On your behalf.
Or alongside you.
A General Manager for businesses of 5–50 people — to hold the reins while you take leave, and to run the projects you don't have the time or the specific experience to land. I took an Australian manufacturer from $7M to $25M with full P&L accountability. I'll bring that to your business, for exactly as long as you need it.
No pitch. Tell me what's coming up and I'll call you back within one business day.
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"It's always a scary proposition to have someone look after your brand… When I first met Asseneth I knew we were in safe hands. She took charge, engaged with key stakeholders and implemented the new business system launching during my leave."
Alicia Johncock — on Asseneth covering her parental leaveWhich one sounds like you?
I need someone to cover me
You have leave booked — or you badly need to book some — and there's no one to hold the reins. Or a GM has resigned and there's a gap before the replacement starts.
I need a project actually delivered
The new channel, the systems rollout, the export push. It's stalled — not because you don't want it, but because there's no capacity to run it, or nobody in the building has done it before. Both are fixable.
You built this. Now it needs
more of you than there is.
I haven't taken two consecutive weeks off in six years.
Every decision still comes back to me, even the small ones.
That project has been starting next quarter for a year.
We've tried this twice. Nobody here has done it before.
Revenue is up. Profit is flat. I can't see where it's going.
I'm the bottleneck. I know it. I can't get out of the way.
None of this means you've built the business badly. It means you've built it to a size where one person can no longer be the whole management layer — and you're too small to justify hiring a second full-time executive. Sometimes you need someone acting on your behalf, so you can actually leave. Sometimes you need someone alongside you, because the job needs hours you don't have or experience nobody in the building has yet. That's a structural gap, and it has a structural fix.
I've run the business.
Not advised on it.
Most people who offer to help a business like yours have never carried the number.
A consultant
- Diagnoses and recommends
- Delivers a report, then leaves
- Has never carried your P&L
- Advises your team from outside it
- Bills for the thinking
A fractional GM
- Holds the seat and makes the calls
- Stays until the change actually holds
- Carried a P&L from $7M to $25M
- Leads your team from inside it
- Is measured on the outcome
The advantage of
cross-industry experience.
An adviser who has only ever worked in your sector will give you the same answers your competitors already have. I've held commercial and general management roles across seven very different industries — so when a problem looks unsolvable inside your industry's conventions, I've usually watched someone else solve it.
The e-commerce channel that went from $13K to $400K a month wasn't a building-products idea. It came from somewhere else entirely. That's the whole point.
Manufacturing and wholesale across building materials and food · B2B and B2C · retail, wholesale, trade, distribution and direct-to-consumer · import and export across China, the USA, New Zealand and Latin America
Breadth
Seven industries means I've usually watched your problem be solved a different way somewhere else — and I can bring you that answer instead of the one your competitors are already using.
Currency
Because I work across several businesses at once rather than sitting in one for a decade, what I bring is what's working now — current tools, current practice, current solutions. Not what worked the last time I was permanent somewhere.
Not just inside the business — inside the industry.
Presenting at the Association of Wall & Ceiling Industries national awards, where the business I ran sponsored the Residential category. Operating a business well and being trusted to represent its sector are different things, and the second one is worth having when someone hands you their company.
Pending AWCI sign-off on the awards photo — badge shown until cleared, see note in FAQ build doc
Leadership leave cover
Take your leave. Properly.I step into the GM seat while you're away — running the day, leading the team, holding suppliers and customers, and making the calls that can't wait. You get a structured handover before you go and a written briefing the day you're back. Nothing is left for you to unpick.
| Package | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Handover Readiness Sprint | A pre-leave audit: what breaks, who decides, what's written down |
| Leave Cover — 1 week | Full GM cover |
| Leave Cover — 2 weeks | Full GM cover |
| Summer Shutdown Cover | Six weeks across December–January, three days a week |
| Parental Leave Cover | Three to twelve months, two to three days a week |
Every engagement is quoted as a fixed scope before we start — no hourly surprises. Get a figure for your situation on the call below.
Assess
What actually breaks when you're not here, and who really decides.
Hand over
Decision rights, escalation, and the things only you know — written down.
Hold
The seat is filled. The team is led. The business keeps moving.
Hand back
A written briefing so you return to clarity, not a backlog.
Growth & transformation projects
The project nobody has time to ownProjects stall for two reasons, and they need different answers. Sometimes there's simply no capacity — everyone is flat out running the business, so the thing that would change the business never starts. Sometimes it's capability: the project needs experience nobody in the building has yet, so it gets attempted, stalls, and quietly dies. I take ownership end to end — the plan, the people, the follow-through — and stay accountable for the outcome, not the slide deck.
| Package | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Growth Diagnostic | Two weeks: where revenue and margin are actually leaking, and what to do first |
| 90-Day Growth Sprint | Two days a week for a quarter, owning one outcome end to end |
| Transformation Oversight | One day a week for six months — governance and delivery of a major program |
| Embedded Fractional GM | Two days a week, ongoing |
The KPI frameworks and meeting rhythms above exist to move a business up this pyramid — productivity climbs at every level, and the top is where a team runs better than any one person could alone.
Every engagement is quoted as a fixed scope before we start — no hourly surprises. Get a figure for your situation on the call below.
What the people who handed me the keys say
It's always a scary proposition to have someone look after your brand… When I first met Asseneth I knew we were in safe hands. She took charge of the campaigns, engaged with key stakeholders and implemented the new business system launching during my leave.
Asseneth was a stand out candidate when we appointed her as marketing manager and excelled in all her positions. She is very smart, highly organised, with great interpersonal skills, dedicated and driven. I'm certain she would be a great leader in whatever organisation she goes to.
She played a pivotal role in strengthening the business and guiding it toward significant growth. Her ability to combine clear thinking, strong leadership and genuine care for the people around her made a real difference to both the culture and the performance of the organisation.
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Asseneth Quintero, GAICD
I spent three and a half years as General Manager of an Australian manufacturer in Brisbane, with full accountability for strategy, sales, P&L and cash flow. In that time we took revenue from $7M to $25M, lifted EBITDA 635%, and delivered 16.3% net profit — above industry benchmark. I was promoted into the role and awarded equity in the business for the results.
I now do that work on a fractional basis, because most businesses of five to fifty people need a General Manager's experience — they just don't need one five days a week, permanently. It's the highest-value use of what I know.
I'm based in Holland Park West and work across Brisbane, with a soft spot for the businesses that make and move things: manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and trade suppliers.
- Graduate, Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD)
- Master of Business, The University of Queensland
- Seven sectors: engineering · professional services · technology · financial services · food and building materials manufacturing and wholesale · promotional products
- Bilingual English / Spanish — import and export across China, the USA, New Zealand and Latin America
- Fully insured · ABN registered · NDA-ready
The 3-Week Test
Could your business run for three weeks without you? Eighteen questions across the seven areas that actually break when an owner steps away — decision rights, team capability, documentation, key relationships, cash control, systems, and escalation. You'll get a score, a breakdown, and the three things to fix first.
The things people ask before they call
How can someone from outside run my business?
They can't, on day one — which is why every engagement starts with a structured handover, not a start date. We map what actually needs a decision, who else can make it, and what only you know. By the time you leave, your team knows exactly what I can call and what waits for you. That framework is yours to keep, whether you use me again or not.
How much notice do you need?
For a one or two week cover, four to six weeks is comfortable. For the December–January shutdown, decisions are best made in September or October — that period books out. For a GM resignation with a gap to fill, I can move faster; call me.
Why not just use a recruitment agency or a temp?
A temp fills a desk. A recruiter fills a permanent role, which takes three to six months and makes no sense for a four-week absence. This sits in between — senior capability, for exactly the period you need it, with no hiring risk and no redundancy at the end.
What does it cost, really?
Every engagement is quoted as a fixed scope before we start, so you know the number up front — no hourly surprises and no retainer you can't exit. It depends on the length and shape of what you need, so the fastest way to get an exact figure is a short call.
Is my information safe?
Yes. I'm NDA-ready and will sign yours before the first substantive conversation if you'd prefer. I carry professional indemnity and public liability insurance, and I don't work with direct competitors concurrently.
What if it isn't working?
Cover engagements have a defined end date, so the risk is naturally capped. On longer projects there's a checkpoint at 30 days where either of us can stop, and you keep everything produced to that point.
You haven't worked in my industry.
Probably not — and that's usually an advantage rather than a gap. I've held commercial and general management roles across engineering, professional services, technology, financial services, food and building materials manufacturing and wholesale, and promotional products. The mechanics of a business at your size are far more alike than different: margin, cash, channel, people, systems. What changes is the vocabulary, and I pick that up in the first week. What you get in exchange is someone who has watched your problem be solved a different way somewhere else — and, because I work across several businesses at once rather than sitting in one for a decade, someone whose knowledge of tools and practice is current rather than remembered.
Which industries do you know best?
Deepest in manufacturing, wholesale and distribution — building materials and food especially — where I've carried a P&L and run the whole operation. Broadest across engineering, professional services, technology, financial services and promotional products. If you're outside all of that and the problem is a good fit, say so on the call and I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right person.
Let's find out if this fits.
Tell me what's coming up — the leave you need to take, or the project that's stuck — and I'll call you back within one business day to talk it through. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so.
Prefer to write? asseneth@impactfullysmall.com.au · 0425 646 189