The leadership layer Bavaria's mid-sized companies have been doing without.
You built a company that makes something people need. The gap between where it is and where it has to go is rarely effort. It is senior judgement that a business of your size cannot yet carry full time.
Why a full-time C-suite is rarely right at this size
Appointing a full-time CFO, COO or CMO is the first idea most owners have. For most owner-led Bavarian companies it is not:
It is a large fixed commitment
A senior salary and its overheads weigh heavily on a company that earns its margin slowly.
A wrong hire is hard to reverse
In an owner-led company a wrong senior hire is slow and costly to unwind.
The owner is the whole management
The owner is also the sales lead, the head of finance and the final word on every hire.
You need depth, not a full week
Most companies at this size need senior input around a few critical decisions each quarter.
A fractional executive is an experienced operator who spends two or three days a week inside your Munich business. Not an adviser who files a report and leaves, but a senior operator inside your team who takes the decisions in their area and answers for the outcome. It is how a company of your size gets senior leadership without changing the ownership or the culture.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Founders carrying a C-suite function themselves with no time left to lead
- Businesses that need senior capability two or three days a week, not five
- A specific gap in finance, operations, marketing, technology or people that is holding growth back
- Teams that cannot yet justify, or afford, a full-time executive salary
- Owners who want an operator accountable for outcomes, not a consultant with a deck
Not for
- A junior or purely execution role a full-time manager should own
- A one-off project an agency could deliver and hand back
- Businesses wanting a figurehead rather than someone who does the work
- A pre-revenue idea with no function yet to lead
How we work with a Mittelstand company
No investors, a bank, an owner with the final word. We provide the structure around the engagement that a larger company would have.
A second pair of eyes
We check in with the owner and the executive at agreed points, so the owner is not left to judge progress alone.
The collective behind a small team
Your executive can ask peers across our collective of 800+ when a question goes beyond their field.
Continuity through our notes
If the executive moves on, the next search starts from what we already know about your company, and we run the handover.
Matched to the owner
In an owner-led company, the owner has to trust the person. We test that before anything else.
What an engagement looks like
From first call to an embedded operator in weeks, not months.
Discovery
We spend time understanding your business: challenges, goals, team dynamics, and what 'success' looks like in 90 days.
Match
We introduce the right fractional executive from our vetted collective. You meet them, ask hard questions, and confirm the fit.
Scoped engagement begins
The engagement launches with a defined scope, clear deliverables, and a structured cadence. Your fractional is embedded, not advisory.
Adapt and evolve
As your business changes, the engagement changes with it. Add hours, shift focus, introduce a second specialist, all without restructuring.
Which executive do you need first?
You do not need to know the answer before you call. Match the problem you feel most to the operator who owns it.
Each fractional role maps to a different SME challenge
Start with the gap that is costing you most, and the roles below show which leader owns it.
Backed by executives who have led at
