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 and build the cadences, decision rights, and performance systems that let you scale.
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 discovery once the underlying job is clear.
STEP 1 | STABILIZATION
Stop the Bleeding
Financial diagnosis. Where the money is actually going, and which operational decisions caused it.Operational pattern. Which processes, decisions, or structural choices are producing the failure mode.Intervention design. The specific corrective actions, sequenced by impact and feasibility.Implementation oversight. K7A embeds into the operation until the bleeding stops, not advising from outside.Handoff. Continue with STEP 2 OR interventions are documented and transferred to the operations before exit.
Pricing format: Hourly Rate with time-bounded commitment
STEP 2 | OPERATING SYSTEM BUILD
Build for Scale
Operating cadences. Weekly, monthly, and annual rhythms with the right participants and the right objectives.Decision rights. Who has authority over what, with what input, on what timelineKPI architecture. The two or three metrics per function that actually predict the business.Performance management system. Goals, scorecards, and accountability mechanisms that survive personnel changes.Cross-functional process maps. The two or three flows that matter most (depending on the business).
Pricing format: Monthly Retainer with committed number of hours per week
PRICING
THE MARKET: Senior fractional COOs typically bill between $300 and $500 per hour
THE K7A MODEL: Embedded, operator-led execution starting at $150 per hour, or monthly retainers with fixed hours per week.
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 moved the unit from negative EBITDA to sustained double-digit profitability.
Credentials - MBA, Rotman School of Management. PMP since 2016. B.Eng Electronics and Instrumentation, BITS Pilani.
Approach - I diagnose organizational debt, install the operational infrastructure that makes scale possible, and design every engagement to end successfully. Your team should be able to run the systems we build without me - “Designed-for-exit, not-designed-for-retention”
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.