Your business is growing. You have customers, revenue, maybe even a small team. But you are missing someone who owns the commercial side. Someone who thinks about strategy, steers marketing, structures sales and makes sure it all connects.
Hiring a commercial director is one option. But that costs 80,000 to 120,000 euro a year. Plus a car, a bonus and employment risk. For a business turning over 500,000 to 2 million, that is an enormous jump.
There is an alternative: the fractional commercial director.
What it is
A fractional director fills the same role as a full time director, but part time. Two days a week. Sometimes one. They think about strategy, run marketing and sales, build processes and take ownership of the commercial result.
The difference with a consultant: a consultant advises and leaves. A fractional director stays. They sit inside your business, know your team, follow your numbers and share responsibility for the outcome. Not a report. Involvement.
When you need one
When you are doing all the commercial work yourself and it is no longer working. When you run a marketing agency but have no strategy. When your sales team is making calls but has no direction. When you know there is more in it commercially but you lack the knowledge or the time to get at it.
Typically: companies of 5 to 50 people that are growing but cannot or will not pay for a full time commercial director yet. That is the sweet spot.
What it costs
Depending on experience and days per week: between 3,000 and 8,000 euro a month. Far less than a full time director. And you can cancel monthly. No employment contract, no risk.
The question is not whether it is expensive. The question is whether it brings in more than it costs. And when the right person helps you with your offer, your marketing and your sales, the answer is almost always yes.
The difference with a consultant
A consultant delivers an analysis and a plan. That can be valuable. But the plan then has to be carried out. And that is usually where it stalls: the founder has neither the time nor the knowledge to execute it.
A fractional director delivers the plan and executes it too. Or runs the team that does. They are not looking in from the outside, they are inside it. That is the difference.
Is it for you?
If you answer yes to these questions, it probably is. Do you know there is more in it commercially but cannot get to it? Do you not need a full time commercial director, but do you need someone who thinks and builds along with you? Do you want someone who takes ownership of the result instead of only handing over advice?
Then a fractional commercial director, or a commercial partner, might be exactly what you need.