Management consulting · Milan
Strategic management consulting and hands-on presence as a Fractional COO for growing SMEs and startups.
Typical scenarios
Four moments in which experienced, flexible operational leadership unlocks growth and protects business value.
Revenue grows at double-digit rates while headcount expands without defined procedures and roles: rework, delays and costs increase, and profitability declines.
Intervention: redesign of core processes, efficiency recovery, new organizational structure and Target Operating Model.
The owner is absorbed by daily operations and needs to free up time for strategy, business development and institutional relations, without slowing the company down.
Intervention: governance, responsibility matrices (RACI), development and coaching of the management team.
Capital increase, entry of an institutional investor or generational handover: the company must show a solid organization, with processes and decision-making that do not depend on the owners.
Intervention: documented governance, a redesigned organization and a KPI dashboard for the Board.
New financing for an investment, renewal of credit lines or refinancing. The European guidelines on loan origination (EBA/GL/2020/06) ask banks to look beyond the financial statements, including at the organizational structure of medium-sized and large enterprises and at key-person dependency in micro and small ones. In my view, the strength of the organization is part of what makes the figures for the years ahead credible.
Intervention: documented organizational structure, traceable delegation and decision flows, KPI dashboard and a consistent plan to present to the lender.
The end point
The levers converge into a documented operating model (processes, organization, governance and KPIs), supported by coaching for management and practical training for the teams, so the company retains operational autonomy once the engagement ends.
Ongoing support for the owner and partners: a monthly meeting on KPIs, priorities and plan progress, in an advisory capacity.
1–2 days a week alongside the CEO, directly overseeing the agreed objectives.
In 14 days: critical issues, priorities and a 90-day roadmap.
Processes, organization and roles, governance and delegation, KPIs and management control.
Method
Three measurable phases, from a fragmented operating structure to an autonomous organization.
1–14
Days · Diagnostic Sprint
Interviews with leadership and managers, mapping of processes, organization and decision-making, analysis of overhead costs and identification of the three highest-impact priorities.
15–45
Days · Redesign
Redesign of critical processes and of the organizational structure: roles, responsibilities and delegation rules. Field testing of new procedures and first actions on costs.
46–90
Days · Stabilization and handover
Release of the Target Operating Model, launch of governance and of the KPI dashboard. Coaching for management on delegation and decisions, training for teams on procedures and tools.
Better processes are not a cost: they are margin.
A preliminary 30-minute conversation, with no obligation, to identify where processes and organization are stuck. I reply within 1 business day.