Hit a brick wall or just haven’t reached the critical mass to take the next step in your business? Having the correct skill set to address specific issues or take advantage of new opportunities is the lifeblood of any business. Entrepreneurs and business owners are however constantly faced with the reality of the relative scarcity and prohibitive costs associated with acquiring these skills. Companies often then turn to business incubators or consulting firms to assist them with addressing specific needs. This could be anything from turn-around strategies and market studies or solving specific problems such as supply chain optimization, customer satisfaction improvement strategies or market penetration initiatives. The downside to this is escalated costs and someone who will tell you what to do, but often doesn’t help you implement their recommendations to see the project reach its objectives, principally because they are someone who is on the sideline but not actually part of the team. An alternative is the Fractional Manager or Fractional Executive. Different to a consultant, a fractional deployee is an actual employee of the business just not on a full-time basis. These highly skilled and experienced individuals are employed for a certain number of hours, days or weeks per month on a long-term basis and tasked are tasked with specific focus areas or deliverables. Unlike consultants, they do not bill per hour and are incentivized on business success or output and become an integral part of your team. Fractional team members offer agile and cost-effective access to highly specialized skills. These skills routinely include CIOs, CTOs, Sales & Marketing Managers and strategy specialists. In this age of downscaling and cost optimization, fractional employees offer the best of both worlds by providing the required skills but at a fraction of the cost of full time employees. More than that, on the lonely journey of building a business or in instances where the required skill is unaffordable on a full-time basis, these specialists can be the answer to your prayers. About the author: Having qualified in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration, Cornu Perold pursued opportunities with major international blue-chip technology companies in roles such as engineering, project delivery, facilities management, production and supply chain optimization, service management, product management, sales and marketing and mergers and acquisitions. With extensive experience gained running his own technology start-up, Perold is acutely aware of the myriad of challenges facing entrepreneurs on their journey to business success. This combination of experience in large technology firms and small business, ideally equips Perold to deliver very clear value to companies both large and small on either a Fractional or consulting basis.   Get hold of me now on cornu@peroldconsulting.co.za or find me on LinkedIn.