Your Business Needs an Operator.
Not Another Advisor.
Russ Sorrells embeds inside your business to build the execution system your team needs—and run it. On-site. Hands-on. Accountable for results.
What Is the COO?
Years Operating
Companies Built & Exited
Businesses Served
The Problem
You built a great business.
Now it runs you.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone—and there’s a way out.
Decision Bottleneck
Every decision flows through you. Your team waits instead of acting. You’re the single point of failure.
Talent Problems
Key people are underperforming, misaligned, or leaving. You know something has to change but you don’t have time to fix it.
Firefighting Daily
You’re solving urgent problems instead of building. The important work never gets done because the urgent work never stops.
Consultants Came and Went
Every advisor handed you a deck and walked out. You have binders full of strategy and nothing to show for it.
The Difference
This is not consulting.
This is operational leadership.
TYPICAL ADVISOR
RUSS SORRELLS – BTG
× Shows up with a deck
✓ Embeds in your business on-site
× Recommends from the outside
✓ Builds and runs the system for you
× Leaves after the engagement
✓ Stays until the team owns it
× Gives you a framework to figure out
✓ Does the work–not just the advice
× Not accountable for results
✓ Accountable for execution outcomes
× Doesn’t know your people
✓ Becomes part of your leadership team
× Creates ongoing dependency
✓ Will hire and train his own replacement
How it Works
One engagement. Two Phases.
The first 90 days build the operating system. After that, Russ shifts to driving execution and growing the business.
Phase 1
Install
Months 1–3
– Answer the five Base Camp questions with your leadership team
– Establish communication cadence—weekly, quarterly, annual
– Build accountability systems and KPI scorecards
– Align the leadership team on priorities and decision authority
– Conduct IDP sessions with key leaders
– Install operational playbooks across core functions
Phase 2
Execute
Months 4+
– Lead the weekly tactical and quarterly strategy sessions
– Direct resources toward highest-priority initiatives
– Hold department leaders accountable against the plan
– Drive 90-day priorities—removing obstacles, maintaining tempo
– Coach and develop leaders to increase organizational capacity
The Foundation
Every engagement starts with five questions your entire team needs answered.
1 Where are we going?
Vision
2 Who is going with us?
Culture
3 Why are we going there?
Purpose
4 How will we get there?
Plan
5 What does winning look like?
Performance
The system does not fix your business. Execution does. Phase 1 builds the machine. Phase 2 runs it.”
Getting Started
Two ways to begin. Same destination.
Every engagement leads to one outcome: a business that runs without you.
Preferred Starting Point
Half-Day Operational Intensive
The Preferred Starting Point
Investment credited toward Month 1 if you move to a COO engagement
Russ spends a half day inside your business—on-site with you and your leadership team—to diagnose the core operational issues holding you back.
– Pre-session intake and document review
– On-site working session with the CEO and key leaders
– Bottleneck identification and root cause analysis
– Deliverable: Operational Game Plan with a 90-day action plan
Core Engagement
Fractional COO
The Core Engagement
10 hours/week • 2 days on-site • 6-month minimum
Russ embeds inside your business as your Fractional COO—attending leadership meetings, working directly with your team, and driving execution.
– Phase 1: Install the operating system (Months 1–3)
– Phase 2: Lead execution and drive growth (Months 4+)
– Works with existing system or builds from scratch
– Defined transition path to internal ownership
The transitional Path
The goal is independence, not dependence.
Russ will gladly hire and train his own replacement. The engagement is designed to build a self-managing business.
Months 1-3
Install the operating system, build cadence, align leadership around priorities and accountability.
Months 4-6
Install the operating system, build cadence, align leadership around priorities and accountability.
Months 7+
Install the operating system, build cadence, align leadership around priorities and accountability.
Graduation
Install the operating system, build cadence, align leadership around priorities and accountability.
Russ Sorrells
Fractional COO, Beyond the Grind
Russ Sorrells
Russ is not a career consultant. He is a multi-exit operator and founder with 30+ years in the capital equipment and engineered-to-order industries. He has built and exited 6 companies and worked with over 500 businesses.
He is an engineer by training and an operator by choice. His approach is built on three decades of running companies—hiring teams, making payroll, closing deals, and building systems that outlast any single leader.
After years of coaching business owners through operating system implementations, Russ realized the thing he missed most was operating. The Fractional COO model is his return to doing what he does best—running businesses.
• 6 companies built and exited
• 30+ years of operating experience
• 500+ businesses served
• Pinnacle Certified Business Guide
• Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)
member
• Strategic Coach alumni since 2013
• Based in Charlotte, NC
Client Results
What clients say after working with Russ.
Brett & Laurie Yutka
Owners, Yutka Fence
4X
Revenue Growth
Inc. 5000
2025
Tim Kane
Chief Operating Officer, Belrose Storage Group
18+
Months & Counting
Darryl Bellamy
Fearless Inside
360°
Business & Life
At a Glance
Engagement Terms
Time On-Site
2 Days / Week
~10 hours per week
Minimum Commitment
6 Months
Month-to-month after
Geography
Charlotte, NC
On-site required
Availability
2–3 Clients
Limited active engagements
Entry Point
Half-day Intensive
Investment credited toward Month 1
Starting Condition
Any System
Builds new or accelerates existing
Next step
Ready to stop being the bottleneck?
The engagement doesn’t start until it’s right for both of us. Let’s start with a conversation.