What is the difference between an Online Business Manager (OBM) and a Director of Operations (DOO)?

It should come as no surprise to those that know me that I am pursuing continuing education, and in the spring of 2021, I decided to embark on the journey of becoming a Certified Director of Operations. While I found the OBM Certification enlightening, it’s very heavily focused on managing launches and marketing efforts, and while that is great, I felt like where I wanted to head was less in the day-to-day grind of business (ie: that never-ending launch cycle - it’s exhausting and not for me!) and more in the strategy and operations. 

An OBM’s efforts are fairly day-to-day heavy. The more I am in the grind, the more I realize that it doesn’t 100% provide the freedom that I was looking for, and I also simply don’t love launching. As an OBM I’m also limited with the number of clients that I can take on at any given time, but with the DOO, I have the opportunity to offer a different type of service that is so incredibly valuable and I’m able to help more people.

OBM’s work primarily in the online space, while DOO’s can work in any area, as their focus is more on overall operations like financial, key performance indicators (KPIs), project management, and HR. As Natalie Gingrich, the creator of the DOO Certification states “A DOO is a director-level role who serves alongside the CEO, whereas the OBM is more of a managerial role. The size of businesses who hire is commensurate with that.”

Similar to the difference between an OBM and a VA, a DOO does very little task-based work. A DOO is not an implementor, and if you’re an OBM, you might still find yourself in the implementation space. DOO’s are very aligned with the vision of the business, and are continually helping to lead the business in partnership with the stakeholders, as well as helping to plan initiatives that result in business growth.

After 6+ years in the online space, I’m thrilled to be taking on even more of a leadership-type role that will allow me more space to grow, while providing high-level strategy for all types of businesses. While my ICA likely will not change, as that is who I truly enjoy working with, I will be focusing my personal efforts on offering the Strategic Mapping Model™ to my clients as Phase 1 of working with me, as I want to ensure that I’m able to help more people, while also stepping a bit out of the day-to-day overseeing of the business.