That's what I would do.
The name came out of the same conversation, over and over. Someone describes what's broken in their operation. We talk it through. It ends the same way every time — well, that's what I would do.
I've been on your side of the table
I'm Lee Franks. I've run restaurants as GM with full P&L on my name — hiring, training, inventory, the floor. I've managed operations auctioning assets for banks, the FDIC and small businesses winding down. I ran the warehouse for a large internet sales company. I managed a sales floor in the boating industry.
None of that was a technology job. That's the point. I've been the person software gets sold to, and the person who has to make it work anyway on a Tuesday when it doesn't.
Where those years were spent
- RestaurantsGeneral Manager
Full P&L accountability. Hiring, training, inventory, the floor.
- Asset auctionsOperations
Auctioning assets for banks, the FDIC, and small businesses winding down.
- EcommerceWarehouse Manager
Ran the warehouse for a large internet sales company.
- BoatingSales Manager
Managed the sales floor and the numbers behind it.
Most shops are losing hours they'll never bill
Small businesses around here are running on tools that take time instead of giving it back. Not because the owners are behind — because nobody sold them the boring version that fits how they actually work.
Software won't fix your business. Neither will AI. What either one can do, set up properly, is hand back the hours you're spending on work that doesn't need you. So you can be hands-on where it counts, and still have a life.
Ideas and plans are nothing without systems and execution.
What you won't get
- 01
AI-generated slop
We use AI for two things: automation and ideation. Never to manufacture content and hand it over as finished work. It is a starting point, then you make it yours. If someone is selling you AI-written blog posts as a deliverable, you are paying for something your customers can smell.
- 02
A pitch for everything at once
Half of what gets sold as AI right now is not worth your money yet. We will tell you which half. Sometimes the answer is to spend nothing and fix the process first.
- 03
A retainer you cannot leave
Fixed scope. You know the number before anything starts. If we finish and you do not need us again, that is a good outcome, not a lost account.
- 04
A bench of juniors
It is me on your project. For bigger builds I bring in a small team of professionals I have worked with, each a specialist in their own field. You will know who is on it.
Where we work
Based in Sharonville. We work across Ohio and Northern Kentucky — Cincinnati, Over-the-Rhine, Oakley, Hyde Park, Norwood, Newport, Covington. Remote works fine. We'd rather be able to drive to you.
No storefront. If you want to meet, we'll come to your place of business — it's more useful anyway. Seeing the actual counter, floor or back office tells us more in ten minutes than a call does in an hour.
One thing still missing
Add LinkedIn and B2B directory profile URLs for Lee Franks.
This is the highest-value item left and it is not code. A firm in the Cincinnati research reached top-5 in AI search within a year of launching, mostly on consistent name and service-area details across Clutch, The Manifest and DesignRush. Add the URLs to `founder.sameAs` in src/config/site.ts and they go straight into Person schema.
How we work
- 01Diagnose
We dig into your goals, numbers and bottlenecks before proposing a thing.
- 02Blueprint
A clear plan, scope and price — plus a candid take on what to skip.
- 03Build
We ship in tight loops with real check-ins, not month-long silences.
- 04Operate
We stay on to tune, measure and hand you something you can run.
Tell me what's broken.
Describe it in a couple of sentences and you'll get a straight answer about what I'd do in your position — including when that answer is to spend nothing.