💼 What Does a Strategic Advisor for Founders Typically Cost?

(And What’s the Cost of Not Having One?)

When founders hit complexity, fast growth, team friction, or strategic crossroads they will often ask:
“How much does a strategic advisor cost?”
But the better question is: What is the cost of not having one?

A strategic advisor is a short cut to knowledge and experience at a point when clarity needs to be incisive.

With a variety of options and cost effective fractional/part-time access you get the benefit of experience, knowledge and wisdom with the cost of a full time employee.

Let’s break it down from two key perspectives: financial cost and opportunity cost.

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💰 1. The Financial Cost of Hiring a Strategic Advisor

Strategic advisors typically work in one of three ways:

• Hourly or session-based: £150–£400/hour depending on expertise and niche
• Project-based retainers: £1,500–£5,000/month for founders looking for ongoing input (fractional CSO or COO style)
• Outcomes-based or facilitation days: £1,000–£3,000/day for intensive work (strategy offsites, team alignment, etc.)

Costs vary depending on:

• Sector knowledge (e.g. aviation, tech, regulated environments)
• Scope of work (advisory vs hands-on implementation)
• Level of experience and credentials

For context, James Hardie’s pricing typically ranges from £950 for a focused 90-minute strategy sprint to £3,500+ for a full-team strategy facilitation with pre- and post-support.

⌛ 2. The Opportunity Cost of Not Having a Strategic Advisor

Hiring a strategic advisor is not just about what you spend, it’s about what you save and gain by avoiding the following:

🔁 Cost of Misalignment:

• Lack of role clarity leads to duplication, finger-pointing, or underperformance
• Missed opportunities to scale, because the team isn’t rowing in the same direction

🚪 Cost of Turnover:

• Losing key team members due to burnout or unclear expectations can cost £20k–£100k per departure when you include rehiring, onboarding, and lost momentum

⏳ Cost of Delay:

• Founders stuck in daily operations often delay strategic decisions by 6–12 months
• That delay in launching a new offer, digitising ops, or hiring right leadership often costs more than an advisor’s full annual fee

😓 Cost of Founder Burnout:

• Time spent solving everything yourself rather than making high-quality decisions
• Lost energy, poor delegation, and reactive leadership can cost you your edge

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✅ What You’re Really Buying

When you hire the right strategic advisor, you are not buying hours, you are buying:

• Clarity in complexity
• Faster decision-making
• A trusted thought partner who challenges and supports you
• Team alignment that sticks
• And often, months of regained momentum

🎯 Final Thought

Hiring a strategic advisor is not just an investment in your business, it’s a relief valve, a guide and a force-multiplier for better leadership.

If you are scaling and want to avoid the cost of stagnation, improve delegation and decision making then the question is not “Can I afford one?”
It is: “Can I afford not to?”

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