The owner should not be the only senior person in the room.
A French small or mid-sized company (a PME) is often run well by one person who has done every job. What it lacks is a second senior voice who can take a function off them without becoming another permanent salary.
Why a permanent executive is hard to justify
A full-time finance, operations or commercial director looks like the answer. For a company this size it is a stretch:
The commitment is heavy
A senior hire in France that does not fit is slow and costly to unwind, and a company this size feels that more than a large group.
The seat is not full time
The work peaks at closes, tenders and negotiations. For the rest of the month a permanent director has less to do than they cost.
The search is slow
Good directors are employed and cautious about moving, and a search runs for months.
The owner keeps every job
Without help, the owner stays the finance director, the sales director and the head of HR, and the business grows only as far as one diary allows.
A fractional executive is a proven operator who works with your company for the share of the week it needs. They sit within the team, decide in their own area and answer for the outcome. It is how a mid-sized company gets a second senior voice without a second senior payroll.
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 mid-sized company gets
Management de transition is familiar here. The difference is the search, the collective and our continued involvement.
Found by search, not by availability
We draft the brief with you, then look through the collective for the best match. You do not choose from whoever happens to be free.
Someone to check the work
In a company where no one else is senior enough to check the work, the collective provides that second view.
We stay involved
Nobody sits idle waiting to replace your director. We keep the brief up to date with each review, and that is what lets a new search start quickly.
At home in a French company
We match on sector and on how the company works day to day, with French as the default working language.
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
