did sammy tell you come here? joe: yeah, he paid me $1 million. joe t.: he probably did. joe: get the [bleep] out of here. i don't even know who sammy is. -joe t.: he probably did. you know what? i'm gonna break his [bleep] head. lemonis: honestly, i'm gonna be straight with you, i'm surprised you didn't beat the [bleep] out of him. this is crazy. all i know is we have a problem, and i need to find out what's happening. nikki's father told me that she was on the way to talk to me. is this nikki? -joe t.: yeah. lemonis: yes? why don't you take joe inside? hey, come on over here. come on over here. aye yai yai. so, what happened? nikki: i don't know. he called me up while i was at the beach. he told me that i'm not a good worker. lemonis: which is not the first time you ever heard that? nikki: and, i mean, you can ask all the employees. lemonis: did you guys ever date? nikki: it was on and off. lemonis: but you did a little? -nikki: yeah. -lemonis: okay. while you were working here? -nikki: yeah. -lemonis: okay. joe t.: i fired tim the other day. he didn't come here crying with his mom, you know what i mean? i don't get what the hell's going on.

lemonis: this him to you? nikki: i was just lied to the whole entire time. and he had a girlfriend. lemonis: aye yai yai. ♪ i take business very seriously, and i know that people make mistakes. but when you're put in a position of leadership, you have to know the difference between right and wrong. and when you make a decision that puts the business in jeopardy, you have to understand that those decisions have consequences. when i came back and i witnessed what was going on between you and sammy, it was bad. -joe t.: it was terrible. -lemonis: yeah. joe t.: it wasn't bad. it was terrible. lemonis: in front of customers, in front of employees. i've never seen anything like that. joe t.: i mean, it was us outside, marcus. no one else was outside. lemonis: no, there was people coming in and out. the problem is, joe, you are in such a dark place. joe t.: i was in a rage.

it's just gonna happen with me. i'm an intense guy. do i have strong opinions and am i argumentative about things that i feel strongly about? absolutely. lemonis: that's not -- you can't run a business that way. joe t.: i know. lemonis: you lose your [bleep] over nothing. joe t.: i think that if we asked the staff and the people that work with me on a day-to-day basis, they would have nothing but -- and i'm not just patting myself on the back -- great things to say about my decision-making. lemonis: the fact that you let your personal life come into the business, it puts pressure on the business. joe t.: it does, but i really don't want to discuss it. and i know things that happened here that made it look horrible, but it's not that bad. it really isn't that bad. lemonis: the things that happened were really bad. joe t.: [ sighs ] lemonis: especially since you were the boss. joe t.: but it -- to be honest with you -- and just because i want this on the record -- it was terminated long before that person was terminated. lemonis: how much time was separated? -joe t.: i don't care. -lemonis: i'm curious. joe t.: i have no idea. -lemonis: 10 days? -joe t.: more than that. -lemonis: 100? -joe t.: no. -lemonis: 30? -joe t.: more.

-lemonis: 60? -joe t.: yeah. -lemonis: 60 days? -joe t.: yeah. lemonis: there was 60-days time between you terminating the person and you stopping your communication with her? which means, joe, that it still happened inside of the window that you and i were partners. this discussion is about you making a decision that put the business in jeopardy. joe t.: i know, that's what you're saying. lemonis: you put your partners in jeopardy, you put me in jeopardy. why did you fire her? joe t.: she was being evaluated over time, and so was everyone else. lemonis: when i first got there, you never said to me, "there's a list of employees. they're problem children. i'm having to coach them." joe t.: i am not the person who's gonna say, "hey, i'm done with that person." i'm going to try to put them through my training program and see what i can do to make them better employees. lemonis: did you do that with the young lady? joe t.: as a group? absolutely. lemonis: i'm not saying as a group. we're not having this conversation with the other guys. before you terminate somebody, you should have that one-on-one conversation. joe t.: if i trained every single person there one-on-one every time, i would never be able to train everyone. lemonis: how many people work there? joe t.: right now? i think 14. lemonis: and so when you say that you don't have the time

to train everybody one-on-one? joe t.: so when there is, for instance, something wrong? absolutely i sit down with that person and try to figure it out. lemonis: why didn't you that moment? joe t.: there's enough is enough sometimes. it's just the way it is, marcus. i mean, you've never had to let anybody go before? i'm sure you understand what i'm saying. lemonis: i do, and it's the worst thing in the world. joe t.: i know. you're about to do it right now. lemonis: so the franchisee should be here any minute. just kind of making sure that we have everything in line. i mean, really, this is our shot, right?

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lemonis: why did you fire her? joe t.: there's enough is enough sometimes. it's just the way it is, marcus. i mean, you've never had to let anybody go before? i'm sure you understand what i'm saying. lemonis: i do, and it's the worst thing in the world. joe t.: i know. you're about to do it right now, aren't you? lemonis: i am. i'm about to tell you that you can't be in that role. joe t.: i can't even believe you're doing this right now. i mean, if you're gonna crucify me for -- lemonis: joe, please don't be a martyr. joe t.: 'cause i've done nothing but give you my heart, soul, and blood since the day i got here. lemonis: i agree with that. joe t.: and if that's not enough for you, i don't have anything else. lemonis: you have the ownership in the business, and it got open largely because of you. joe t.: thank you. lemonis: i think you're qualified to do a lot of things. and i think you need to slide back into the role of partner and friend. joe t.: i don't walk away easy. it's tough for me. people invested money into this thing. i feel like it's my job to make sure

i'm contributing enough to equal out to that. lemonis: i appreciate that. and to be honest with you, i would look any of them in the face, since i've put the most money in, and i would tell them that you more than earned your equity. -joe t.: thank you. -lemonis: all right? -joe t.: yep. -lemonis: are we good? -joe t.: yes, we are. -lemonis: okay, man. joe t.: thanks, buddy. lemonis: i'm sorry it had to go this way. i'll see you soon. -joe t.: yep. lemonis: there's no gray area here for me. it's black and white. if you mistreat other employees, you cannot work here. and while it was tough to let him go, the business is bigger than all of us, and the business deserves more respect than that. i asked the guys to meet me at a restaurant nearby so i can tell them what joe and i just talked about. hi, guys. -covello: hi, marcus. lemonis: well, you guys know why you're here? fuji: no. lemonis: do you notice who's not here? sammy: joseph. lemonis: joe and i just had a really, i would say, good discussion. what i told him was that i wasn't comfortable with him

being the manager anymore. todd: i'm shocked. lemonis: you are? why? todd: he put his heart and soul in it. lemonis: yes, he did. but he made a mistake, todd. in this moment, he's able to be a partner, help the business from a distance just like you guys do. todd: he works hard. he puts heart into this place, and that's why i'm shocked. covello: what's the game plan? lemonis: in order to sell franchises, we have to have one that really works. and so we need to find a general manager who can be objective, who can report to each one of you, and that's it. they just need to run the business that way. sammy: i have two managers that can delegate really well, like, really well. covello: but we're in the same spot with sammy there that we were just in with joe. lemonis: but sammy's not trying to [bleep] somebody. in the short term, sammy's got to pick up the slack here. it's a messy day. but long term, we're gonna hire a real general manager who's there on a day-to-day basis, who can run the operations with a high level of professionalism.

thanks. it's been a rough time for everybody, but if we're gonna close the deal with a potential franchisee, we have to get to work. he suggested that we add some non-burger alternatives to the menu, so i'm taking the guys to pat lafrieda to look for some options. what we started talking about is how do we come up with something that's memorable? yes, we have new york's best burger. great. check the box. i think to get people to like the franchise even more, we need something that isn't a burger that would appeal to kids, appeal to families, and get people excited. mark: if someone doesn't want a beef burger, what are they gonna eat? pat: kids like hot dogs. lemonis: you got something interesting? pat: we do. lemonis: where can we go to see it? [ laughter ] mark: this is amazing. most people eat that hot dog, they say it's the best hot dog they ever ate. -lemonis: how many ounces is it? -mark: it's 14. lemonis: 14 ounces? just under a pound. fuji: college kids will love it. lemonis: college kids will love it. sammy: they're gonna write newspaper articles about us. lemonis: what is the price-per-pound

on something like this? pat: $3.60 a pound. lemonis: with the overall cost of $3.60 per pound and a 14-ounce dog, that comes out to $3.15 per dog. if we add 50 cents for the bun and 48 cents for toppings, we come out to $4.13. if we want to keep our margins at 70%, we're going to have to sell this jumbo dog at $13.95. but this is really creating the wow factor. what is the price-per-pound on something like this? mark: that's $4.50 a pound, and there's 6 to a pound. lemonis: so, 75 cents for this hot dog if it's $4.50 a pound. you could sell this for $5.95? -pat: $5.95. -lemonis: okay. that's great. so i got this one. we can add it because the math's making sense to me. $5 retail. $13.95 -- buns and amazing toppings. pat lafrieda just helped us kill two birds with one stone. the small dog gives us our kids' menu item and the larger dog provides a non-burger alternative for our customers. and at less than 30% food costs,

both items are right where we want them to be. now it's time to show john, our potential franchisee, and see what he thinks. so, john's on his way. do you feel like we have a good understanding of everything? sammy: yeah. lemonis: i think things that john wanted was understand that our food costs are down around 30% or below. we've gotten that done. he wanted to see a variety of menu items, and so we've gotten the dogs solved. kids' menu stuff is solved. we've got the right price on top. i mean, really, this is our shot, right? -todd: right. -lemonis: him really coming is kind of making sure that we have everything in line. he should be here any minute.

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costs are down to 30%, we've added some items to the menu. i mean, really, this is our shot, right? he should be here any minute. today we have our critical meeting with john and his business partner, evellyn. we need to show them that we've listened to their feedback and we're ready to expand. john, good to see you. they're experienced in the industry, and their excitement for the concept is exactly what standard burger needs to launch as a national franchise. we'd really dug into the food costs since we last talked. we're down around 30%. that allows margins to really expand. i know from our last meeting with john that lowering our food costs would definitely sit well with him. but the real question is what would they think of our new menu items? sammy: and something new that we added to the menu is the standard dog. and it literally is the biggest beef hot dog you ever seen before. -lemonis: no, no, no. [ laughter ] it's an all-beef hot dog -- 14 ounces. evellyn: wow.

sammy: and if we partner this up with one of our direct beers, it looks great, we can advertise it, and it has a great advertisement ring to it. lemonis: what are kind of your thoughts? you've seen the concept, and i know we've had a lot of discussions. john: well, our thought is to grow the concept, specifically in new jersey. we have the restaurant experience, we have the real-estate experience, and we feel we can team up and grow. lemonis: you feel comfortable moving forward? -evellyn: we do. -john: you bet, yeah. -evellyn: we do. -lemonis: we have a deal? evellyn: if my brother-in-law says we have a deal, we're good? -john: we have a deal. -evellyn: i'm good. -lemonis: great. -evellyn: i love this. i really like this a lot. -todd: welcome to the family. evellyn: thank you. it's a pleasure. sammy: i'm excited. lemonis: today was a great day for us, because securing a deal with john and evellyn gave us the foundation that we needed to launch standard burger as a national franchise. but there's one more issue we still need to discuss. there he is. -joe t.: hey. lemonis: how you doing, my man? joe t.: how we doing? -lemonis: you doing all right? -joe t.: what's the word? -lemonis: good word. covello: hey, joe.

lemonis: joe, you mind grabbing that chair? i know that he's very sorry. i asked him to come down because he still is our partner. i want to make sure that you know from me and from everybody that a lot of the good processes are a big credit to you. joe t.: thank you. lemonis: and it's a testament to the burger boys. joe t.: i feel "kumbaya" in the background right now. everything feels kind of good. todd: you know, joe put his heart and his soul in here. you know he's part of our team. he's a brother to all of us, and he belongs here. lemonis: back in the game, we're back together. [ laughter ] joe t.: hey, guys. is anybody interested in trying our new hot dog that we have on the menu? lemonis: i think in business, sometimes there are tough decisions to make, but you have to make sure that the business is bigger than anyone. and in this case, standard burger's on its way to great success.

lemonis: tonight on "the profit," i head to south carolina to get a real taste of good old-fashioned barbecue. norton: if the fat ain't dripping on the coals, it's not barbecue. lemonis: a mom-and-pop operation has quickly grown into a million-dollar business. you're almost doing $1 million a year. you guys aren't mom-and-pop anymore. they are struggling to keep up. norton: we've grown faster than we ever imagined we would grow. we have not caught up with ourselves. lynn: this is overwhelming. lemonis: authentic, down-home cooking never goes out of style. lynn: mom always taught us, whatever we do, we do at our best. lemonis: if i can stabilize this business... we're not charging enough. ...there's big money to be made. this meal was amazing. these ribs are ridiculous. my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. if you don't like money, don't follow my advice.

i make the tough decisions. we're closing the store. we're done. i'm not talking to you about it anymore. i back them up, spending my own money. it's not always pretty... man: perfect flavor. lemonis: ...but this is business. you got to trust the process. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. thanks for your business. this is "the profit." things move slowly in the small town of latta, south carolina. but when shuler's bar-b-que opens its doors, people near and far come rushing in with some traveling hundreds of miles to eat their legendary barbecue. lynn: hi. how are y'all? welcome to shuler's. lemonis: it's an all-you-can-eat barbecue buffet, and their speciality is pulled pork and ribs. their biscuits are always one of the biggest draws. woman: excellent barbecue, some of the best i have ever had. norton: thank you, ma'am.

lemonis: married couple lynn and norton hughes struggled to have a family until late in life. they were blessed when they adopted their young son and named him after norton's father, shuler. lynn and norton opened up shuler's bar-b-que restaurant in 1996 without any prior restaurant experience. they've relied on time-tested family recipes... norton: i can remember my daddy putting meat on the coals. that shows you we're cooking right. lemonis: ...and traditional cooking practices passed down by norton's father. this business has grown bigger than they ever expected, forcing them to work around the clock just to keep up. lynn: [ sighs ] lemonis: lynn and norton's goal is to build a successful business for the future of their son, but i know that second-generation businesses have a high failure rate. so, if i can't put the right processes and infrastructure in place, this business may not make it to the next generation.

shuler's bar-b-que smells of great comfort food, and the place is jammed. lynn: hi! lemonis: how are you? i'm marcus. lynn: lynn hughes. nice to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you. -are you norton? -norton: i am norton. -lemonis: nice to meet you, sir. -norton: nice to meet you. lemonis: what a great place. -norton: thank you. -lynn: thank you. lemonis: there's some people in here. lynn: yeah! isn't this great? lemonis: and so, i noticed that on the sign, that you're only open -- lynn: thursday, friday, and saturdays. lemonis: how many seats in the entire place? lynn: about 200. lemonis: and is there ever a time where it's jam-packed, out the door, down the street? norton: actually, we have pictures of it at about halfway in the parking lot. that is not real unusual. we can feed as many as 500 people in a night. lemonis: do you guys ever run out of seats in the dining area and then have to turn customers away? norton: yeah. lemonis: how many acres is the whole complex? norton: on this side of the road, we got about 30 acres.

lemonis: okay. so, there's more expansion land. norton: as long as we keep getting business, we can keep adding on. lemonis: how much is lunch? -norton: $8.95. -lemonis: and dinner? norton: $12.70 for an adult. lynn: plus tax. lemonis: all you can eat, $13.95? norton: yeah, that includes drinks and dessert. lemonis: i mean, that's a heck of a deal. $13.95 for an adult price on a buffet with chicken and ribs? that's a great price, but i don't know how they make that work. can we take a look at the kitchen? lynn: yeah, come on. let's show you the kitchen. this is lynn's world. lemonis: what is in lynn's world? lynn: we make the biscuits, the dessert. lemonis: when do you make the biscuits? can we make them together? lynn: yeah, we can make them together. they're a lot of fun. lemonis: how much time a day does this take you to make? lynn: well, 30 minutes a batch. that includes the prep time. but we're doing eight batches. lemonis: four hours a day, almost. lynn: yep. lemonis: who makes the biscuits here? and nobody else? woman: no. [ chuckles ] -lemonis: not a chance? -woman: no, not really. lemonis: so, how come you don't let other people make these?

lynn: i grew up, my mom catered. and mom always taught us, whatever we do, we do it at our best. lemonis: people come from far and wide to get these biscuits? lynn: they do. we can't keep biscuits on the buffet. all right. lemonis: and so, this is what they look like when they come out? lynn: that's what they look like when they come out. lemonis: i love it. lynn: oh, good. great. lemonis: these biscuits are amazing. i can see why they fly off the buffet. this may be the thing that i can take national. norton: out in the pit is where the real magic happens. -lynn: yes. -lemonis: okay. lynn: this is the pit. norton: mark is my pit man. lemonis: how you doing, sir? nice to meet you. mark: that's my rotisserie, and i cook my ribs and my chicken on it. norton: i'm an old purist. we believe if the fat ain't dripping on the coals, -it's not barbecue. -lemonis: okay. and so, the ribs are in here? [ chuckles ] mark: there's nothing better. i'm telling you. lemonis: you're proud of that, aren't you? mark: yes, sir. there's nothing better. you're gonna have some tonight, right? lemonis: i'm gonna have some. how profitable is the business today? norton: it'll run 12%, 15%.

this year, we shouldn't have a problem doing $1 million. lemonis: so, the business will make $120,000, $150,000. norton: yeah. you know, we're still mom-and-pop. we actually don't pay ourself a salary. lynn: we would love to get setup that we can afford to pay a manager because this is overwhelming. lemonis: while shuler's bar-b-que's only open three days a week, it's overwhelming because it isn't just about serving the food three days a week. there's a lot of things that go into running a restaurant, and three days a week really turns into seven days' worth of work. lynn: my brother-in-law ewell has stepped in, and it's just been a joy having him here. ewell has been in managerial positions. lemonis: okay. norton: he is a genius with marketing. lynn: see, he's been working with us on that, and we've just seen a continual growth. lemonis: it seems to me that they need some help. they need a manager. and if ewell's that answer, well, i'd like to meet him. i need bigger plates. how you doing? i'm marcus. ewell: marcus? ewell. good to see you. lemonis: nice to meet you. jenny: hi. jenny. lemonis: jenny, nice to meet you. jenny: my sister. lemonis: she's your sister? okay.

lemonis: and you all are married? -both: yes. -jenny: we live in new orleans. ewell: seafood. i did all the promotions for the state. lemonis: are you still in the seafood business today? ewell: no, i'm not. i resigned, and i've been helping with them. -lemonis: oh, okay. -ewell: we see a gold mine here. and for a marketer, this is nirvana. you know? it's a lot of fun. so, i started playing with their facebook page. and word of mouth is spreading faster than they can handle the growth. lemonis: but why do we need more p.r.? we have a line out the door. ewell: we see so much potential that we can build this brand beyond this location. lemonis: now you're changing the secret recipe. that's what i worry about. this concept of franchising and opening them up all over the country is not always a good idea. it's not ice cream. it's a brand that isn't portable. you guys can't be everywhere. franchising shuler's is a bad idea. barbecue is regional. there are different styles and there are different flavors. just 30 minutes away in north carolina, the barbecue could be totally different.

if i open up barbecue in texas, it's a problem because i'm competing against that region's barbecue -- not a battle that i'm willing to fight. i'd much rather take the money and build into the infrastructure here and make this a destination. these ribs are ridiculous. what are you food costs today? do you know? as a percentage? norton: 41%, 42%. now, 41% is what the food people tell us. 41% is good. lemonis: the people that sell you the food can tell you that. norton: [ chuckles ] lemonis: and, you know, your food costs being high are a function of what? what do you think, ewell? ewell: what do i know about food costs? i don't even cook. [ laughs ] norton: how much they eat? lemonis: how much they eat. that's one. what else? what they pay for it. i couldn't go to wendy's... lynn: oh, yeah. we've been there. yeah. lemonis: ...for this price. -lynn: this would be shuler. -lemonis: are you the boss? -shuler: eh. -lemonis: i'm marcus. nice to meet you. did you know that you and i have something in common? we're both adopted. lynn: cool. lemonis: do you know how lucky you are? norton: i know how lucky i am.

lynn: he is our life. we spent a long time waiting for that little fella. lemonis: the real goal is to be able to build a beautiful business for your son. lynn: this business is us, and we all been part of it. lemonis: while i'm impressed by the food... and the watermelon cake, -it's really good. -woman: it's really good. lemonis: ...i think there are a number of quick fixes that i can put in place to enhance the customer experience and improve the economics. come to dinner, right? adult, child -- 8 to 12. this p.o.s. system is overly complicated. [ chuckling ] we have the gastric-bypass discount, but we don't have the military discount. and, quite frankly, it's causing a traffic jam. come on in, folks. two adults? it's kind of a shocker, isn't it? woman: yeah. lemonis: the fact that we don't accept credit cards seems slow and inefficient. we need to simplify the process, and we also need to add another register to speed things up. i'm excited to get ewell involved,

because i think he could be a huge asset. so, i want to take a minute and find out what's on his mind. ewell: my wife and i, we're looking at this as, "okay. let's go make a lot of money." i think they're at a tipping point. and if the social media alone is starting to take off without them, there's no light at the end of the tunnel. lemonis: so, is it your plan to move here? ewell: if this can work out in a way where we can work with them, work with you, and it makes sense -- lemonis: are you interested in being a partner in the deal? ewell: i think that would be exciting. -with you as a partner... -lemonis: yeah. ewell: ...we see the sky as the limit. lemonis: when you saw "we," do you have equity in the business today? ewell: no, i don't. lemonis: okay. is that a goal? ewell: it's a possibility, absolutely. lemonis: i'm not really sure what ewell's angle is here. if he wants to be a partner, that's fantastic. but all i'm hear him talking about is p.r. i thought maybe we could go over some of the numbers. look at your profitability. $723,000 in sales, making $145,000.