At $100K in revenue, your business is scrappy. You’re doing a lot with a little. You probably hired your first Project Manager (PM) to take tasks off your plate, clean up timelines, and keep the team moving forward. And they did just that. They were your checklist superhero, someone who could execute, manage vendors, and follow up without needing you at every turn.
But now you’re eyeing, or already, reaching $1M in annual revenue. And the problems you’re facing are very different.
Suddenly, task check-ins aren’t enough. You’re seeing friction between departments. Resources are stretched. Strategy and execution feel disconnected. The business is growing faster than your team’s ability to stay aligned. And you’re starting to wonder: Why isn’t our PM keeping up?
Here’s the truth:
The PM you needed at $100K isn’t the one who will carry you to $1M and beyond.
Why That Early PM Was Exactly Right… for a Time
In early-stage growth, your PM needed to be:
- Tactical and hands-on
- Skilled in juggling tools like Asana, Trello, or ClickUp
- A fantastic executor, not necessarily a strategic thinker
- Focused on delivery and speed more than systemization
They worked within the systems you built, or helped duct-tape together and kept things from falling apart. For a while, it worked beautifully.
But Now You’re Here and the Game Has Changed
At the $1M+ level, your needs have evolved:
- You’re managing cross-functional projects, not just isolated tasks.
- You need operational visibility, not just updates, but insight.
- You can no longer afford reactive workflows; you need repeatable, scalable systems.
- You need someone who isn’t just looking at tasks but at resource allocation, risk, bottlenecks, and long-term roadmapping.
A PM who thrived at $100K may not have the experience (yet) to lead in this higher-stakes environment.
So Who Is the PM You Need at $1M+?
You’re looking for someone who can:
✅ Build systems, not just use them
✅ Speak the language of operations, marketing, sales, and product
✅ Spot friction points before they become fires
✅ Drive results tied to business outcomes, not just task completion
✅ Influence upward and lead laterally
In short, you need someone who isn’t just a PM; you need a strategic operator. Someone who can sit between vision and execution and translate chaos into clarity.
When to Shift or Uplevel Your PM Expectations
Ask yourself:
- Is our current PM constantly reacting vs. proactively planning?
- Are we hitting bottlenecks or team burnout?
- Is there a lack of consistency in project success or delivery?
- Are projects slipping through the cracks even though “everyone is busy”?
- Does your leadership team feel stretched too thin?
If you said yes to even two of the above, it’s time to uplevel.
You Might Not Need a Full-Time PM. You Need a Fractional Strategist.
Hiring an experienced full-time PM or DOO might feel like a leap in both budget and commitment. That’s where part-time project management or a fractional Director of Operations (DOO) comes in.
With fractional leadership, you get:
- Executive-level insight without a full-time headcount
- System-building, not just system-doing
- Strategic planning with operational follow-through
- A partner who can evaluate your current team and tools and scale your ops for growth
You don’t need to replace your current PM, you need to bridge the gap between where you are and where you’re headed.
Ready to Scale with Systems, Not Stress?
If your business is stuck between $100K and $1M+ and you’re starting to feel the friction, let’s talk.
I offer part-time PM and fractional DOO services to help founders scale sustainably with structure, clarity, and calm.
➡️ Let’s Connect. Book a Discovery Call.