OBM, Virtual Assistant, or Fractional COO: Which One is Right for You?

If you’re reading this, you likely already know that you need to hire help – but the titles are confusing AF. It doesn’t help that it’s hard to find a straightforward definition of each, that people are consistently selling out of scope, and the titles are being used interchangeably when they’re completely different types/levels of support.

There’s so much noise – every platform, program, or mentorship you’re in – someone will have a different opinion. A lot of the time, it’s because they’re in it to gain something.

I’ve been doing this long enough to see the same patterns over and over: businesses hiring VAs when they need OBMs, paying for COO-level strategy they’re not ready to use, or bringing on an OBM when they just need someone to execute tasks. It’s an expensive mistake that costs not just money, but time, energy, and possibility – and most importantly, it’s completely avoidable.

In this post, I’ll be breaking down each tier of support: OBM, Virtual Assistant (VA), and Fractional COO so you can figure out what you need.

Enter: The OBM (Online Business Manager)

Most of our clients land at the OBM level – and honestly, it makes sense. This is where you’ve got enough moving that you can’t just hand someone a task list anymore, but you’re not ready to hand over the keys either.

An OBM is your operations partner. They’re not waiting around for you to tell them what to do – they’re managing projects, coordinating your team, keeping shit moving. They’re suggesting, planning, executing – but you’re still making the calls.

You say “I have this really freaking cool idea” and your OBM figures out how to make it happen. They build the project plan, loop in your team on what they need to handle, set up the workflows to support it, manage the timeline, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. They might come to you with “hey, I think we need to adjust the timeline because your designer’s already maxed out” or “should we add this step to the client process while we’re at it?” and you’re the one saying yes or no.

They’re proactive as heck – anticipating what needs to happen, flagging issues before they become problems, suggesting improvements to how you deliver for clients. But they’re bringing you options, not making those decisions solo.

You need an OBM when coordinating your team has become a full-time job, when you’ve got contractors or employees and you’re spending half your week just making sure everyone knows what they’re doing, when client projects take forever because you’re the bottleneck keeping everything on track.

Decoding the VA (Virtual Assistant)

Maybe you’re not at the OBM level yet – and that’s completely fine.

A VA is pure execution. You tell them what to do, they do it. There’s no strategizing together, no suggestions about how to improve your processes, no managing other people on your team. You’re still the one figuring out what needs to happen, when it needs to happen, and how it all fits together.

You need to update your email sequences in (Convert)Kit? Your VA handles it. You need to send client welcome workflow in Dubsado? Your VA handles it. Need someone to update your service agreement template, upload deliverables to the client portal, schedule discovery calls on your calendar? That’s VA territory. They’re working through the tasks you assign them, not coordinating projects or anticipating what comes next.

The key difference: you’re still driving everything. You’re setting priorities, managing timelines, coordinating your contractors. Your VA is giving you back time by taking specific tasks off your plate, but you’re still the project manager, the strategist, the person keeping it all moving.

You need a VA when you know exactly what needs to be done and you just need capable hands to execute it. When you don’t have a team to coordinate yet, or when you’re happy being the one managing the moving pieces – you just need help getting shit done.

But What’s a Fractional COO?

Maybe you’ve outgrown OBM support entirely – or maybe you’re ready to stop being the one holding all the operational decisions.

A Fractional COO isn’t bringing you options or asking what you think. They’re making operational decisions and informing you what’s happening.

The difference is massive: your OBM says “here are three options for restructuring client onboarding, which one do you want?” Your COO says “I’m restructuring client onboarding, here’s the plan, we’re rolling it out next month.”

They’re conducting full operational audits of your business, deciding what systems and tech you need, making hiring decisions, setting quarterly revenue targets, restructuring your service offerings based on profitability. They’re not managing your projects – they’re deciding what projects you should even be taking on, what your service model needs to look like to hit your goals, how to build your team’s capacity to scale.

You’re completely out of the day-to-day. You’re not approving timelines or coordinating team members or deciding how to divvy up client work. Your COO owns all of that. They’re at the leadership table with you, co-creating the business strategy and then driving the operations to make it happen without needing your input on every decision.

You need a Fractional COO when you’ve got an established agency or service business with a real team in place and you’re ready to completely step out of operations, when you need someone making decisions so you can stay focused on business development and growth, when being involved in operational choices is keeping you from actually scaling.

Finding Your Fit

Here’s how to figure out what you actually need right now.

Hiring a VA makes sense if…

• You’re still delivering most client work yourself and just need admin stuff off your plate
• Updating client portals, scheduling calls, sending contracts, and chasing invoices is eating up your week
• You know exactly what tasks need doing, you just don’t want to do them anymore
• You’re fine being the one who decides how everything runs

Hiring an OBM makes sense if…

• You’ve got a few contractors or team members and coordinating them has become your second job
• Client projects keep getting delayed because nobody’s tracking deliverables except you
• You’re constantly thinking “we need a better system for this” but have no time to build it
• You want someone who takes your ideas and actually makes them happen without you managing every step
• You say “I want to launch this new service” or “let’s do a sale” and they handle the entire rollout

Hiring a Fractional COO makes sense if…

• You’ve built a real team but you’re still making every single operational decision yourself
• You should be out there closing deals but you’re stuck managing delivery timelines and team capacity
• Your agency is bringing in solid revenue but your operations can’t handle taking on more clients
• You need someone who’ll audit your entire business, tell you what’s broken, and fix it without asking permission
• You’re ready to have someone else own operations entirely so you can focus on growth and strategy

What We Do Differently

Here’s the thing about how we work: every single client gets our entire team, no matter which tier you’re at.

You might think “I just need one person to help with X” – but what happens when your OBM is out sick the week of your launch? Or when the system you need built requires expertise your VA doesn’t have? Or when you need a second opinion on a big operational decision?

That’s where having four brains instead of one changes everything.

When you work with us, you’re not hiring a single person who’s trying to be good at everything. You’re getting a full team with different strengths: strategy, implementation, systems, client delivery. We collaborate behind the scenes so you get better solutions, faster turnarounds, and coverage when life happens.

This is how we’re redefining what operations support looks like. You’re not paying for four people – you’re paying for one tier of support, but getting the collective expertise and backup of an entire team.

It’s a partnership, not just outsourcing. And I can confidently say that it’s the best value on the market.

If you’re still not sure where you land, that’s totally normal. Reach out and let’s talk through what’s actually going on in your business. We’ll help you figure out what you need (even if it’s not us).