An owner-run Dutch firm has no layer for someone who only delegates.
What an engagement looks like
From first call to an embedded operator in weeks, not months.
Discovery
We spend time understanding your business: challenges, goals, team dynamics, and what 'success' looks like in 90 days.
Match
We introduce the right fractional executive from our vetted collective. You meet them, ask hard questions, and confirm the fit.
Scoped engagement begins
The engagement launches with a defined scope, clear deliverables, and a structured cadence. Your fractional is embedded, not advisory.
Adapt and evolve
As your business changes, the engagement changes with it. Add hours, shift focus, introduce a second specialist, all without restructuring.
Which executive do you need first?
You do not need to know the answer before you call. Match the problem you feel most to the operator who owns it.
Each fractional role maps to a different SME challenge
Start with the gap that is costing you most, and the roles below show which leader owns it.
Backed by executives who have led at
