Hire an operations manager or outsource it: how to choose among three options

For service business owners doing $500,000 or more a year who are the only person who knows how things work.

Looking for an operations manager or fractional COO job? This is a guide for owners hiring or outsourcing. It does not list jobs.

The Compare page has all seven options side by side.

The operations hat covers how work gets scheduled, how jobs are done and who owns each step.

It also covers the weekly numbers and getting new people started.

In a small business, it can sit on the owner by default.

A hired operations manager is one person who can learn your business from the inside.

You recruit them, train them and manage them.

This suits an owner who wants one person to carry the role and is ready to lead them.

A fractional COO brings senior judgment on a part-time basis.

They set direction on how work should run. The doing usually stays with you or your team.

This suits an owner whose team can carry out a plan and who needs a leader to shape it.

What a fractional COO does.

What a fractional COO costs.

An outsourced team does the operations work for you, and you approve it.

This suits an owner who needs the work done and does not want to run another set of people.

• If you are the owner who needs the work done, an outsourced team fits.
• If you have a team that needs a leader, a fractional COO fits.
• If you already have a manager and need more hands, extra hands fit better than another leader.

This page gives no headcount rule, because a number of staff does not decide it. How much you want to manage does.

• Who does the operations work from day to day?
• Who is accountable for it?
• What happens when that person is away?

AI can help with some tracking and drafting. Decide which of its work a person reads before anyone relies on it.

Susanoo is the third option on this page.

One account manager and six specialists run your marketing, sales, operations, automation, AI and software.

In that team, operations is one of six departments, and it has its own specialist.

• A hire: a person who learns your business from the inside, and you recruit and manage them.
• A freelancer: good for fixing one process, and someone still has to keep it current.
• An agency: usually built around marketing or another single area, so operations may not be on its list.
• A fractional executive: a part-time senior leader on how work should run, and the doing may stay with your team.
• An AI tool: can help with tracking and drafting, and checking the result is up to you.

This comparison is our own view, based on public information about each kind of option, last reviewed October 2026. It is not a survey of every provider, and your situation may differ.

The Operations department page covers how Susanoo does the role.

The outsourced operations manager page covers the role in detail.