Almost every client I work with came to me believing they needed an online business manager. Someone to take tasks off their plate and get them done.
I understand why. It sounds like the answer. In my experience, it rarely is, and I learned that firsthand.
The real difference between a fractional COO and an online business manager.
An online business manager keeps the day-to-day moving. They manage projects, systems, and communication, usually executing against the direction a founder sets.
A fractional COO is a part-time operations executive. They lead operations, set priorities, make decisions, and are accountable for seeing the work through, so it stops routing back to the founder.
An OBM manages the work you hand over. A fractional COO takes responsibility for how the business runs.
I hired an OBM. It didn’t work.
At the beginning of this year, I hired an OBM for my own business. She was a capable executor. She could set up systems and complete whatever I assigned.
What she couldn’t do was communicate. The weekly updates stopped. Much of what she produced was generated with AI, and as a certified paralegal, I read everything closely. Her design and copy didn’t fit my brand, so I ended up rewriting and redesigning most of it myself. By the third month, typos had crept into everything, as if she assumed I would edit it anyway. Toward the end of our engagement, I was searching for tasks to give her just to get some value from what I had paid.
Today, I don’t use a single thing she created.
She had promised she wasn’t someone who would simply agree with me, that she would speak up when something wasn’t right for my business. But speaking up only helps when you know what’s right, and that takes a strategic, analytical mind. Not every executor has one. In my experience, it’s rare. Find someone who can also design well, and it’s even rarer.
The hidden cost of “just execution.”
Think about the last time you started something new. Within a week, you probably had to pivot, adjust, learn a new tool, or research answers to ten questions you didn’t know existed.
If the person supporting you only executes, every one of those moments comes back to you. You trade the time it would have taken to do the work yourself for time spent explaining, teaching, answering questions, and asking for updates. Everything still runs through you. Your capacity hasn’t grown. It has only changed shape.
You don’t need someone who completes the task in front of them. You need someone who can make the decisions that are best for you and your business.
What changes with a fractional COO.
A fractional COO is a true partner, someone who takes work off your plate completely and is accountable for seeing it through.
With my clients, we start by identifying everything on their plate. I take those responsibilities on, build better systems and processes around them, and manage them from there. The work gets done without reminders, because I know what I’m doing each day, and my clients receive proactive updates daily.
A couple of my clients travel every two weeks, across the country and internationally. They spend that time on the part of their business they love most, meeting clients in person over fine dining, flying first class, and staying at the best hotels, while I hold down the fort and manage operations and marketing.
Sam Mangel, founder of The Sam Mangel Federal Prison Consulting Group, is a good example. He travels internationally for business many times a month. Our work began with paralegal operations, grew into marketing, and now includes business development. Having me in that role replaced the need for two other contractors. Read the Sam Mangel case study.
From our inbox
A word on luxury.
Scroll through OBM accounts on Instagram and you’ll notice how many describe their services as luxury, often in every post and every bio. True luxury is quiet. It’s felt in every detail of the experience rather than announced every few lines, and it’s far harder to deliver than to claim.
You’ll notice I use the word too. It’s because I can back it. I’ve been a curator of elevated moments, details, and things my whole life. I’ve experienced luxury, I know what it truly is and how it truly feels, and I know how to create that experience for my clients through my services.
Which one is right for you.
If your direction is clear and you need operations, communication, and marketing handled at a high level, the Business Management Retainer goes well beyond typical OBM support. It brings in AI and automation, client and team communication, brand design, SEO, and marketing, all managed with strategy behind it.
If you’re still the checkpoint for every decision and want a partner who carries the operational weight alongside you, the Fractional COO Partnership is my highest level of support.
Frequently asked questions.
What is a fractional COO?
A fractional COO is a part-time chief operating officer who leads a company’s operations without the commitment of a full-time executive hire. For a growing, expert-led business, that means senior operational leadership, strategy, and accountability at a level that fits where the business is today.
What does an online business manager do?
An online business manager handles day-to-day operations, including projects, systems, and team communication. Most work in the background, carrying out the plans their founder sets.
How do I know if I need a fractional COO instead of an OBM?
If you’re the checkpoint for most decisions, your team needs operational leadership, or you’re preparing for a significant change, a fractional COO is likely the better fit. If your direction is clear and you need operations and marketing managed at a high level, a business management retainer may be the right place to start.
Do you work with founders outside the Bay Area?
Yes. Big Bow Solutions is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and works with founders and expert-led businesses nationwide.
Not sure which fits? That’s exactly what a clarity call is for.
Warmly,
