Vantage Operating Partners | Fractional COO & Operations Consulting

Sound Familiar?

Most $700K–$10M businesses do not have an effort problem. They have an operations problem.

Everything runs through you

Decisions bottleneck at the owner. Vacations are theoretical. Growth means more hours, not more profit.

You cannot see your numbers

Financial reporting arrives late, incomplete, or not at all. You are making six-figure decisions on gut feel.

Process lives in people's heads

When a key employee leaves, the process leaves with them. Every hire takes months to become useful.

Consultants gave you a binder

You have paid for advice before. What you needed was someone who rolls up their sleeves and executes.

The Entry Point

The Operations Diagnostic

A two-week, fixed-fee engagement that audits your business across seven operational pillars. No vague recommendations. You get a prioritized, sequenced Operations Roadmap you can execute immediately, with us or on your own.

This is not a sales pitch dressed as an assessment. It is the same diagnostic process used inside law firms, nonprofits, and a multi-site healthcare network to find the constraints that actually move the needle.

Week 1

Discovery and audit: leadership interviews, financial and process review, seven-pillar scoring

Week 2

Analysis and delivery: root-cause findings, your Operations Roadmap and priority plan

Fixed fee

Two weeks · quoted on your intro call

Seven-pillar operational audit with scoring
Leadership and key-staff interviews
Financial visibility review
Prioritized Operations Roadmap (yours to keep)
90-minute findings and planning session

Retainer credit: continue into a fractional COO engagement and your full Diagnostic fee is credited toward your first retainer.

Book Your Diagnostic

What You Get

Every pillar, scored with evidence.

Your Diagnostic ends with a scorecard like this one, so you can see at a glance where the business is strong and where it is leaking.

Operations ScorecardSample

Leadership & Accountability2 / 5

Vision & Priorities3 / 5

Financial Visibility2 / 5

Core Processes & Workflow1 / 5

People & Team3 / 5

Systems & Tools2 / 5

Sales & Client Delivery3 / 5

Illustrative example. Each pillar in your business is scored 1 to 5, with evidence.

The Framework

Seven pillars. One clear picture of your business.

Every Diagnostic scores your company across the seven areas where founder-led businesses most often stall, so you know exactly what to fix first.

Leadership & Accountability

Who owns what, and does anyone actually own anything?

Vision & Priorities

Is there a plan the whole team can see, or just a direction in the owner's head?

Financial Visibility

Timely, accurate numbers that support decisions instead of trailing them.

Core Processes & Workflow

Documented, followed, and measurable, or tribal knowledge and improvisation.

People & Team

Right people, right seats, real accountability, and a culture that retains them.

Systems & Tools

Technology that compounds your team's output instead of fragmenting it.

Sales & Client Delivery

A repeatable path from lead to delivered work that does not depend on heroics.

How We Work Together

Start with clarity. Continue with execution.

Step 1 · Start Here

Operations Diagnostic

The two-week, seven-pillar audit and Operations Roadmap. Every engagement begins here, because you cannot fix what you have not measured.

Fixed fee · quoted upfront

Step 2

Fractional COO

Ongoing operating leadership on a retainer basis. We execute the Roadmap together: building infrastructure, installing accountability, and running the operational side of your business.

Monthly retainer · Diagnostic fee credited

Targeted

Project Engagements

Defined-scope initiatives such as intake redesign, financial infrastructure buildout, system implementations, or restructuring, delivered hands-on.

Scoped per project

Real Operating Experience

This is not theory. It is work we have already done inside businesses like yours.

Law Firm

Two divisions, a new profit center, and the infrastructure to run them

Led the split of the organization into two new branded divisions, leading a company-wide rebrand, creating a new profit center, and building the business infrastructure to support it. Also restructured client consultation and intake, moving sales from attorneys to a dedicated function so attorneys returned to billable work.

Nonprofit · Inpatient Treatment Center

Board-approved strategy, campus-wide savings

Ran operations for an inpatient treatment center, overseeing finance, IT, and all support services reporting to the CEO. Developed a strategic plan approved by the Board of Trustees and led a campus-wide restructuring for cost savings with standing process improvement committees.

Healthcare · Multi-Site Network

Standardizing a regional network

Led clinical and administrative teams across a multi-site network of urgent care and occupational medicine centers. Implemented a new occupational medicine program and EMR system region-wide, standardizing operations and training.

Common Questions

Asked by nearly every owner. Answered straight.

How is this different from hiring a consultant?

Consultants hand you recommendations and leave. I sit in the operating seat and execute alongside your team. The Diagnostic ends with a roadmap you own, and if you want help running it, that is exactly what the fractional COO engagement is for.

How much of my time does the Diagnostic take?

Less than you would expect. A kickoff deep-dive, short team interviews scheduled around your calendar, and a 90-minute readout at the end. Your business does not stop while we work, and you will have your completed Operations Roadmap in hand within the two weeks.

We already run EOS. Is this redundant?

No. I have sat in the Integrator seat. If EOS is working, the Diagnostic shows you where execution is slipping between sessions. If it has stalled, the Diagnostic shows you why.

Do you work on-site or remote?

Both. Michigan businesses get regular in-person time; the operating rhythm works remotely anywhere. Most engagements end up as a mix.

What happens after the two weeks?

You keep the roadmap either way. Some owners execute it with their own team. Most continue into the fractional COO retainer, and your full Diagnostic fee is credited toward it.

What does it cost?

A fixed fee, quoted upfront on your intro call before anything starts. No hourly billing, no scope creep, no surprises on the invoice.

Your Operating Partner

Christian Salem

Christian has spent his career as the operations leader founders hand the keys to: Director of Operations roles across law, nonprofit, and healthcare, with direct oversight of finance, IT, HR, and day-to-day execution.

He has built financial infrastructure where none existed, restructured intake and sales processes, standardized operations across a multi-site healthcare network, and served as an EOS Integrator, translating owner vision into a business that runs.

Vantage Operating Partners exists to close the gap between consulting and execution: strategy you can see, delivered by someone willing to do the work alongside your team.

EOS Integrator Director of Operations ×3 Finance & IT Oversight Shelby Township, MI Connect on LinkedIn

Two weeks from now, you could know exactly what to fix.

Tell us a little about your business and we will reach out within one business day to set up a 30-minute intro call. No pressure, no binder.

christian@vantageoperatingpartners.com · (586) 921-4000 · LinkedIn · Shelby Township, MI