The leadership layer Tokyo SMEs have been missing.
You have built something real. The gap between where the business is and where it needs to be is rarely effort, it is the senior judgement that a company this size cannot yet put on the payroll.
Why a full-time C-suite does not work at this stage
Hiring a permanent CFO, COO or CMO looks like the obvious answer. For most Japanese SMEs it is not:
The cost is out of proportion
A permanent executive appointment in Japan is close to irreversible: dismissal without just cause is extremely difficult, so a mishire is carried for years rather than corrected.
The search takes too long
A proper executive search runs three to six months before anyone starts. The problem in front of you is not waiting that long.
The risk sits on you
A seishain appointment is protected and effectively permanent. A gyomu itaku services contract between two companies is not, and ends on one month either way.
You do not need them five days a week
Most businesses at this size need two or three days of genuine senior input, not a full week of one. Paying for a full week is an expensive way to solve a part-time problem.
A fractional executive is a proven operator who works with your business on a defined, part-time basis. Not an adviser who produces a report and leaves: a senior operator who embeds with your team, holds the decisions in their domain and is accountable for the outcome. In a market where senior operators who can hold the room in Japanese and report to an overseas board in English, which is the single hardest combination to hire here are genuinely scarce, this is how a company of your size gets access to them at all.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Founders carrying a C-suite function themselves with no time left to lead
- Businesses that need senior capability two or three days a week, not five
- A specific gap in finance, operations, marketing, technology or people that is holding growth back
- Teams that cannot yet justify, or afford, a full-time executive salary
- Owners who want an operator accountable for outcomes, not a consultant with a deck
Not for
- A junior or purely execution role a full-time manager should own
- A one-off project an agency could deliver and hand back
- Businesses wanting a figurehead rather than someone who does the work
- A pre-revenue idea with no function yet to lead
What makes the model different here
Most fractional executives work alone. We are a vetted collective, and we stay with the engagement rather than stepping away after the introduction.
We do not introduce and leave
Support, structure and governance stay around the placement for as long as it runs. If the engagement drifts, that is our problem to fix, not yours to discover.
The collective behind one placement
Your executive draws on the whole collective of 350+. A finance question that turns out to be an operations question gets the right answer either way.
Continuity is designed in
If your executive has to step away, we hand over to another vetted operator already briefed on your business. Momentum is protected by design rather than by luck.
Matched on judgement, not on a CV
We match on stage, sector and temperament. In Tokyo in particular, an operator who cannot read the room will cost you more than the one you did not hire.
What an engagement looks like
From first call to an embedded operator in weeks, not months.
Discovery
We spend time understanding your business: challenges, goals, team dynamics, and what 'success' looks like in 90 days.
Match
We introduce the right fractional leader from our vetted collective. You meet them, ask hard questions, and confirm the fit.
Scoped engagement begins
The engagement launches with a defined scope, clear deliverables, and a structured cadence. Your fractional is embedded, not advisory.
Adapt and evolve
As your business changes, the engagement changes with it. Add hours, shift focus, introduce a second specialist, all without restructuring.
Which executive do you need first?
You do not need to know the answer before you call. Match the problem you feel most to the operator who owns it.
Each fractional role maps to a different SME challenge
Start with the gap that is costing you most, and the roles below show which leader owns it.
Backed by executives who have led at
