Fractional COO for professional services firms
I turn delivery that runs on heroics into a repeatable operation, so the firm scales on process rather than on a few people's stamina.
16 years inside the operational layer. An independent fractional operator.
How Professional Services operations break
Consultancies, advisory firms, and professional services businesses sell their people's time and judgement, which makes operations easy to neglect. It works until the founders or a few senior people become the only ones who can run an engagement well. Growth then means cloning heroes, which does not scale, or lowering the bar, which does not last.
Delivery depends on a few heroes
The good outcomes trace back to the same handful of people, and everyone knows it.
Utilisation and realisation are murky
You cannot clearly see who is over or under used, or how much scoped value actually gets billed.
Every engagement is bespoke from scratch
Reusable method and templates live in people's heads, so each project reinvents the wheel.
Scope creep is absorbed, not managed
The extra work gets done to keep the client happy, and quietly eats the margin.
Knowledge walks out the door
When someone leaves, the way they ran things leaves with them.
No rhythm across engagements
Problems on projects surface late because there is no regular moment to catch them.
You scaled the practice, not the operation
Professional services firms grow on reputation and senior talent, so the operating model stays informal. The cost shows up as a ceiling: you can only take on what your best people can personally oversee. The fix is to turn what your best people do into a method the whole firm can run, so quality stops depending on who is staffed.
The order matters more than any single fix.
Diagnose first
I look at how engagements are scoped, staffed, delivered and billed, and where value leaks. The Operations Audit shows the highest-leverage fixes.
Turn heroics into method
The way your best people deliver becomes a repeatable process, with templates and clear ownership.
Implement, not advise
I put the model in place and stay until teams beyond the founders can deliver to standard.
Make the economics visible
Utilisation, realisation and per-engagement margin you can actually see and manage.
Leave it owned
An operating rhythm and clear ownership so delivery holds as the firm grows.
Good delivery no longer depends on who is staffed. You can see utilisation and realisation and act on them. Engagements start from a proven method instead of a blank page. And the firm can take on more without stretching the same few people to breaking.
Where to start.
Operations Audit
The low-risk front door: a review of how engagements are scoped, staffed, delivered and billed, and where value leaks.
Learn more →Process Review & Redesign
I turn how your best people deliver into a repeatable method the whole firm can run.
Learn more →Fractional COO
I own the operation a few days a month so growth stops depending on a few heroes.
Learn more →Scale on process, not heroics.
A 30-minute call, no pitch. Tell me what is breaking and I will tell you straight whether I can help.