A fractional CFO hired someone technically skilled but didn't explain the need to balance service with scalability. The new hire over-delivered so much that fractional clients started acting like full-time ones, nearly costing the firm $250,000. Leaders need to set boundaries or watch margins disappear.
I almost lost a quarter million dollars in clients a couple of years ago off of this. I brought a new CFO onto my team. I did a great job of screening him for technical competency, Did a great job of giving him the processes and the procedures and all the things so he could be successful. But what I did a poor job of was telling him that there's a balance as a fractional CFO between service and scalability. There's a technical component to the work we do, whether it's accounting, fractional CFO, or something in between. It's important that team members have that. But a lot of times people we bring on the team have this to over deliver, right? And a lot of us have that heart as well. We want to wow our clients with all the things. But as the CEO of your firm, you've got to be aware of the fact that there has to be boundaries on that, because you get to a point where you deliver and you over deliver and all of a sudden this client, which is a fractional client, is all of a sudden a full time client.
