Interim CEO Services With a Focus on Business Valuation and Value-Enhancing Measures
An interim CEO from Oak CEO supports your company when it is facing change or preparing for a sale or merger.
Do you need to hire an interim CEO?
Get Started
- Fill out the form with your contact details and a brief description of your need for an Interim CEO.
- Our specialist, Christoffer Nielsen, will get back to you within 24 hours on weekdays. You’ll have the chance to elaborate on what kind of support you need.
- We’ll then provide you with a cost estimate.
Christoffer Nielsen
Phone: (737) 232-0838
In my daily work, I focus on business valuation and advising on transactions. I have extensive experience in identifying the measures that increase value.
Interim CEO – What Is It?
An Interim CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is a highly experienced executive leader who steps into a company on a temporary basis, usually during times of transition, crisis, or rapid growth. Unlike an advisor or consultant, a temporary CEO assumes full operational responsibility from day one.
They lead the organization, manage teams, make strategic decisions, and ensure business continuity. Companies often turn to an transitional CEO when facing challenges such as leadership gaps, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, or the need to accelerate performance.
The role is designed to stabilize the business and create measurable impact, often preparing the company for its next phase of growth or change. At Oak CEO, we specialize in driving strategic growth and long-term value creation.
Interim CEO vs. Fractional CEO – What’s the Difference?
While an Interim CEO is fully dedicated to the organization for a limited time, a Fractional CEO provides similar expertise but on a part-time basis. A Fractional CEO may support a company a few days a week or month, either alongside a permanent CEO or as the primary executive leader on reduced hours.
Both roles bring deep executive experience, but the difference lies in scope and commitment: Acting CEOs are typically hands-on full-time leaders during critical transitions, whereas Fractional CEOs provide strategic leadership in a more flexible, ongoing capacity.
When Are Interim CEO Services Needed?
A company may require interim CEO services for two main reasons: urgent situations and strategic decisions.
1. Urgent Need
Sometimes situations arise where a temporary CEO must step in quickly to ensure stability and decisive action. This can include:
- A leadership vacancy, such as a sudden resignation or illness
- A loss of confidence in the current management
- A financial or organizational crisis requiring turnaround and strong direction
In these scenarios, an Interim CEO provides reliable, seasoned leadership to stabilize the organization, rebuild trust, and establish structure — all while making critical decisions without delay.
2. Strategic Decision
An interim appointment can also be a deliberate step to strengthen the company for the long term. This may involve:
- Preparing for a sale, exit, or generational shift
- An owner-CEO planning to retire while keeping the company and its revenues intact
- Increasing the company’s value ahead of investment, a growth journey, or going public
- Leading through a merger or acquisition, where integration and synergies demand specialized expertise
In these cases, the Interim CEO is not just a bridge but also a catalyst — professionalizing the organization, strengthening processes, and enhancing the company’s attractiveness. Whether the goal is a future sale, maximizing profitability, or securing a sustainable legacy, the provisional CEO drives the company toward long-term success.
When an Interim CEO Is the Right Move
Many confuse fractional CEOs with interim CEOs. While they both do the tasks of a regular CEO, the difference is that interim CEOs are more like a spare tire, that is put there for immediate use, while the fractional CEO is more of a strategic decision.
An interim CEO is typically hired when the previous CEO is incapacitated due to health reasons, or when he has lost trust of shareholders.
An interim CEO is typically hired immediately, and typically stays on for a few months up to a year. Their main task is to keep the wheels spinning, and make sure no component of the business falls behind during the temporary period. They generally do make strategic inititatives, unless these were already started before.
How an Interim CEO from Oak CEO Can Increase Your Company’s Value
Hands-On Leadership with a Focus on Value Creation
At Oak CEO, we bring backgrounds in business valuation and M&A. With our interim CEO services, our specialist works directly with the management team to ensure that the actions required to increase company value are implemented effectively. This may involve streamlining cost structures, improving processes, driving growth, or strengthening leadership ahead of an ownership change.
When a company faces change, crisis, or turnaround, strong and experienced leadership is essential. The same applies when preparing for a sale or merger. An Interim Chief Executive Officer can step in quickly and, together with the management team, guide the business from a vulnerable position to improved profitability. The goal is always to create stability, confidence in the future, and a clear direction forward.
This gives the organization the best conditions for success, even under pressure. It may require tough decisions, significant cost savings, or refocusing on the company’s core. By concentrating on key products and services and creating a solid structure, the foundation for a sustainable turnaround is secured.
Examples of What an Interim Chief Executive Officer Can Do
We can provide an Interim CEO in a wide range of situations. A typical example might be a mid-sized industrial company preparing for a sale. Oak CEO appoints a temporary CEO who, within six months, can:
- Reduce dependence on the current owner, primarily through delegation
- Implement digitalization where needed
- Introduce SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to document company processes
- Increase profitability in multiple ways, both on paper and in real terms
- Clean up the accounting to ensure transparency and order
The result is a clearer, more attractive business — and a significantly higher sales price at exit.
Comprehensive Solutions for All Critical Roles
Our support doesn’t stop at the CEO role. In close collaboration, we can also act as Fractional CFO or Interim CFO, and Interim M&A Manager.
Key Agreements with a Temporary CEO
For the assignment to be successful, it’s crucial to clearly define the mandate of the Interim CEO from the very beginning. Should the acting CEO have full responsibility, or are there areas where decision-making should be limited? Unclear boundaries risk creating conflicts and undermining the provisional CEO’s authority, which can hinder both the change process and trust within the organization.
Much of this is often straightforward, but a few points deserve special consideration. Examples of questions to clarify in advance include:
- Should the temporary CEO have the authority to hire or dismiss staff?
- Can they independently terminate or renegotiate supplier and customer relationships?
- Are there spending limits or other restrictions on major purchases and investments?
By agreeing on these boundaries beforehand, both the owners and the Interim CEO can work efficiently toward the same goal — with full focus on increasing the company’s value.
Understanding the Role of a CEO
In the United Kingdom, the position known in the United States as “Chief Executive Officer” (CEO) is typically called “Managing Director.” This title generally stands alone, without specifying whether the person’s focus is operational or strategic.
In the United States, however, corporate titles are more varied. Alongside the CEO, you’ll often find positions such as President, Chief Operating Officer (COO), and General Manager. The boundaries between these roles are not always sharply defined, and the degree of operational versus strategic involvement can differ widely from company to company. For instance, a CEO in a small business may be far more hands-on with day-to-day operations than the COO of a large corporation, even though “Chief Executive Officer” ranks highest in the hierarchy and “Chief Operating Officer” implies responsibility for operations.
Norwegian corporate structure is quite distinct compared to most other systems. It separates leadership into two clearly defined positions: “daglig leder” (daily leader) and “styreleder” (chair of the board). This structure draws a clear line between operational management and strategic oversight. In very small businesses, both roles are often held by the same individual—typically the owner. As the organization grows, these responsibilities usually divide: one person handles the daily operations (similar to a General Manager), while another focuses on long-term strategy (comparable to the CEO of a larger corporation).
1A — Operational CEO (Mid to Large Company)
Comparable to the COO of a publicly traded company, this CEO is deeply involved in operations but still manages at a higher level of scale and complexity.
1B — Operational CEO (Small to Mid-Sized Company)
This role aligns more closely with that of an owner-operator or managing owner of a small or micro business, where hands-on involvement is essential.
2A — Strategic CEO (Large Company)
This is the classic model of a corporate CEO—focused primarily on high-level strategy, governance, and stakeholder relations rather than daily management.
2B — Strategic CEO (Small Company)
In this setting, the CEO functions more like a strategic advisor. The goal isn’t for the CEO—whether interim or fractional—to take on every operational task, but rather to elevate the company’s strategic maturity. By shifting value from personal goodwill (tied to the owner’s reputation or relationships) to enterprise goodwill (embedded in the organization itself), the business reduces dependency on any one individual. This transition increases the overall fair market value of the company, as personal goodwill typically isn’t included in formal valuation metrics.
Hire Us as Interim CEO
Oak CEO provides experienced Interim CEOs who increase your company’s value — quickly, reliably, and with clear focus. Contact us today, and we’ll explain more about how the process works in practice.