Just to jog your memory a bit, Fractional Partners is on a mission to turn small businesses into best-in-class assets, by growing and founders and their companies. We partner with non-tech services with $1-5m in sales and help them grow by becoming their “fractional partners”.

📝 TL;DR (Executive Summary)

• We're on the move! Our team has grown to three members, we've got some promising clients lined up, and we're working hard on validating our accelerator offer.
• Building from scratch isn’t always smooth sailing: we've learned some truly valuable lessons and we're sharing them because we believe in building in public.
• We’re in the midst of creating a community of small business owners who think like us, and we'd really appreciate your help in connecting us with any talented entrepreneurs in your network!

🎉 Progress Highlights

Our journey so far has been quite a ride, and we're just getting started. Here's what we've accomplished:

• We've got our go-to-market offer, pricing, brand, and ideal customer profile (ICP) all figured out. Big shoutout to Trent Warner, our Head of Marketing, for guiding us through the branding process.
• We've hosted two in-person events in Austin, Texas, met loads of entrepreneurs and made some great connections. We're also planning another in-person event on Feb 29th for millennial entrepreneurs in ATX.
• We've set up the “Partners Forum”, a select group of top-tier business owners who meet up once a month to exchange ideas, get feedback and make friends.
• We launched a podcast and started creating content. We're eager to share our journey (did I mention we’re building in public?) and hopefully inspire others to build top-tier organizations.
• We've got several companies lined up eager to join our SMB Accelerator program. Exciting times ahead!

💡 Challenges and Learnings

• Switching to a shorter executional cadence: We originally ran on “pure EOS” and set 90-day “rocks”. But 90 days felt like forever for our nimble organization. So, we switched to a two-week sprint cadence which feels just right for us.
• Incentivizing high-caliber SMEs (subject matter experts): We're aiming to bring top-tier C-Suite executives into the companies we work with. Balancing short-term cash-flow expectations (they want to get paid well) with long-term incentives (we want them to invest their time for equity) was key. The result is a system that works for everyone, especially for the businesses we work with.
• Creating content is harder than it looks: It's a tough and time-consuming process. But we're dedicated to it as it's part of our “build in public” ethos and helps us share with our ICP.
• The value of being hands-on with our companies: We've learned there’s nothing quite like being inside the businesses we're helping. Can our program be done online? Yes. But the in-person touch makes a world of difference and allows us to pick up nuances that just can’t be picked up online.
• Expecting my first child: Balancing the demands of a newborn (due this week!), my business (FP), and our partner businesses is going to be a pretty unique experience. Wish me luck!

🎯 Goals for Next Month

1. To streamline our deal-flow funnel by methodically adding more talented entrepreneurs to our fantastic community.
2. To refine our accelerator program by applying it to our new partners and ensuring we deliver maximum value in minimum time.

🙏 Request from You

We could use a little help growing our Partners Forum. If you know any small business owners who are:

• Millennials or younger (under 45)
• Running a non-tech service business (blue collar, construction, trade businesses, etc) in the US
• Making at least $1m in yearly sales
• Visionaries who aspire to build best-in-class organizations

I'd love to meet them and perhaps invite them to a Partners Forum session (the next one is on March 1st). It's a really cool experience, and I truly believe they'll find it valuable.

If anyone comes to mind, could you help us connect via a short email introduction?

📚 Conclusion

• I hope you found this update useful. If you'd prefer not to receive these updates, just hit the unsubscribe button below.
• If there's anything I can do to assist you, or if you’d like to connect, feel free to schedule a meeting with me or reply to this message.

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