What a fractional executive is
A fractional executive leads a function with an agreed part-time commitment. The work runs on objectives, scope and reporting set in writing, for the period the company needs.
It sits between a full-time hire and one-off advice: the executive leads a function with agreed objectives, with the time the company’s stage calls for.
The usual functions
The model spread through the functions a growing company needs early: finance, marketing, operations and technology. That is why people speak of a part-time CFO, CMO, COO or CTO.
In each case the logic is the same: senior experience applied to one function, with a time commitment that grows or shrinks with the stage.
Year One Partners works in one function: entering a market, through the Fractional Country Manager.
When the model fits
- When the function calls for senior experience and the stage still calls for part-time commitment.
- When the board wants clear objectives and regular reporting on that function.
- When the company prefers to see results before creating a full-time role.
If the company needs someone full-time for a defined period, the right model is interim management. We compare the two in Interim or Fractional Country Manager?
The model applied to market entry
Entering Spain calls for someone senior in the market long before there is enough business for a full-time country manager. The Fractional Country Manager applies the model to that stage: it leads your market entry within an agreed mandate; your board decides.
Personally led by our Founder & CEO, Xavier Cima, who brings in senior advisors for each client when the mandate requires it or, if the client prefers, recommends senior advisors for the client to engage directly; the decision always rests with the client.
Time commitment and reporting to your board at the frequency agreed in the mandate.
What to do
- Write down which function needs senior experience, and for how long.
- Define which decisions stay with your board and which the mandate covers.
- Agree scope, time commitment and reporting in writing.
- If the function is entry into Spain, read Fractional Country Manager in Spain.
Written by Xavier Cima, Founder & CEO