As mentioned, many founder/owners have performed every role or function in the company. And they perform them well. As the company has grown, however, the founder typically gravitates to certain aspects of the business that are most rewarding and fulfilling. Other functions or roles may receive less attention, or more likely, may never become optimized. In other words, some aspects of the business, some levers of value enhancement, may never reach their full potential. As a result, money is left on the table. This is nothing to be ashamed about. The solution is simply to hire an expert, consultant, or professional employee with prior experience optimizing these aspects of the business. As an example, one lever of value creation involves systems, processes, technology. Let’s assume that these have never been areas of passion for you. However, you could hire an experienced Chief Technology Officer or Chief Operating Officer who has been there, done that, and already understands what tool, vendors, metrics, analyses are warranted in your case. More importantly, they know how to executive and roll these changes out to the company for implementation, in ways that feel exciting, empowering, impactful, and even relieving.

Consider taking an assessment or at a minimum, read through the 12 levers of value creation. If there is an area or several in which you believe an expert might be able to help you add value to your business, there is a process for introducing these resources. They can work on an interim, fractional or full-time employee basis. Or, they could work as a consultant or expert.  Simply set up a time and we can facilitate introductions to the most appropriate Operators to fit your needs, wants, and areas of interest.

What is an Operator? Operators are the professional athletes of the business world. They have served under private equity groups to run the companies they own. Having created value, in very short periods of time, for some of the most demanding bosses and boards in the world, they see the companies that they run through to the point of sale. As such, these portfolio company executives are often in career transition stages. What this means for you is that they are available to dive in at a moment’s notice for you, help bring about value improvement for your business, and move on. Or, if you prefer, they can stay and run your business on your behalf. Alternatively, they are well suited to help prepare your business for acquisition, if that is the path you decide to pursue.

What makes them special? What do they bring to the table that could make them a good fit for my business?

Operators are highly accomplished, experienced, knowledgeable about best practices across the range of value creation levers. Many were recruited into private equity after working in very successful, large organizations where they learned what the ideal way of implementing improvements looks like. Then they were able to practice their craft in much smaller businesses, owned by professional investors in a private equity context. In very short timeframes, they take the helm of small businesses, improve them and create value, and see them through to an exit. Since they experience career transitions approximately every 36 months during their careers under private equity, they do have time on their hands to help bring about change and improvement in your company.

 What is the process of hiring an experienced Operator from this community platform?

Using TheOwners.co and logging into our Circle platform reveals a Members tab at the top. Technically, our community is a combination of private equity-backed executives, the Operators, as well as other owners. Therefore, you can search for Operators by clicking on “add filter” and choosing some parameters, such as industry, role, size in terms of EBITDA and more.

What assurances do I have that the Operator is capable

You will certainly have the opportunity to interview any Operator you are considering for a role as expert, consultant, board member or executive. And they can provide references for you to check. In addition, the platform serves as a useful tool to check on experiences as presented on LinkedIn and as they have answered questions on the platform. The financial arrangement with each Operator you hire is between yourself and the Operator, however, should you hire an executive full time, we charge a referral fee, as an executive recruiter would. We offer stipulations for scenarios in which the hire does not pan out, and offer refunds on a certain percentage of the success fees on a declining scale over time.

 What assurances do I have that the Operator is a good fit?

We highly encourage you to interact with The Operator in the community, conduct reference checks, and meet the executive in person for interviews formally and informally before making a hiring decision. And they can provide references for you to check. In addition, the platform serves as a useful tool to check on experiences as presented on LinkedIn and as they have answered questions on the platform.

 What level of compensation will they expect?

While every Operator sets his/her own pricing, it is reasonable to assume that paying by the hour is most expensive. Paying for a project or a set deliverable or engagement would be the next-most-expensive option for you. And the least expensive option, if measured in price per block of time, would be hiring the executive on a fractional or full-time basis. A fractional executive works for you, in a defined role within your organization, but only for a specified “fraction” of hours per week. The executive working on a fractional basis may have one or more other clients for whom he or she works the balance of the hours per week or per month.

In general, hourly rates will likely fall in the $100 to $400 per hour range, depending on the executive.

A typical engagement, such as a focus on increasing operational efficiency or improving systems, processes and technology, might last two months and might cost $20,000 to $40,000 – approximately. You should articulate metrics or key performance indicators so that you both know the work is complete.

Are there other incentives that would motivate an Operator?

The Operators are comfortable working under the scenarios described above – pay for a specific period of time, for a specific type of assignment. However, they are accustomed to working in scenarios in which they are motivated and incentivized to improve a business’ value, to prepare a business for sale. In other words, they work well under time pressure and under incentive structures that would enable them to share in the upside they are creating. But that is for you and them to work out.

 How can we (an Operator and I) align to maximize value?

Collaboration with an Operator begins with a clear understanding of the goal. What are they being asked to assist with? This could be as far reaching as “I am trying to determine what the next stage of my life might look like, so I am experimenting with the idea of retiring.” This is a bit ambiguous from the Operator’s standpoint; they will want to understand how they will know they have done a good job for you. Therefore, a better scenario might be “I am considering the sale of my business in several years, but I am not there yet personally, and neither is my company. I want an Operator to help me improve the value of the business each year for several years.”