What size companies do you work with?

We work primarily with SMEs and mid-market organisations across the Middle East — companies that have product-market fit and are ready to grow deliberately, but need senior strategic support without the overhead of a tier-one consultancy.

How do you structure engagements?

Most engagements begin with a fixed-scope diagnostic (2–4 weeks) that produces a strategic brief. From there, we agree on either a project-based implementation, a monthly retainer for marketing department outsourcing, or a hybrid. You always know what you are paying for before you commit.

Do you work remotely or on-site?

Both. We are based in Egypt and serve clients across the Middle East. For diagnostics and key workshops we typically come on-site; for ongoing execution we work remotely with a clear governance cadence.

How long is a typical engagement?

Diagnostics run 2–4 weeks. Implementation projects run 8–16 weeks. Marketing department outsourcing is a monthly retainer, typically with a 3-month initial commitment so we can demonstrate measurable progress.

Yes, routinely. We treat client confidentiality as non-negotiable and will sign your NDA or provide our own mutual NDA before any substantive conversation.

What makes you different from a typical agency?

Agencies sell execution (posts, ads, designs). We sell clarity first — strategy, research, and a disciplined thinking process — then organise the execution around it. You are buying a consulting discipline, not a content subscription.

When to Hire a Fractional CMO

Most founders wait too long. By the time they engage a fractional CMO, they have usually burned 12 to 18 months and several million pounds on the wrong hire, the wrong agency, or just doing nothing.

This article is about catching the moment earlier. There are five scenarios I see repeatedly across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — and a five-question framework to confirm whether the moment has arrived in your business.

The 5 trigger scenarios

1. Revenue is between 10 and 200 million, and growth has become unclear. You have hit a ceiling. What worked at 20 million is not working at 80 million. The channels that built the business are saturating. You need senior strategic thinking to find the next 2x — not more tactical execution.

2. Your team has outgrown the current marketing manager. The marketing manager who built the function is no longer the right leader for its next stage. They need a senior above them — or you need to architect the team properly. A fractional CMO does both: leads and recruits.

3. You are entering a new market. A Cairo company expanding into Saudi Arabia, or a Riyadh company entering the UAE. The first 12 months of new market entry are when senior marketing judgment matters most — channel choice, positioning adaptation, partner selection. Get it wrong and you burn the entry budget. Get it right and you compound.

4. You had a bad previous CMO hire. The full-time CMO did not work out — wrong fit, wrong stage, wrong strategy. The function is destabilised, the team is shaken, and you need a senior person to stabilise, fix what is broken, and help you recruit the next full-time CMO properly. This is one of the highest-value uses of a fractional.

5. You are preparing to raise or sell. Investors want senior marketing leadership visible on the org chart during due diligence. A fractional CMO gives you that credibility for the 6 to 12 months around the raise — without a permanent commitment you may not need post-transaction.

The 5-question framework

Five questions. Answer honestly.

1. What revenue band are you in? Below 10 million, you need a founder who markets. Between 10 and 200 million, fractional usually fits. Above 200 million, you usually need full-time.

2. How complex is your marketing? Single product, single market — fractional carries you further than you think. Multiple products across multiple markets — full-time is closer to right.

3. Is your team built, or still forming? No team yet? A full-time CMO will spend their first year recruiting. A fractional will help you architect and hire the team faster and cheaper.

4. Do you have a clear marketing strategy, or is it still being shaped? If positioning, segments, channel mix, and funnel economics are still being figured out — fractional. If strategy is validated and you need someone to execute at scale — full-time.

5. Do you have budget for the engagement? A credible fractional in Egypt is 60 to 120K EGP a month, plus the marketing budget itself. If you cannot commit to six months minimum, the model will not work.

When NOT to hire

Three clear cases. First — revenue below 10 million. The founder should still be running marketing personally. Hiring a fractional at this stage creates dependency and overhead you do not need.

Second — revenue above 200 million with genuine complexity. You need a full-time CMO embedded in the daily reality of the business. Fractional will frustrate you here.

Third — no budget for the engagement or for the marketing underneath it. A fractional CMO without marketing budget is a strategy with no execution. Save the money until you can fund both.

How to know it is working

Three signals, all by month three. First — you have a written strategy the leadership team has actually agreed to. Second — the marketing dashboard exists, is reviewed monthly, and the numbers move as expected. Third — the team is clearer on what to do, not more confused.

If by month three you have those three, the engagement is working. If not, the diagnosis was wrong, the fractional was wrong, or the scope was wrong. All three are fixable.

For the cost structure behind these engagements — real pricing numbers are here.

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