Most growing businesses reach a moment where they know they need senior support. The default assumption is a full-time hire. But that’s not the only option – and for a lot of businesses at this stage, it’s not the right one.
The options that usually come up – interim, consultant, agency, fractional – sound like they’re the same thing. They’re not. And beyond the full-time hire, most businesses don’t really understand the difference between them. Picking the wrong one is an expensive mistake.
Here’s the difference.
Interim
Full-time. Temporary. Usually brought in after an unexpected departure or to bridge a gap while a permanent hire is being found.
The day rates are relatively high – you’re paying for availability and speed, not longevity. And they’re not there to build for the long term. They’re there to hold things together.
The consultant
A consultant assesses and advises. The engagement is defined by the output – a recommendation, a framework, a plan.
What happens after that is a separate conversation, often with different people. That’s not a criticism of consultants – the good ones are rigorous. But the model usually ends where the execution begins, and that gap is where a lot of consulting investment quietly stalls.
I’ve seen too many businesses spend six figures on a strategy document that sat in a drawer because there was nobody inside the business to own what came next. That’s where a lot of consulting investment goes – great thinking, no one to carry it on.
Agency
Agencies execute the brief. They’ll push back if something doesn’t feel right – but their starting point is still the brief.
They’re not inside the business when the strategy shifts, when the priorities change, when the brief you gave them last month no longer quite fits. That’s just how the model works.
Fractional leadership
A fractional leader embeds into the business. They’re in the room – the actual meetings, the actual decisions.
They own a function, a problem, a set of outcomes. And they’re accountable for results in a way that a consultant or an agency simply isn’t.
They work part-time. But the commitment isn’t part-time – if anything, fractional leaders tend to be more accountable than their full-time equivalents, because their reputation is the only thing they have. There’s no job title to hide behind. There’s nowhere to hide, and good fractional leaders don’t want to.
Plus, the engagement flexes. When the business needs more (e.g. ahead of a funding round, a launch, a transformation) the support scales up. When things settle, it scales back. The relationship stays. The commitment adjusts. That’s the model.
So, which one do you need?
Interim if you have a gap and need someone in immediately whilst you recruit.
Consultant if you have a specific question that needs expert analysis.
Agency if the brief is clear and you need skilled execution.
Fractional if you need someone embedded, leading, accountable – without the full-time cost.
For the growing businesses we work with, fractional is the right option, but most don’t know it’s on the table until someone puts it there.
If something isn’t working and you’re not sure what kind of help you need – that’s where we start. Come and talk to us.
Written by Terri Field. Founder, Think Fractional.
If you’re exploring fractional support (or simply curious about how it works in practice) I’m always happy to share what we’re learning as we build and apply this model.
