Fractional Resources

Meenakshi Narsinghani nailed something I hear constantly on discovery calls:

“It starts from consulting, and then it becomes a full delivery gig for me.”

We were talking through her past fractional work - how it always started strategic: audits, product assessments, revenue models. But somehow she’d end up knee-deep in delivery. Working through reconciliation issues, scoping fixes, leading teams. Suddenly she’s back in the day-to-day - managing, unblocking, firefighting.

This is the trap - when you’re trying to sell advisory work but keep getting pulled into execution.

You start clean. Maybe an audit, some recommendations, strategic guidance.

Then they ask for help with “just one thing.”

And you say yes.

Next thing you know, you’re in standups, managing backlogs, fighting fires. You’re not advising anymore - you’re delivering. You’ve accidentally become their part-time employee with none of the benefits.

As a fractional, you might offer advisory services, execution services, or both. But if your goal is to stay in advisory - not delivery - you’ve got to draw your lines early.

Here’s how you hold the line:

Structure everything up front.

No “let’s see how it goes.” No loose handshake deals.

Every proposal I write spells out scope. Sometimes with three tiers - maybe one weekly call, maybe more access, but never actual delivery. I say it straight: advisory, not execution. If you need hands, I’ll refer you. If you want me to do more, you pay for the pain.

If you do offer both advisory and execution work, make sure your proposals separate them completely. Different sections. Different pricing. Different terms. Maybe different proposals. Make it impossible to confuse “I’ll help you think through this” with “I’ll build this for you.”

When your advisory client needs delivery, it’s a new agreement.

If execution wasn’t in your original proposal, they can’t just switch to it. That’s a new sales conversation. New proposal. New scope. New terms.

Even if you had execution as an option in your original proposal, treat it as a separate decision. Don’t let advisory quietly morph into delivery just because you mentioned you could do both.

Get paid in advance - and stop billing hourly.

Hourly billing makes boundary-setting nearly impossible. If you’re charging the same rate whether you’re advising or executing, there’s no structural reason for the client to respect the boundary. An hour is an hour, right? They’ll naturally drift toward asking for whatever feels most urgent - which is usually execution.

This is why I don’t bill hourly. When you get paid up front for advisory work - retainers, fixed engagements, monthly fees - the economics support the boundary you’re trying to maintain. You’re not selling time. You’re selling expertise. And they’ve already paid for it.

This changes the relationship completely. You’re not staff waiting for payroll. You’re not a contractor billing hours. You’re a business they’ve invested in for specific outcomes.

Make sure everyone knows the deal.

The person signing the check gets it. But what about the manager you’ll work with day-to-day? They need to see your proposal too. Otherwise they’ll treat you like the new hire and start assigning tasks.

Just say no.

Say no - at least until you say yes.

The real problem isn’t that they ask. It’s that you automatically say yes without checking your scope, your time, your actual offering.

Review what you agreed to deliver. Is this request part of it? No? Then say no. Or offer to help for 30 minutes. Or point them to the right person.

But make it a business decision, not a reflex.

If you want to stay advisory, make the boundaries visible and hold them tight.

How to actually say no (without burning bridges).

When they ask for something outside your scope, don’t just shut them down. Acknowledge the request, check your agreement, then redirect:

“That sounds valuable. Let me finish what we agreed on first, then we can discuss how to handle this new request.”

Or:

“This isn’t part of our current engagement, but I can spend 30 minutes helping you think through it.”

Or:

“I don’t do execution work, but I know someone who’s great at this. Want me to make an introduction?”

You’re not being difficult. You’re being professional. There’s a difference.

The bottom line: boundaries aren’t barriers - they’re clarity.

If you want to stay advisory, make the boundaries visible and hold them tight. Your clients will respect you for it. And if they don’t? They weren’t the right clients anyway.

Want help structuring your fractional practice so you can stay in your lane? Book a discovery call and we’ll talk through what makes sense for your practice.