Too many balls in the air and not enough hands: under-resourced and over-stretched founders of early-stage startups often find themselves performing a juggling act when it comes to recruitment.  

Whilst you want the best-in-the-industry hires for your business, fledging startups can’t always afford the market’s top talent. 

But what if we told you that you could bring in the talent you need on a flexible basis to accelerate growth, whilst also saving on costs? What if we said you could benefit from board-level expertise to minimise the risk that a lack of experienced leadership compromises growth, creativity, and innovation? 

You can do all of this. It’s called fractional hiring and it’s the next evolution in the flexible working trend. Here’s how to do it.  

What is fractional hiring? 

Fractional hiring involves engaging an experienced senior-level professional on a part-time or contract basis to fulfil a specific role or function, usually for a set number of hours per week or month. 

Yes, we hear you – part-time, you shout! But whilst part-time workers are contracted to a single employer, fractional employees work for multiple employers – essentially renting their time or skillset to businesses, in a similar way to freelancers. Unlike part-timers, fractional workers also tend to have executive-level experience and occupy senior positions across several businesses, including C-suite roles. 

So instead of hiring just one individual on a permanent basis, startup founders can hire (or rent) a particular expert or an entire team, with the ability to flexibly scale their hours up and down, based on the needs of your business.  

Take a startup CFO, for example. It’s a hugely important role, not least because a failure to secure funding or adequately manage cashflow is a key reason why UK tech startups fail. Of course, every tech startup wants to hire a rockstar CFO. But recruiting the right person into such a senior role takes time, money, and resource (all of which tend to be in short supply in fledging startups).  

Enter the fractional CFO. Bringing in a fractional CFO gives you immediate access to a board-level, seasoned professional. Someone with valuable knowledge and expertise that you can leverage to stabilise your finances and accelerate growth; someone who can provide expert guidance and an external perspective, who can mitigate the risk of costly mistakes.  

And because you’re only paying them for the services you need at that time, you can afford to bring in a startup CFO that may have been unobtainable for you on a full-time, salaried basis. 

Is fractional hiring right for my startup? 

Moving to fractional hiring requires a mindset shift. Firstly, not every hire needs to be full-time. And secondly, not every hire needs to be focused solely on your startup. 

With key first hires, startups often need someone who’s happy being hands-on. A roll-up-the-sleeves, multiple hat-wearing type individual, someone who’s comfortable juggling the various strategic and operational aspects of the role. But we’re telling you now, finding senior people who are motivated by, and are willing to embrace, such fluidity in a role is easier said than done.  

Will an experienced CTO really want to split their time between technology roadmaps, investor presentations and coding? Will a sales leader be content with switching between building a GTM (go to market) strategy and lead gen?  

Let’s say you find this person - the holy grail for a fledging startup operation. If you’re paying a CTO £100k per annum (plus the share options, paid leave, private health insurance etc.) and they are spending a third of their time coding, then you are overpaying them.  

So, depending on the needs of your startup, the capacity (and capability) of your existing team and your financial position, it might be worth considering whether now really is the time to be making a permanent, full-time hire – or whether you would get greater benefit from having one (or more) on-demand, executive-level experts in the mix at any given time.  

Making a fractional hire for my tech startup 

Fractional hiring is one of the quickest ways to tap into professional expertise and hire market-leading talent. It’s a win-win for both startup founders and experienced fractional workers seeking flexibility and the opportunity to work with multiple exciting startups. 

But how you use a fractional hire is very much down to the requirements of your startup.  

For example, you may be under pressure to hit a key milestone or manage an inflection point, but you lack internal expertise. Bringing in an experienced head who can oversee a major transition, a market expansion or provide a bridge to support business growth could be a game changer for the long-term stability of your startup.  

Or if you’re ready to make a permanent senior appointment but you don’t have the luxury of time, using a fractional hire in the interim will ensure that you maintain internal capabilities, whilst giving you the breathing to appoint the right candidate for the role. 

Likewise, if you’re concerned about the risk of compromising on the quality of your permanent hires, consider combining a fractional hire in synergy with a permanent recruit. Leveraging the experience and knowledge of a fractional hire to complement the enthusiasm of a junior recruit will help them grow and develop their skills, whilst enabling a smoother transition when the fractional hire’s contract comes to an end.  

We recommend that you start by breaking down the tasks that you need your fractional hire to fulfil. Fractional hiring is a relatively new and developing concept, so clearly defining the role and your expectations will ensure that both your business and the fractional hire understand their respective roles and responsibilities. 

More information 

The combination of on-demand talent and immediate access to the knowledge and experience of a senior functional hire can help propel an early-stage startup. As specialist tech startup recruiters, we can help you find the right fractional hire for your business. 

To discuss any aspect of hiring further, get in touch with our recruitment team in Bristol, or contact our CEO and Co Founder, Alan Furley.