Fractional Directors: The Secret Sauce for Business in the Future.

What is a Fractional Director?

Well, thanks for asking and welcome to Goldspun Support. If you’ve been busy googling ‘wtaf is a fractional director’ then you’ve come to the right place, if you googled something else you might as well keep reading now that you’re here.

When I first started my business in 2014 I started as a VA (virtual assistant) and spent all of my time telling people what a VA was. When I rebranded and realigned to my favourite clients (spoilers, its fractional directors) I discovered that not every knows what that means and now I spend all of my time explaining that instead!

Obviously, it is my fate to explain what I do to people.

Might pivot and become a cheerleader or something more obvious.

Is Fractional Leadership a Thing?

It’s an interesting statistic that in 2024 the search volume for the term ‘Fractional Director’ has risen by 600% - so it’s clear that there is a need (although maybe they are all like you looking for the definition!)

I believe that this rise is caused by the fact that in essence, fractional leadership aligns well with the current – and expected - business landscape by offering cost-effective, flexible solutions that allow companies to leverage high-level skills on demand, without the same commitment as an employee.  As companies prioritise agility and efficiency, especially with an uncertain economic backdrop, fractional leadership is likely to continue growing in popularity, allowing businesses to thrive in a dynamic, often uncertain economic environment.

So, if you are operating as a Fractional Director, think you are or think you’d like to then now is the time to grab your surfboard and ride that wave.

Let’s Define the Term: Fractional Director

So, the first thing to note is that the term Fractional Director is interchangeable with Portfolio Director, Independent Director and Interim or Part-Time Director. You may have seen some of all of these used but, equally, I’m confident that there are a lot of people operating as fractional directors without realising it!

The word fractional is defined as:

relating to or expressed as a fraction, especially a fraction less than one

So, this fractioned element refers to the Directors time or resources. As an employed Director/Executive you will be dedicated to your employer’s brand, working for one single company or perhaps a collection of companies under an umbrella.

As an independent director you are self-employed and work for a number of different companies, acting as their director for a fixed number of hours or days a week/month.  This means that you are free to work for a number of different companies.

What are the Benefits of Fractional Directors?

If you’re a company who is in the early growth stages – or one who has recently downsized as a cost cutting measure but still needs certain levels of support – then considering the adoption of an independent resource such as a Fractional Director makes perfect sense.

It should be noted that employing someone full-time would be a no-go, you would need to employ someone full time, something to do with IR35 that I’m not going to get into. However, a temporary or part-time resource could easily be fulfilled in this way.

For a start, you’re not responsible for their tax and NI (that’s their job) which removes some stress for you. There’s also some differing HR rules, but you’d need to talk to an HR person about that, (I know an excellent Fractional HR Director if you need one!).

There’s also the ability to flex resource up and down as required, increasing hours (as agreed) for larger projects or reducing when you no longer require as much support (please make sure you check the T&Cs you’ve signed though about altering terms). You can also employ people on an ad hoc or project basis rather than retain them on a fixed contract.

And experience, having a permanent incumbent employee can stifle creativity in a role, having someone who can come in with fresh eyes every week or month can change that. And, don’t forget, working with a number of different clients will give your chosen supplier a good range of experience and knowledge that you might not otherwise have access to.

Fractional Directors can cover any area from Marketing to Operations, HR to Finance. These are experts in their field with years of experience and a desire to support SMEs.

Why Does being a Fractional Director Appeal?

I’ve noticed an increasing number of people picking up the mantle of Fractional Leadership in the last couple of years and I think there’s a number of reasons for that.

There is an appeal about the flexibility of the role – you get the freedom and choice to work with a number of different clients, you can move on if you’re not happy or flex your client roster up and down to give yourself more free time or make yourself more money.

I know that the corporate work is playing catch up in terms of flexibility but there’s still a person that you’re accountable to – within certain parameters that is removed when you’re self-employed- picking up the kids, putting on that washing, making time for the gym are all possible. Put it this way, work-life balance will actually feel like it’s attainable.

If you’re like me you might have a boredom threshold that’s quite low (neurospicy brains will know what I mean) and having the ability to switch between different clients and different tasks will revolutionise your working day. No more counting the hours to clock off, there will always be something to hold your attention.

How does Goldspun Support help Fractional Directors?

So, you know what a fractional director is, you know how they can benefit a company and you know why the role might appeal to someone. Plus, you might also be sitting there thinking that actually you might be a Fractional Director yourself… whatever you choose to call yourself at the moment (and I’m not saying you’re wrong, just highlighting a possible SEO opportunity!)

But why am I talking about all this and how does Goldspun Support fit into the Fractional puzzle? To be honest, operating first as a VA and then as an OBM I am used to operating as an outsourced fractional resource myself. However, when I realigned my brand in 2023 it was clear that my favourite clients and favourite workstreams were all with Fractional Directors (otherwise known as a Brand Consultant, a Financial Management Company, a Marketing Director/Company and an HR Company) and so my focus moved towards wanting to support more of these truly amazing individuals.

It's easy for new Fractional CXOs to try and do it all, but then they put themselves into a situation where they are trading time for money (and capping their income) or spending time doing things they don’t enjoy (or worse, take ten times too long to do). Whilst that might be okay at the start of the business, in order to grow and take advantage of this tide of change towards portfolio leadership you need to have the support in place to do so.

I’ve wrestled with how to describe what I do for each of these leaders and, to be honest, I offer a bespoke service, supported by my team which is adding complexity. But, the best way I think to describe it is that Goldspun Support provide full back-office support without the hassle of managing a whole team. We offer everything from administrative support, tech support and systems implementation to white labelled social media management, marketing strategy and operations. We are set up uniquely to sail the ship whilst you navigate to all those places you want to see!

If you’re looking for that kind of support, a fully set up and managed support system that is ready to hit the ground running, doesn’t need micromanaging and can be more than just a VA or OBM. I love to be a part of the businesses I work with; I am a passionate and committed operational lead who can be trusted to work on and in your business bringing to life your vision.

And I’m an excellent cheerleader – just not professionally.