A fractional COO practice
Operators,
not advisors.
You're hitting revenue targets but losing money and can't tell why. You're growing too fast and things are breaking. You don't need another strategy deck. You need operational architecture to scale without chaos.
We're growing too fast and our processes are breaking under the weight.
We're hitting revenue targets but bleeding cash, and we can't pinpoint why.
Everyone wants to hire more people to sustain growth.
Our weekly leadership meetings have become useless.
We hired five managers last quarter and accountability is now blurred.
Investors are asking for operational metrics we cannot produce.
Our founder is burned out with day-to-day operations.
The Operational reality
Are you experiencing any of these symptoms?
If you nodded at two or more, K7A can help. We diagnose organizational debt, install the operational infrastructure that makes scale possible, and design every engagement to end successfully.
How We Work
Two standard engagements do most of the work. The first stops the bleeding. The second builds the operating system. Customized engagements (organizational design, investor and board readiness, interim coverage, …) sit alongside; they surface during the initial assessment.
Stage 1 | Stabilization
Stop the Bleeding
Diagnosis. Where the money is actually going, and which operational decisions are causing it.
Embedded intervention. Sequenced corrective actions, executed from inside the operation.
Exit criteria. Defined up front. What "stable" means, what gets transferred, when we leave.
Pricing: Hourly Rate - Fixed Term
Stage 2 | Operating System
Build for Scale
The work itself (cross-functional process flows, projects).
The rhythm of the work (operational cadence, annual planning).
The authority over the work (organizational design, decision rights).
The accountability for the work (KPIs, service levels, performance management).
Pricing: Monthly Retainer - Fixed Term
Selected work · article, 2021–2024
From negative ebitda to sustained double-digit profitability.
Co-led the operational turnaround over a thirty-six month engagement. Diagnosis, operating system design, embedded implementation, and handoff. The systems still run today.
“Designed for exit, not designed for retention”
Fractional COO
Ali Kagalwala - I architect operational systems for growing companies that have outgrown founder-led management.
Background - Fourteen years building and fixing operations. Engineering at McDermott (offshore oil platforms, Middle East, through geopolitical disruption). Logistics at Amazon (frontline networks, pandemic-era operating tempo). Most recently, high-growth ecommerce, where I co-led the operational turnaround at Article that underpinned the move from negative EBITDA to sustained double-digit profitability.
Credentials - MBA, Rotman School of Management. PMP since 2016. B.Eng Electronics and Instrumentation, BITS Pilani.
Start Here
We'll do some homework on you and respond with a request to schedule a 30 to 60 minute operational assessment. In that conversation we will:
Map your current operational pain points.
Identify the infrastructure gaps slowing your growth.
Determine if the work we do matches what you actually need.
Give you immediate actionable insights regardless of fit.
You'll walk away with clarity on your operational state and your next steps, whether we work together or not.