It's 4 o'clock on a Thursday and there are 3 people at your office door. One needs a price approved. One needs to know which customer gets the truck first. One just needs you to look at something before it goes out.
None of them are doing anything wrong. They're waiting on you because the business was built that way, back when you were small enough that it worked.
Revenue is up and the team is bigger, and somehow it's harder than it's ever been. Too many fires. Too many decisions only you can make. You may have brought in help before and gotten a deck, and nothing really changed.
I'm Tyler Boudreaux. I run Good Business Group out of Youngsville and work as a fractional COO for founders and CEOs across Lafayette, Broussard, New Iberia, and the rest of Acadiana. That means I do the work a chief operating officer would do, without you having to hire one full-time. And I'm close enough to sit at your table, which matters more than it sounds like it should. Most of what I need to see doesn't come across on a call.
When everything still runs through you
A growing company I worked with was held together by one person's memory. Nothing was written down. The way things got done lived in the founder's head, so every real decision waited on the founder, and the more people they hired, the longer the line got.
Every business I've met has some version of this. Sometimes it's the founder. Sometimes it's the person who's been there 11 years and knows which customers get a phone call and which ones get an email.
I think this is why growth feels the way it does. The business got bigger, but the way it runs didn't change shape. It still assumes you're in the room. And caring harder doesn't fix that. It just gets tired, or the person carrying it moves on.
The tricky part is that the most expensive problems are usually invisible to the person paying for them. You're too close, and you're busy. That's not a character flaw. It's just where you're standing.
What does a fractional COO actually do?
Most fractional COOs sell a set number of hours a month, ongoing. I work a little differently. Good Business is execution, not advice, and it isn't a retainer. I come in, do defined work, deliver a result, and then you move.
The work is usually some mix of these:
- Figuring out how work actually comes in the door, how it gets done, who it waits on, and where it stalls or gets dropped.
- Writing down the processes that only live in one person's head, so somebody else can run them.
- Giving decisions a clear owner, so they stop piling up at the top.
- Building a way to see what's happening in the business without asking 3 people.
- Automating the parts that should happen every time and don't, including with AI when it's worth it.
I start with the software you already pay for. Most businesses own tools that could do far more than they're being used for, so the first move is getting the most out of those and filling only the gaps. If what you need genuinely doesn't exist, I'll build it. I build software myself, AI included. That's the last resort, though, not the pitch.
I also hold an M.S. in Cyberpsychology, which is the study of how people actually behave around technology. The gap between a plan that looks good on paper and one that works is almost always human behavior. A process nobody follows isn't a process, so we build it with you and whoever it touches instead of handing it over at the end.
Fractional COO vs. operations consultant vs. hiring an ops manager
These get lumped together, and they're pretty different jobs.
An operations consultant usually studies the business and recommends what to change. Sometimes that's exactly what you need. A lot of the time you end up with a good report and the same Thursday afternoon, because nobody was hired to actually make the changes.
An operations manager is a full-time hire, and hiring fixes capacity. If the work is understood and there's just more of it than your people can do, a good ops manager is the right call. What hiring doesn't fix is a process nobody has written down. A new person can't take that weight off you, at least not at first. For a few months you're doing your job and theirs, plus teaching.
A fractional COO sits in between. You get a senior operator who does the fixing, not just the recommending, without a full-time salary. With Good Business that means fixed-price phases you can stop after, and when the work is done, it's yours.
In my experience the order matters more than the choice. Write down how the work gets done, fix the 2 or 3 things that are obviously broken, and then hire into the version that works. Your ops manager starts productive in weeks instead of months.
| Fractional COO (Good Business) | Operations consultant | Ops manager hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | The fix, built and handed over | Usually a recommendation | Ongoing capacity |
| Commitment | One fixed-price agreement per phase, no retainer, stop after any phase | Varies | Full-time salary |
| Best when | Things only work because you're paying attention | You want an outside read | The work is clear and there's just more of it |
What does it cost?
The first meeting is a Vent to Me Meeting. It's free and takes about 30 minutes. Usually the same day or the next, you get a First Read, a short write-up of what I heard and what each problem is costing you.
Then comes Where to Start, which is also free. It's the plan and the proposal in one short document: what's working, what's wrong in the order it should get fixed, what each phase delivers, and the fixed price.
Some people want the full written read before they commit, and that's fine. For them there's the Operational Diagnostic. It covers what's working, what's costing you, and the order to fix it in, with the reasoning behind every finding. It's $1,500 and credited toward the project.
Projects start at $3,500. AI work starts at $5,000. Custom software starts at $7,500, for when the thing you need doesn't exist yet.
Each phase gets a fixed price before it starts, and you can stop after any of them. After we're done, I stay reasonably available. When that turns into real work, it's $200 an hour or a separately agreed project price. No retainer, no monthly minimum. You only pay for work that gets billed.
A growing company held together by one person's memory
Remember the company where everything lived in the founder's head? The team was growing, and decisions still bottlenecked at the top.
We started with a full operational audit. Then we wrote SOPs for every critical workflow, set up automated reporting dashboards, restructured the org chart so every area had a clear owner, and put in a clear way of deciding who decides what. That last piece is what let the founder step back without things falling apart.
The business has structure now that holds even when the founder isn't in the room.
How it works
It starts with a Vent to Me Meeting. You don't need to prepare anything. Tell me what's frustrating, what takes too long, and what keeps falling through the cracks. I'm listening for the bottlenecks, which in my experience are sometimes not the ones you'd expect.
Then you get your First Read. It's free, and it stops before telling you what to do about it.
After that comes Where to Start. It's the plan and the proposal in one short document, built from that same conversation, and it's free too. Most of what's in it comes out of your own mouth. My part is noticing which pieces matter and what they add up to.
I used to send a lot more reading before you ever saw a price. When you're already overwhelmed, that's one more thing on the pile, and it just sat there. So now it's one short document.
If you'd rather see the full written read before deciding, the Operational Diagnostic is still there.
Once you pick the work, you sign a plain-language agreement, and once it's signed and the deposit is in, the work starts. When it's done, everything we built is yours, documented and handed over.
Frequently asked questions
What does a fractional COO do for a small business?
A fractional COO does the work of a chief operating officer without being a full-time hire. With Good Business Group, that means finding where work stalls, writing down the processes that live in one person's head, giving decisions a clear owner, and building the systems that keep it running. It's execution, not advice.
My business is growing but everything still runs through me. Who can help fix that?
That's the problem Good Business Group is built around. I'm Tyler Boudreaux, a fractional COO based in Youngsville, working with founders and CEOs across Lafayette and Acadiana. We document how the work actually gets done, give decisions an owner other than you, and use the software you already pay for first. The first meeting is free and takes about 30 minutes.
Should I hire an operations manager or bring in a fractional COO?
If the work is clear and there's just more of it than your people can do, hire. That's capacity. If the way things get done only lives in your head, a new hire will spend months learning it from you, and you'll be doing your job and theirs. In that case it usually works better to fix the process first and then hire into it.
What's the difference between a fractional COO and an operations consultant?
An operations consultant usually studies the business and recommends changes. Good Business Group does the changes. We build the fix with you and your team, and when it's done, it's yours.
How much does a fractional COO cost in Lafayette?
With Good Business Group, the first Vent to Me Meeting is free and comes with a First Read. Where to Start, the plan and the proposal in one short document, is free too. If you want the full written read before deciding, the Operational Diagnostic is $1,500 and is credited toward the project. Projects start at $3,500, AI work at $5,000, and custom software at $7,500. Each phase is fixed-price, and you can stop after any of them. After the work, ongoing work is $200 an hour or a separately agreed project price.
Do I have to sign a retainer or commit for months?
No. There's no retainer and no monthly minimum. You sign one plain-language agreement for the work you pick, at a fixed price, usually half to start and half on delivery. Anything beyond that is agreed and priced separately, so you can stop after any phase. The agreement only ends early if one of us doesn't hold up our end and doesn't fix it within 14 days, and then you pay for the work completed. After the work, you only pay for help that turns into real work, at $200 an hour or a separately agreed project price.
Do I need to buy new software?
Usually not. Most businesses already pay for software that could do far more than they use it for, so I start there and fill only the gaps. If what you need doesn't exist, I can build it, but that's the last resort.
Start with a conversation
You don't need a plan before we talk, and you don't need to prepare anything. Book 30 minutes and vent. I'll take it from there.
If a calendar link feels like too much too soon, email me at hello@goodbusiness.group and tell me what's going on.