Fractional Resources

People think “package” means deliverables.

They say things like:

“It includes one weekly call and a monthly report.”
“They get Slack access and a roadmap.”
“I deliver a deck, a doc, a workshop.”

And sure—that’s part of it.

But it’s not the whole thing. Not even close.

A package has two essential sides:

1. What the client gets (both tangible pieces AND outcomes)
2. What you do to deliver it

When you leave out either side, you end up with offers that burn you out, confuse your clients, or quietly unravel over time.

Let’s fix that.

Both Sides Matter

Every fractional or soloist offer—whether it’s a one-hour session or a $100k retainer—needs both sides defined:

• Their Side – What they get (access, calls, deliverables) AND what changes (outcomes, transformation, relief)
• Your Side – The behind-the-scenes work. Prep. Follow-up. Context-holding. Energy management.

But here’s the key: before you can define either side well, you need to understand their “why.”

Before we can define what’s in the box, we need to understand why the box matters to them.

• Why do they need this now?
• Why can’t they do it internally?
• What actually changes if this works?
• What’s the cost of doing nothing?

These answers shape everything—from what you deliver to how you deliver it.

Examples

Let’s walk through a few examples, showing how the Why shapes the package.

Example 1: One-Hour Strategy Call

Why: Team is stuck on a critical tech decision, bleeding money daily while they debate.

• Their Side:
  • Tangible: 60 minutes on Zoom, clear recommendation, written summary
  • Outcome: Decision made, path chosen, team aligned and moving forward
• Your Side: Research their stack, review their constraints, prep decision framework, facilitate agreement

The value isn’t in the hour—it’s in unsticking a costly bottleneck.

Example 2: Monthly Advisory Retainer

Why: CEO needs trusted tech guidance but can’t justify full-time CTO yet.

• Their Side:
  • Tangible: Unlimited Slack, two calls a month, async review
  • Outcome: Confident tech decisions, early problem detection, clear investment priorities
• Your Side: Hold their context, monitor patterns, spot risks early, be available for quick gut-checks

The value isn’t access—it’s risk reduction and decision confidence.

Example 3: Three-Month Roadmap Sprint

Why: Board wants clarity on tech direction before approving next funding round.

• Their Side:
  • Tangible: Workshops, interviews, roadmap, board presentation
  • Outcome: Clear story, defendable plan, funded next phase
• Your Side: Stakeholder management, narrative crafting, political navigation, presentation design

The value isn’t the roadmap—it’s the funding it unlocks.

Why People Miss Half the Package

People forget both the “you” side and the real value of the package.

The “you” side is invisible—it’s work you do reflexively, unconsciously, or “off the clock.” So it doesn’t show up in the scoping doc. Doesn’t make it onto the proposal. Doesn’t get acknowledged in the pricing conversation.

The value side gets missed because we assume it’s obvious. We think “well of course they know why they need this.” But they often don’t—at least not clearly enough to articulate it themselves.

This is where the Why Conversation becomes crucial. Before you can package anything, you need to extract:

• The real problem they’re solving
• The timing pressure they face
• The specific value of solving it now
• The cost of not solving it

When you have those answers, you can target your package to deliver specific value—not just generic “outcomes.”

But you feel both gaps eventually. You resent the invisible work—because the cost is real, but unaccounted for. And you lose deals because you haven’t connected your work to their specific value.

Good Packages Work for Both Sides

A good package is sustainable. Repeatable. Clear.
It holds:

• What the client needs to feel supported (both tangible and transformational)
• What you need to deliver that support without drowning
• The specific value you uncovered in the Why Conversation
• Boundaries around time, scope, and emotional energy

If you skip the Why Conversation, you’ll get generic packages that don’t quite fit. If you skip your side, you’ll burn out. If you skip clear boundaries, you’ll get scope creep.

Don’t Mix in Price or Structure

This is where a lot of people get tangled.

They define the package based on price (“it’s a $5k offer”) or structure (“they get four hours a month”) before they even understand what’s in the box.

Most people blend these because clients ask “what does it cost?” before they know what they’re buying. Push back gently with something like:

“I don’t have an hourly rate. Let’s talk more about your needs and I can send a proposal.”

The package is what’s in the box - both what the client gets and what you do to deliver it. Understanding that shape helps you:

• See your real costs (time, energy, context-switching, risk)
• Choose pricing models that make sense
• Pick structures that can work
• Design something you can deliver sustainably

You can take the same core package and:

• Price it different ways for different clients
• Structure it to match how they buy
• Deliver it over varying timelines
• Bundle it into broader offerings
• Target the value you discovered in the Why Conversation

But first, you need to know what’s actually in the box.

Designing a Package

Here’s what you could define when building your offer:

1. Map Both Sides

   • What the client receives (tangible deliverables, access, support)
   • What you actually do (prep, context-holding, risk management)
   • Where these meet to create specific value

2. Define Your Inputs
   Be honest about what it takes:

   • Prep and follow-up time
   • Context switching costs
   • Energy management
   • Risk you’re carrying
   • Recovery time between clients

3. Set Clear Boundaries
   Protect both sides:

   • What’s in scope
   • What breaks the container
   • What requires renegotiation
   • When to say no

4. Make it Repeatable
   Can you run this again without:

   • Reinventing everything
   • Burning yourself out
   • Losing quality
   • Missing key elements

5. Consider Flexibility
   How might this package:

   • Scale up or down
   • Bundle with other offerings
   • Adapt to different client needs
   • Maintain value at different price points

Packages Are Prototypes

Most packages start vague, chaotic, or misaligned.

You learn by shipping them.
By living inside them.
By watching where the cracks show up.

And then you tweak the balance—what they get, what you do, how you frame the value—until it works.

That’s the work.

Final Thought: Your Package is a Value Container

It’s not just a boundary between your client’s needs and your capacity. It’s a vessel for delivering specific, understood, agreed-upon value.

Draw it carefully.

Not just so you can make more money.
Not just so you can keep your sanity.
But so you can deliver real transformation that matters to this client, right now.

Want help making your work sustainable?

I coach fractional leaders and soloists who want to build repeatable offers and stop winging it.
If you’re constantly rewriting your scope or regretting what you agreed to, let’s fix that.

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