Within the international management landscape, one role has been increasingly in demand for some time: the Fractional Manager. Originating in Anglo Saxon countries, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, this model initially developed within small and medium sized enterprises and growing businesses, with the aim of providing high level managerial expertise in a flexible and sustainable way.
A Fractional Manager is a professional who supports a company with strategic and operational responsibilities for a defined period, without being employed full time within the organization. This solution enables companies to access qualified expertise while maintaining a balanced approach between investment and sustainability.
In the Beauty & SPA sector, this approach has already been widely adopted for several years in many countries and is progressively transforming the way beauty centers, SPA facilities, salons with beauty areas, and pharmacies with treatment cabins are managed. In Italy, however, it is still an emerging role. Nevertheless, the market is beginning to recognize its value as a concrete response to the sector’s evolving needs.
Today, in a rapidly and continuously evolving landscape, the work of beauty therapists and business owners is no longer confined to treatment rooms. A beauty center or a SPA represents a true business system that operates alongside a relational system. The sector’s growth is unfolding within an increasingly complex and demanding society. In this context, owners, SPA managers, and directors operate in a dynamic and stimulating environment, but one that is also rich in variables and responsibilities. Managing all of this requires strategic vision. It means building a solid system, a structure that is stable yet flexible enough to adapt to ongoing market changes. When fully immersed in daily operations, maintaining this overall perspective becomes difficult and, at times, exhausting. Today, managing a facility means simultaneously handling organization, people, numbers, marketing, processes, and the quality of the customer experience.
Beyond Consulting: The Need for a Systemic Vision
Over the years, consulting within the sector has allowed for a close-up look at very diverse businesses, ranging from beauty salons to spas. What emerged most frequently was not a lack of facilities or resources. Often, these businesses were well-organized operationally, with qualified staff and a comprehensive range of services. The real critical issue was something else: the absence of an overall systemic vision.
This lack of vision led to:
Why more and more businesses are choosing a “Manager for Hire”
The growth of the sector has highlighted an increasingly evident need: managerial support. However, it is not always possible or sustainable to hire a full-time management figure. In many cases, ownership is still heavily operational, or the size of the facility does not justify an internal role exclusively dedicated to management. There is also another often underestimated aspect: when working daily within your own business, it is natural to progressively lose the big picture. An external figure, by nature, brings a different perspective: more objective, less influenced by internal dynamics, and more focused on processes and results. The Fractional Beauty Manager does not replace ownership or management, but acts as a connecting element between the different areas of the facility, with a precise goal: reducing the gap between customer expectations and the actual perceived experience.
A role that integrates strategy and operations
The value of Fractional Management lies in its hybrid nature. It is neither occasional consulting nor a theoretical intervention. The Fractional Beauty Manager works alongside the facility on an ongoing basis, intervening in concrete areas such as:
Not just a consultant, but a steady partner over time
What distinguishes Fractional Management from traditional consulting is continuity. Three elements define its value:
A response to the new needs of the sector
The role of the Fractional Beauty Manager is designed for beauty centers, spas, salons with beauty areas, pharmacies with treatment rooms, educational institutions, and cosmetic companies that wish to evolve without weighing down their organizational structure. In an increasingly competitive market, the difference is no longer made solely by the services offered, but by the ability to manage people, processes, and customer experience in an integrated way.
The future of the Beauty & Wellness sector will be increasingly oriented towards the quality of the system, not just the quality of the treatment. And it is precisely in this space that Fractional Management finds its role: guiding businesses toward more conscious, sustainable, and structured growth over time.
Giuliana Cossu
Giuliana Cossu is a Beauty & Spa Fractional Manager and strategic consultant for beauty centers, spas, and wellness facilities.
She works alongside owners and management to build sustainable growth models, focusing on organization, managerial vision, and customer experience. She also collaborates with beauty schools and cosmetic companies, handling training, content development, and strategic support, with an approach strongly rooted in the reality of field-based work.
Her work is based on a proprietary approach, the Metodo Circolare™ (Circular Method), which integrates people, numbers, and processes into a holistic vision.
In addition to strategic support, she conducts masterclasses dedicated to owners and managers in the Beauty & Spa sector, designed as spaces for reflection and awareness before implementing operational change.
www.giulianacossu.it
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