Finding a suitable OBM (Online Business Manager)

 

Hiring can be tricky at the best of times. But when you are looking for that all-important sounding board, the person who can help you strategically navigate your business towards its next stage of growth, the decision becomes even more significant.

This is where an Online Business Manager comes in.

An Online Business Manager, commonly referred to as an OBM, is a senior operations professional who helps a business owner turn ideas and strategy into action. They oversee the implementation of campaigns, projects, systems, priorities, marketing initiatives and day-to-day operations of an online business, making sure all the moving parts work together.

Think of an OBM as a trusted advisor who also knows how to get things done. They are the person you can rely on to indulge in the details of what it takes to run your business behind the scenes while still keeping sight of the bigger picture.

Integrator, implementor, operations lead, systems person, details person, strategic sounding board and AI wizard are just a few of the terms you may hear circulating about us.

The exact role will look slightly different in every business. However, the central purpose is usually the same: to create the structure, momentum and operational clarity needed to move the business forward and grow exponentially without the stress of all the moving parts.

 

What does an Online Business Manager do (for real)?

 

An OBM sits between the vision of the business owner and the people, systems and plans required to make that vision happen.

A founder may decide they want to launch a new offer, introduce a membership, expand into another market, rebuild their customer journey, develop a new revenue stream or create a more consistent marketing and advertising strategy.

The Online Business Manager helps translate that idea into something that can actually be delivered. They consider the questions that often sit underneath the idea:

What needs to happen?

Who is responsible for each part?

What systems will be required?

How will the offer be marketed?

What journey will take someone from discovering the business to becoming a customer?

Will the business use organic marketing, paid advertising or a combination of both?

What could delay or derail the project?

How will the work fit around everything else already happening in the business?

How will we know whether it has worked?

Can we use AI to help us and how do we set that up?

Depending on the needs and stage of the business, an Online Business Manager may:

• Lead the implementation of launches, campaigns and new business initiatives
• Manage the day-to-day operations of the business
• Build, improve and document systems and processes
• Coordinate employees, Virtual Assistants, contractors and specialist service providers
• Manage projects, timelines, priorities and capacity
• Develop and oversee marketing funnels and customer journeys
• Help shape broader marketing and advertising strategies
• Coordinate campaign messaging, content, technology and delivery
• Track business, marketing and operational performance
• Help the business owner make strategic decisions
• Support hiring and the development of a more sustainable operating model
• Identify bottlenecks, gaps, risks and areas where the business is overly dependent on the founder
• Introduce automation and AI where it can meaningfully improve the way the business operates

An OBM may not personally complete every task associated with the business. In many cases, that would not be the best use of their time or expertise.

Instead, they oversee how the work is planned, assigned, completed and measured. They make sure the right people have the information and resources they need, that priorities are clear and that important initiatives do not quietly disappear beneath the day-to-day workload.

This becomes particularly important when marketing is involved.

A marketing campaign may require input from a copywriter, graphic designer, web developer, advertising specialist, email marketer and customer service team. Each person may be highly capable, but someone still needs to coordinate the strategy, timelines, approvals, systems and customer journey.

Without that coordination, marketing can become a collection of disconnected activities rather than a deliberate path towards a commercial goal.

If you are coming from a corporate background, as I did, the role is similar in many ways to that of a General Manager responsible for a division, department or, in a smaller organisation, the wider business.

In some instances, business owners prefer the OBM completing most tasks, especially if they have a broader, generalist skillset like I do instead of hiring multiple people for specialised roles. It really depends on the willingness and bandwidth of the OBM whether covering a broader spectrum of duties is feasible or not. I fully understand that once a business owner establishes the kind of trust where they don’t have to keep checking the work, they might prefer the OBM looking after most things in the business.

If you are still asking: but what does an online business manager do? Perhaps we should look at those circumstances that might sound familiar.

 

When is the right time to hire an Online Business Manager?

 

Business owners often begin looking for an OBM when they realise they can no longer do everything themselves.

They may already have a capable team of specialists around them such as Virtual Assistants, graphic designers, web developers, consultants, copywriters, advertising specialists or customer service representatives but still find themselves acting as the central point through which every decision, question and problem must pass.

Having good people is not the same as having an operating structure.

You may have talented individuals completing their own areas of work, but nobody coordinating the business as a whole. As a result, the founder remains responsible for setting priorities, managing timelines, approving marketing content, reviewing advertising activity, answering questions, checking quality, solving problems and keeping track of what is happening across every corner of the business.

This is usually where the pressure begins to show.

Important projects may repeatedly stall after the initial excitement has worn off. Marketing may become reactive rather than strategic. Campaigns may be launched without a clear funnel behind them. Advertising may drive traffic to a website or offer that is not yet ready to convert it.

Systems that once worked well may no longer suit the size or complexity of the business. Team members may be busy without everyone being clear about what matters most. The business may be profitable, but the way it operates feels increasingly chaotic.

An Online Business Manager can bring greater structure to that environment.

They can help organise the moving parts, clarify responsibilities, improve communication and create a more sustainable way of operating. The kind that does not require the business owner to personally hold everything together.

That said, an OBM is not only suitable for a large online business with a substantial team.

A highly profitable business with a relatively small team can also benefit from experienced operational support. In fact, bringing in an OBM before the business becomes unnecessarily complicated can make future growth far easier.

It is more common to hire an Online Business Manager when systems, offers and delivery processes are already in place and the business is preparing for growth or change.

You may be introducing a new offer, increasing the frequency of your launches, building an evergreen funnel, investing in paid advertising, moving to a different technology platform, restructuring your team, repositioning the brand or changing the way your services are delivered.

Both growth and change create operational complexity.

An OBM helps make sure that complexity is managed rather than simply handed back to the founder.

 

How can an Online Business Manager support marketing and sales?

 

Marketing does not operate separately from the rest of the business.

A successful campaign depends on the offer, messaging, audience, systems, team capacity, customer journey, pricing, delivery model and commercial goals all working together.

This is where an Online Business Manager can add considerable value.

An OBM may help develop the overall marketing direction, identify which offers should be prioritised and determine how different campaigns fit into the broader goals of the business.

They may also help create or improve:

• Lead-generation funnels
• Email nurture sequences
• Sales funnels
• Launch campaigns
• Evergreen funnels
• Customer onboarding journeys
• Upsell and cross-sell pathways
• Retention and re-engagement campaigns
• Organic content strategies
• Paid advertising campaigns
• Campaign reporting and performance reviews

The role is not necessarily to replace a marketing strategist, copywriter or advertising specialist.

Instead, the OBM may bring these different areas together and ensure that the strategy is commercially sound, properly resourced and operationally deliverable.

For example, there is little value in increasing advertising spend if the landing page is unclear, the email follow-up is missing, the sales process is inconsistent or the business does not have the capacity to deliver what it is promoting.

An experienced OBM will look beyond the individual campaign.

They will consider what happens before someone enters the funnel, what experience they have while moving through it and what happens after they become a customer.

They may also use campaign and customer data to help the business make better decisions about its messaging, audience segments, offers, pricing and advertising investment.

 

How is an Online Business Manager different from a Virtual Assistant?

 

The roles of an Online Business Manager and a Virtual Assistant can sometimes appear similar from the outside, particularly because both may work remotely and both may be involved in the daily running of an online business.

The main difference is not intelligence, ambition or initiative. There are many highly experienced and proactive Virtual Assistants.

The distinction is usually found in the scope of responsibility and level of accountability.

A Virtual Assistant generally completes a defined collection of tasks or provides specialist support in an area such as administration, customer service, social media, email marketing or technical implementation.

An Online Business Manager is responsible for coordinating the broader environment in which those tasks take place.

They look at priorities, capacity, timelines, processes, team responsibilities, business goals and how each area of work affects the wider operation.

A Virtual Assistant may be responsible for scheduling and sending a newsletter.

An OBM may consider how the newsletter fits into the broader campaign, whether the offer and customer journey are ready, who is creating the content, how the audience should be segmented, what data should be tracked and whether the team has the capacity to deliver what is being promoted.

A Virtual Assistant may upload advertisements or make changes to a landing page.

An OBM may help shape the wider campaign strategy, coordinate the advertising specialist and creative team, review the funnel performance and identify where potential customers are dropping out of the journey.

Both roles are valuable. They simply solve different problems.

 

Is an Online Business Manager the same as a Project Manager?

 

Project management is often an important part of an OBM’s work, but it is rarely the whole role. A Project Manager is generally responsible for delivering a particular project within an agreed timeline, budget and scope.

An Online Business Manager may oversee several projects while also managing the operational environment around them.

They consider how each project affects the team, systems, marketing activity, customer experience, resources and strategic priorities of the wider business.

A Project Manager may oversee the delivery of a new website. An OBM may also consider how that website connects to the business model, lead-generation strategy, advertising campaigns, email platform, sales funnels, customer service and future growth plans.

Similarly, an Account Manager may focus primarily on the relationship and delivery associated with a particular client account. An OBM typically looks across the business rather than concentrating on one isolated client or project.

 

What is the difference between an Online Business Manager and a fractional COO?

 

There can be a fair amount of overlap between the role of an experienced OBM and that of a fractional Chief Operating Officer.

An Online Business Manager will often focus heavily on implementation, operations, projects, marketing coordination, team management and the systems that keep the business running.

A fractional COO usually operates at a more senior organisational level. Their work may include developing the operating model, shaping leadership structures, managing company-wide performance, advising on commercial decisions and preparing the organisation for significant growth.

They may also play a larger role in evaluating revenue streams, marketing investment, profitability and the relationship between the company’s growth ambitions and its operational capacity.

In a small or founder-led business, however, the line between the two roles is not always neat.

An experienced OBM may perform many fractional COO functions, particularly when they have a strong strategic, operational, commercial or marketing background.

The title is less important than understanding the level at which the person can operate and the type of responsibility you need them to take on.

 

What an Online Business Manager is not?!

 

An OBM is not a dumping ground for everything that is not working in the business.

They can certainly help untangle problems, improve systems and create order. However, they will need the trust, access and authority required to address the underlying causes, not simply inherit a growing collection of unrelated tasks.

An OBM is also not a more expensive Virtual Assistant. Although they may sometimes become involved in hands-on implementation, the real value of the role lies in their ability to lead, prioritise, coordinate, question and improve the way the business operates.

Nor should an OBM be treated as a quick fix.

They can be brought in for a specific transition, launch, funnel build, advertising initiative, systems implementation or period of growth. However, even a project-based engagement requires enough time to understand the business properly and make changes that will last.

For ongoing operational support, the relationship is often long term. Trust, context and knowledge of the business become increasingly valuable over time.

A good OBM will not merely wait for a list of tasks. They will notice what is missing, challenge assumptions, identify potential problems and help the business owner make better-informed decisions.

This might include questioning whether a new marketing channel is genuinely the right priority, whether the funnel is ready for paid traffic or whether the business should improve an existing offer before creating another one.

This does not mean they take over the founder’s vision. It means they help create the conditions in which that vision can realistically be delivered and marketed effectively.

 

Why not all Online Business Managers are the same?

 

This probably goes without saying, but you are hiring a human being first and foremost. The relationship between a business owner and an OBM requires trust, honesty and the ability to have direct conversations.

An Online Business Manager will often see the parts of the business that are disorganised, underperforming or being avoided. They may need to challenge the founder’s priorities, question whether the team has enough capacity or point out when a new idea is likely to create more distraction than growth.

They may also need to say that a marketing problem is not really a marketing problem.

Sometimes the business does not need more leads. It needs a clearer offer, stronger customer journey, better follow-up, improved conversion or a more consistent way of delivering what has already been sold.

That relationship needs to be strong enough to accommodate those conversations.

When speaking with a prospective OBM, prepare for the discovery call. Think beyond the tools they know how to use and the tasks they can perform.

Ask about the situations they have managed, the decisions they have helped make and the kinds of businesses they understand best.

If marketing support is important to you, explore whether they have experience with funnels, launches, email marketing, audience segmentation, campaign strategy, paid advertising or interpreting marketing data.

It can also be useful to explore their professional background before becoming an Online Business Manager.

Someone who previously worked in corporate operations, consulting, marketing, technology, project delivery, finance or people management will naturally bring different experience and ways of thinking to the role.

Additional capabilities can also become valuable as the business evolves.

For example, an OBM with strategic marketing and AI expertise may be able to help the business solve a broader set of problems than someone whose experience is primarily administrative.

 

How an AI-enabled Online Business Manager can help?

 

The role of an Online Business Manager is continuing to evolve as AI becomes part of everyday business operations.

Many business owners are currently experimenting with AI tools, but experimentation alone does not necessarily create a better business.

A collection of disconnected tools, unfinished automations and generic AI-generated content can easily create more noise rather than less.

A good OMB understands that using AI in practical and commercially useful ways is the goal. This can include building AI agents and customer-facing bots, developing pre-sales or customer support assistants, designing workflows that connect different systems and using AI to improve internal knowledge, research, reporting and decision-making. AI can also support marketing activity when it is used with intention.

It may help a business research customer questions, analyse campaign performance, personalise parts of the customer journey, improve lead qualification, support content development or make follow-up processes more consistent.

However, AI is not a substitute for understanding the audience, developing a strong offer or creating a thoughtful marketing strategy.

Another useful example of AI-assisted development is vibe coding that could assist in prototyping lightweight internal tools and solutions.

The point is not to automate everything or introduce technology simply because it is fashionable.

The more useful question is: where can AI remove unnecessary repetition, improve consistency, strengthen the customer experience or create more capacity within the team? AI should support the operating model and marketing strategy of the business rather than become another disconnected layer the team has to manage.

An OBM would work across strategy and implementation, help identify the right use case, map the workflow, coordinate or build the solution and consider how it will fit into the wider business.

This includes recognising where human judgement, oversight, creativity and personal service still matter.

What does working with an Online Business Manager look like in real life?

 

The following case studies demonstrate the different ways an OBM may add value in a business.

Launching an e-commerce ecosystem for Teachers selling digital products

The co-founders of an education business are running a successful operation selling their digital products via a third-party marketplace called TPT (Teachers pay Teachers). They have almost 500 digital products and although doing really well selling on this platform, each sale they make, the third-party platform takes a rather high commission.

Their goal is to launch their own Shopify e-commerce store and run it alongside their existing WordPress website (i.e. shop runs on Shopify, the rest of the website on WordPress), which is already getting a lot of traffic. They want to ensure that the new e-commerce store on their website won’t cannibalise their existing sales on TPT but rather attracts new customers to their own Shopify store, which has better margins.

This requires more than just uploading products to another platform. The business needs a strategy for attracting highly aligned customers to its own website, capturing leads, understanding different audience segments and developing funnels that would turn those leads into customers.

This is a perfect scenario when hiring an OBM is the next logical step. An OBM will assess this goal and helps prepare a sound strategy addressing all the moving parts so nothing gets missed.

Because an OBM has likely dealt with many projects of this kind, they know first-hand what could go wrong and thus what to look out for. They are guiding the co-founders through a thorough implementation plan and act as an advisor on tools, systems and processes also.

The OBM works with the Shopify developer, creates marketing funnels, lead magnets, segments the audience and comes up with the marketing campaigns in order to make the new e-commerce store launch a success.

The OBM also works with a Facebook ad specialist who sets up ads driving traffic to the new store. The OBM then monitors Google Analytics, reports in Shopify, Google Search Console and conversion metrics from ads in order to measure, tweak and modify the strategy, campaigns and funnels.

The work is managed via Asana or Trello where the OBM manages the plan and coordinates tasks with the team. A weekly 45 minute check-in is also baked into the working rhythm.

An OBM supporting a Career Coach launching a premium mastermind

A Career Coach has been running a successful business for four years, selling e-books, one-to-one coaching services and group coaching programmes. They are preparing to launch their signature high-ticket offer: an eleven-month premium mastermind and need and OBM to work alongside them to bring this vision to life.

Their existing systems are built to support one-off purchases and scheduling of coaching appointments but they don’t have a content and community management system that could handle the launch of a mastermind. Content is currently found across their website (password protected pages) and folders in Dropbox.

In order to launch a mastermind that includes online modules of content such as video, private podcasting and worksheets, the business needs a more robust structure to manage a longer and more involved customer journey.

An OBM maps the requirements, identifies the most integrated ecosystem of tools, aligns these to the customer journey that’s prepared with the founder and implements all the moving parts. What this means specifically is the implementation of a robust content management system such as Kartra, Kajabi, Stan Store, Podia, Teachable, Thrivecart or similar and ensuring necessary integrations are addressed. This could mean that an existing email marketing system the business owners is happy and familiar with gets integrated into the content management system or that a migration takes place for any email marketing needs in the process of upgrading systems.

Billing, invoicing, affiliate management and community management comes next and the necessary integrations, templates, strategy and structures are activated by the OBM under the guidance of the Career Coach. The work is carefully coordinated through a tool such as Asana or Trello where the Career Coach and OBM communicate regularly.

In addition, the OBM runs a weekly check-in meeting for 45 minutes via Zoom where status is reviewed and tasks, that need a decision, are also discussed and agreed upon.

When working with an OBM, the objective of the Career Coach isn’t simply to launch another product. It is to create an operational and systems driven ecosystem where any future launches can be implemented without too much hassle.

 

So, do you need an Online Business Manager?

 

You may not need an OBM simply because you are busy.

Being busy can sometimes be addressed through clearer priorities, better boundaries or additional task-based support.

The need for an OBM usually becomes clearer when the business has reached a point where growth, marketing, change or complexity must be actively managed.

You may have a strong vision but struggle to maintain momentum once implementation begins. You may have talented people around you without a clear structure for how they should work together.

You may be investing in marketing without a consistent strategy, building campaigns without a complete funnel or generating leads without a clear process for converting and retaining them.

You may be ready to step away from some of the daily decision-making but lack confidence that the business can function without your constant involvement.

An Online Business Manager can help bridge that gap.

They bring together strategy and execution. They create accountability without requiring the founder to personally chase every task. They help the business become more organised, measurable and capable of moving forward without everything continuing to depend on one person.

They can also help connect marketing activity to the wider business, ensuring that campaigns, funnels, advertising, systems, team capacity and delivery all support the same commercial goals.

I hope this article has given you a useful insight into what an Online Business Manager does and whether working with one may be the right next step for your business.

If you have a specific question, are preparing for a period of growth or change, want to improve your marketing and sales funnels or would like to explore what operational support could look like in your business, please feel free to get in touch and book a discovery call here.

I look forward to talking with you.

Until next time, 

 

 

Jarka Kunova is an Online Business Manager, Fractional COO and mentor with over two decades of experience across large corporations, startups, e-commerce and service-based businesses.

She helps founders turn ideas into practical plans, strengthen their operations, build effective teams and systems, and create marketing funnels and campaigns that support sustainable growth.

Increasingly, her work also involves helping businesses use AI in practical and meaningful ways: from building AI agents and customer-facing bots to designing automated workflows and prototyping lightweight tools through vibe coding in Claude.

BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL WITH JARKA HERE