A fractional president — commercial leadership with P&L responsibility, without the full-time hire.

The problem a fractional president solves

Hiring a full-time president or general manager for a North American operation is a six-figure annual commitment before you know whether the market will support it. Hiring a salesperson instead is cheaper — and usually wrong. A salesperson without commercial leadership spends their first year figuring out what strategy they were supposed to execute.

The gap between “we need someone senior” and “we can’t justify a full-time hire yet” is where market entries stall. Strategy never gets set, partners never get qualified, and the salesperson — if there is one — sells into a vacuum.

What “fractional president” actually means

Not a consultant who visits quarterly. Not an advisor who sends a slide deck. A fractional president is an operating executive inside your business for a defined number of days per month: setting commercial strategy, recruiting and managing partners, making pricing and resourcing decisions, and being accountable for pipeline and revenue.

The difference from a consultant is authority and duration. A consultant diagnoses; a fractional president operates. The difference from a full-time hire is cost and commitment: senior leadership now, without the salary, equity, and severance exposure of a permanent executive.

What this looks like in practice

Typical mandates include:

Commercial strategy for the North American operation: market mapping, route-to-market, pricing, partner economics.
Distributor and dealer recruitment and qualification: finding the right partners, not just any partners.
Building the commercial infrastructure: CRM discipline, pipeline management, forecasting, reporting.
Hiring and managing the first commercial employees: defining the roles, recruiting, setting targets.
Board and ownership reporting: a clear commercial narrative backed by numbers.

When a fractional president is the right answer

You need senior commercial leadership but the revenue doesn’t yet justify a full-time president or GM.
Your market entry has stalled and you need an operator’s diagnosis, not another research report.
You have a salesperson or small team but no one setting strategy above them.
You want to test the North American opportunity with disciplined execution before committing to permanent headcount.

How we work

Every engagement starts with understanding the commercial problem. We assess the opportunity, identify what is preventing growth, and establish a practical plan for execution.

Depending on the situation, BOS provides strategic direction, hands-on commercialization support, or fractional executive leadership.

Start the conversation

If the gap in your North American operation is leadership, not headcount, the next step is a conversation — not a proposal.

Book a 30-minute executive conversation →

US market entry · Channel and distribution development · Channel readiness assessment · Services

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between a fractional president and a fractional CRO or fractional VP of Sales?

A fractional CRO or VP of Sales owns the sales function: pipeline, team, targets. A fractional president owns the commercial operation: strategy, partnerships, pricing, hiring, P&L accountability. If your problem is “no one is setting direction,” you need the president. If your problem is “direction exists but sales execution is weak,” you need the sales leader. Most stalled market entries have the first problem, not the second.

How many days per month does a fractional president typically work?

It depends on the mandate’s intensity. Early-stage market entries often need two to three days per week; a steady-state operation being guided toward the next phase might need four to six days per month. The number is set by what the commercial plan requires, not by a package — and it scales down as your own team grows into the roles.

Does a fractional president replace our need for a US entity or local hires?

No. A fractional president is commercial leadership, not legal or administrative infrastructure. You will still need proper entity structure, and at some point local employees. What the fractional leader does is sequence those investments correctly — entity and hires happen when the commercial plan calls for them, not before.

Can a fractional executive really lead distributors and partners effectively?

Yes — often more effectively than a distant HQ. Distributors respond to commercial authority: someone who can negotiate terms, commit to programs, and hold both sides accountable. A fractional president carries that authority. What doesn’t work is a part-time advisor with no decision rights; the mandate has to include real authority, or it’s theater.

How do we measure whether the fractional engagement is working?

The same way you’d measure a full-time president: pipeline quality and velocity, partner recruitment against plan, pricing discipline, forecast accuracy, and revenue. We define the metrics in the first month and report against them. If the metrics aren’t moving, the engagement should end — accountability runs both ways.

What happens when we’re ready for a full-time hire?

The fractional president helps define the role, recruit the successor, and manage the transition — then steps back or into an advisory role. A well-run fractional engagement ends with the company not needing it anymore. That’s the point.