Fractional COO for South African businesses
A clear plan. A team that owns the work. Systems that keep it moving. vStratify brings the senior operations leadership and the software to make it happen, for a monthly fee.
See what comes off your desk
Led by Seán Fabian, former COO at EyeCarePro and Pfortner.
The handover
When everything lands on your desk, growth fills your week instead of freeing it. Here’s what changes when the right people and systems take over.
Your team gets clear owners and a weekly rhythm, so leave requests, supplier problems and client follow-ups stop landing on your desk.
Invoices, stock counts, reports and onboarding move into tools and written processes that run without you remembering them.
What’s left is the work only you can do: selling, hiring, and deciding where the business goes next.
Swipe to see the whole week.
Before the handover: all operations sit with you.
An illustrative week, not a promised result. Your handover starts with your actual workload.
The practice that fixes your operations can also build the tool that runs them. These are real products, shown as they look today.
Active build
Business operating system
A workspace for owners to set 90-day outcomes, assign accountability, surface blockers, record decisions and review business health without adding more meetings.
Built with Next.js, Prisma, PostgreSQL, AI Gateway
Visit clarityos-3wxp.vercel.app
Active build
School fundraising platform
A multi-tenant fundraising platform for South African schools, with sponsored-block campaigns, raffles, donations, PayFast payments and live campaign updates.
Built with Next.js, Supabase, PayFast
Visit www.blockr.co.za
Demo MVP
Multi-tenant property platform
A South African residential property platform where each agency has an isolated workspace, listings with maps, agent access, leads, viewings and transactional email.
Built with Next.js, Supabase, Leaflet, Resend
Visit prop-match-orpin.vercel.app
In testing
Offline-first gospel training
An Afrikaans training app with three guided sessions, quizzes, a field guide and a private notebook that keeps progress and prayer lists on the user’s device.
Built with React, Vite, TanStack Router
Visit www.talkaboutjesus.co.za
Live
Guided book and discipleship app
A 12-week reading journey with completion-locked phases, private reflections, offline access and optional accountability between mentors and participants.
Built with Next.js, Firebase, Playwright, Vitest
Visit riseupmen.co.zaExperience in practice
Before vStratify, its playbooks ran inside these businesses, with the numbers to show for it.
EyeCarePro, Toronto (COO)
Led the operational integration of EyeCarePro and National Strategic Group into Preeminent Growth Partners, scaled the team across 10 countries, and introduced AI into the delivery workflow.
Growmodo GmbH, Germany (Operations Manager)
Designed the company Operating Rhythm: delivery pods, SLA governance, QA gates and KPI frameworks for a remote design and development subscription business, plus the blueprint to scale it from 200 to 8,000 clients.
Pfortner, Centurion (COO, Head of Operations)
Ran delivery of encrypted email, messaging and network products into banks and remote, low-signal sites across Africa. Built PCI DSS and NIST-aligned governance from the ground up, under secret-level security clearance.
Current client, Montreal (fractional)
Restructured task management across ClickUp, Notion and Airtable for about 40 client accounts, and built the executive dashboards, capacity planning and operating rhythm for a distributed team of 20+.
The person behind the work
Every vStratify engagement is led by Seán Fabian. As COO, he integrated two companies. At Pfortner, he led the delivery of secure communications to banks in seven countries. He also builds the software vStratify delivers. When your operation needs its own tool, the work stays with the person who already understands it.
“He operates with calm focus, brings structure where things are messy, and holds people accountable without creating friction.”
A fractional COO is an experienced chief operating officer who runs part of your operations for a set number of hours each week, on a monthly fee. You get senior leadership for the plan, the people and the systems, without hiring a full-time executive.
| vStratify | Full-time COO | Consultant | Carrying it yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Seán, with your team | Your COO | Your team, from a report | You |
| In the business every week | Yes, on set hours | Yes | Usually not | Always |
| Cost | R16,500 to R62,000 a month | A full executive salary, plus benefits | A project fee | Your evenings and weekends |
| Builds the software | Yes, in-house | Rarely | Rarely | Rarely |
| Commitment | Month to month | Permanent | Per project | Ongoing |
Find your starting point
Choose ongoing operations leadership or a fixed-scope software build. COO plans show the monthly price and hours. Founder and growth plans come with a guarantee: if the agreed handover hasn’t happened by week 8, your third month is free.
Not sure which fits? The free assessment asks 14 questions and recommends one. Plans are priced by time. vStratify takes on four retainers at a time, so every client gets senior attention. Founding rates are 25% off for the first three clients. Prices in rand. vStratify is not VAT-registered, so no VAT is added.
Sit inside the work. Map where your week goes, score the business, and agree a 90-day plan with you.
Set up the weekly rhythm, the scorecard and an owner for every area. Fix the biggest bottleneck first, and build any tool it needs.
Your team runs the rhythm without you in the middle. The agreed handover happens by week 8, then you measure it together and plan the next quarter.
Two CEOs Seán reported to, and two people who reported to him. Taken from signed reference letters and LinkedIn recommendations. Originals available on request.
“He operates with calm focus, brings structure where things are messy, and holds people accountable without creating friction.”
Paul Preisler, CEO, Growmodo GmbHSeán reported to him, 2025–2026
“Sean brings a rare combination of personability and goal-focused drive to his role, which makes him both well liked and effective at pushing the organisation forward.”
Daniel Rostenne, CEO, EyeCarePro Inc.Seán reported to him, 2023–2024
“Sean has a knack for handling big projects without letting anything slip through the cracks. He keeps teams on the same page, manages multiple priorities without stress, and always follows through on details that matter.”
Jamie McDowell, CMO, EyeCarePro Inc. (at the time)Reported to Seán, 2023–2024
“Sean is a people-first leader who fosters engagement, professional growth, and a strong, inclusive workplace. Sean’s leadership is defined by integrity, fairness, and strategic vision.”
Ellie Feldman-Margulis, HR & People Operations, EyeCarePro Inc.Reported to Seán, 2023–2024
Answer 14 questions. You’ll get an operations score and the system that fits your stage. No sign-up.
A fractional COO is an experienced chief operating officer who runs part of your operations for a set number of hours each week, on a monthly fee. You get senior leadership for the plan, the people and the systems, without hiring a full-time executive.
A consultant usually diagnoses and recommends, then leaves the team to do it. vStratify works inside the business every week, puts the systems in place with your people, and stays until they run without you in the middle.
COO plans are R16,500, R32,000 and R62,000 a month, priced by the hours of senior time each week. Software builds start at R45,000 as fixed-price projects. vStratify is not VAT-registered, so no VAT is added.
Then start with the free operations assessment and the articles. They’re there to be useful on their own. When the business is ready, the plans will still be here.
vStratify takes on four retainers at most, so there’s room in the week. Every process, scorecard and decision is written down in your own systems, so the work keeps going and nothing lives only in one person’s head. Missed sessions are rescheduled.
That’s the goal. When you’re ready for a full-time COO or operations manager, vStratify helps you hire them and hands over everything that was built.
You do. Playbooks, dashboards, automations and software built for your business are yours to keep.
Yes. Client information is handled under POPIA, and an NDA can be signed before the first call.
A few lines about the business and where you’re stuck is enough. Seán replies personally, usually within one working day.
