好不容易 / 好容易【hǎobù róngyì / hǎo róngyì】

好不容易 before a verb says the action succeeded, but only after real effort or a long wait. 才 usually follows it, and the result is something that did happen.

The effort often explains what comes next: having worked so hard for something, you don't want to waste it.

好容易 means the same

Before a verb, 好容易 – without 不 – means exactly what 好不容易 means. The 不 makes no difference here.

As a predicate, the two split

After the subject, as the main comment, the two are opposites: 好不容易 is "really not easy", and 好容易 is "so easy". The "finally managed" sense only exists when the word goes in front of another verb.

• × 我好容易找到他了 (meaning "I found him easily") → 我很容易就找到他了

好 + 不 + adjective as a general frame has its own point.