to have kevin o'leary, mr. wonderful, part of our wine project that we're doing -- pretty excited. all right,s: let's light this thing up! ...at a lighting business that helps folks design their own beautiful custom fixtures... jennifer: we've got a three cluster, a five cluster, seven cluster. lemonis: ...the owner has taken diy to a whole new level. who's customer service? jennifer: me. lemonis: and who's the operations manager? jennifer: me. lemonis: and who does the accounting? jennifer: me. lemonis: jennifer brown built the company from scratch out of her house. jennifer: i joke, like, "is this jen's basement still, or is this a real business?" lemonis: and four years later, she hasn't changed her philosophy much. dustin: your name is already on this list three times, jen. lemonis: there's no clear structure in the place. there's not a clear mission. it's like, "okay, we don't know what to do." there's a steady stream of employees heading for the exits.

cody: it's difficult to stay here. there's only so high that you can go. lemonis: the ones who've stayed question whether they're valued. jennifer: as a businessperson, you're required to have some coldness. lemonis: if i can't help her loosen the reins and learn to value her team... what's your deal with people? ...it may not be long before it's lights out. jennifer: [ voice breaking ] this has been five years. it just doesn't sit well with me. lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not gonna wake up every morning wondering if we have a job. we're gonna wake up every morning wondering how many jobs we have to do. it's not always pretty. everything's gonna change. everything. but i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this... let's go to work. ...is "the profit." ♪ there are a number of things that drew me to hangout lighting. number one, i know the lighting business

can have spectacular margins. number two, i have a portfolio of businesses that could really take advantage of hangout's assets. and number three, the fact that it's in chicago, it allows me to stop by and really be more involved in the business. hi. jennifer: hi, marcus. lemonis: how are you? jennifer: i'm wonderful. lemonis: nice to meet you. look how cool this is. jennifer: yeah, this is hangout lighting. lemonis: is it like a hangout? jennifer: we're always hanging out. lemonis: how big is the place? jennifer: yeah, let's check it out. ♪ lemonis: holy [bleep] this place is huge. jennifer: yeah. even as a kid, like, my room was full of rope lights and black lights on, like -- on three different switches so i could have, like -- set different moods. i just always thought it was fun how much you can do with it. lemonis: so, this is the inventory. jennifer: yeah. lemonis: how many different combinations is there? jennifer: it's infinite. lemonis: when you look at the way people are decorating today, people want to be able to be crafty on their own. they want to pick their own colors, pick their own bulbs,

and there's a real market for it. when did this business start? jennifer: this started out of my house. i was making lights in my bedroom, and i just, like, made one, so i listed it on etsy. it took like a week to get a sale. and i was like, "oh, this -- this is easy!" lemonis: "this is kind of cool!" jennifer: "this is easy!" i should do more of this." lemonis: right. jennifer: so that's when i realized, like, i'm selling a $300 light for $15 worth of supplies. wow. i really have something here. lemonis: with killer margins. jennifer: yeah. lemonis: what's the price point for one light? jennifer: it starts at $50. lemonis: pretty affordable. jennifer: yeah, absolutely. so, it starts with a single pendant, and then we've got a three cluster, a five cluster, seven cluster. all the way up to 19 pendants is the largest. and then the wood chandeliers. lemonis: and how much revenue did you do in 2017? jennifer: $730,000. lemonis: $730,000. jennifer: yeah. lemonis: that's a lot! jennifer: so, i'm hoping to do $1 million this year, for sure. lemonis: so, of your $730,000, how much of it is online? jennifer: 95%. lemonis: that means that you really have no commercial sales. jennifer: yeah, i'm overwhelmed at times

trying to do everything, and i don't know how to scale it to large orders with big companies and managing people. lemonis: and so, who's actually the "sales manager"? jennifer: no one. me. lemonis: and who's customer service? jennifer: me. lemonis: and who's the operations manager? jennifer: me. lemonis: who does the accounting? jennifer: me. i kind of do everything. lemonis: okay. a lot of business owners will say, "look, people aren't gonna do it right. i'll just do it myself." if i was investing in a business that didn't have any growth expectation, jen could take the orders, make the lights, put them in a box, and ship them. business will never grow, but it would do just fine if you were okay making $40,000 on your investment. brian: hi. brian. nice to meet you. lemonis: brian, nice to meet you. what do you do here, brian? brian: mainly marketing and sales. lemonis: okay. jennifer: i call him the technology guy. he built the website. he's kind of my main, like, go-to, where we sit and talk about big picture. lemonis: how long have you been here? jennifer: since the beginning. i mean, we were dating when i started it. lemonis: and are you still dating? both: no.

lemonis: okay. brian: nope. jennifer: a year and a half. should i answer the phone? lemonis: i mean, if it's somebody that wants to buy something, yes. jennifer: hangout lighting. this is jen. how can i help you? lemonis: you kind of got saved by the bell on the whole dating thing. dustin: i'm dustin. lemonis: dustin, i'm marcus. dustin: nice to meet you, man. lemonis: nice to meet you. dustin: how's it going? lemonis: what do you do here? dustin: right now, just production. i was running the social media for a while, too. no one's officially been given a title. lemonis: so, every single person here reports to jen. dustin: yep. lemonis: there's nobody supervising things other than her. dustin: yeah. lemonis: and so the social media -- how come you're not doing that anymore? dustin: i'm actually getting ready to leave. lemonis: you're leaving the company? dustin: yeah. yeah. lemonis: how come? dustin: i am starting my own thing. it's a bong-water flavoring and glass protectant. lemonis: yeah, i don't know what that is. dustin: so, uh... lemonis: sorry. dustin: plus i bartend at night, and i mean, i can make more money bartending. what's crazy is even on the slowest of slow nights, i still make more money there than here.

lemonis: so, if you could work here full-time, would you want to? dustin: oh, i'd love to. if i was paid, oh, man. jennifer: dustin, your uber's actually here. dustin: cool. i got to go. lemonis: sounds like you got to go. get to work. come on. let's go. dustin: sounds good. lemonis: so, can you and i make a light? jennifer: sure. i'd say start with a cord color. we used to have mostly, like, primary colors, and recently, we've added a lot more of the, like, kind of neutrals. lemonis: what color is this? wine. jennifer: we got to pick out our sockets. lemonis: okay, now where do we go? jennifer: to one of these assembly stations. so, you want to open up your socket. lemonis: okay. what was your name again? cody: cody. lemonis: cody, i'm marcus. cody: nice to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you. thank you. so, how long have you worked here? cody: a year and a half. lemonis: do you like it? cody: yeah, kind of. i think everyone here is super- passionate about this company, but it's difficult to stay here because there's only so high that you can go. lemonis: look, i've spoken to two people on the floor, and neither have told me they see a bright future for themselves in the company.

not exactly the right culture. and is there anything about the business that you would improve or change? cody: it would be nice if we had everything in stock more often. jennifer: cody's always telling me we're out of things. lemonis: and so nobody's really managing the inventory. jennifer: correct. lemonis: so, what is the reason you're out? jennifer: i'm too busy, and it slipped past me. lemonis: couldn't i make the argument that having the inventory manager would actually turn orders quicker, create happier customers, create return orders? jennifer: yeah. yeah. cody: you got to flip the switch. ah! lemonis: watch out! jennifer: good job. lemonis: can you take me through the website? brian: okay. so, this is the home page. lemonis: this is what i see when i land? brian: yeah. lemonis: where's the "start designing now"? brian: so, if you scroll down, there's all these forms that -- lemonis: so, that's it? single pendant. brian: yeah. lemonis: okay. now i start with "choose my style." so let's say i pick "antique grass." how do i know what to do? like, what's recommended? how high is my ceiling? how do i know what to do? brian: there's always an issue with designing it for the average consumer.

lemonis: 'cause i would get here, and i'd be like, "oh, yeah, i need help. i somebody gonna help me?" "sure. fill out a form. we'll call you." jennifer: yeah. lemonis: so, what happens if i fill out that form? jennifer: it goes to me. right now the customer-service person. lemonis: okay. are you doing the web development? brian: yeah. lemonis: so, don't laugh when i say this -- everything that's missing is because you haven't put it in there. brian: correct. lemonis: okay. how is the equity -- who owns the company? jennifer: i own 100%. lemonis: and did you ever have equity? brian: nope. lemonis: never. brian: we've had conversations about it, and i've asked. jennifer: yeah, he's been asking since the beginning. i think i was scared to commit. i don't want to give him equity when i don't feel comfortable with it. brian: i feel that hangout lighting is where it is today because of my impact. i've steered and been a part of just about every major decision. jennifer: like, i just feel like i do everything. brian: i tell you all the time i will do anything if you ask me to help. lemonis: she touches everything instead of letting other people do their job. as the leader of this business, she needs to delegate tasks so people know what their role is. what's the real reason you called me? jennifer: i think the employee structure --

who to hire and what roles and how to scale getting everything off my plate. it's really hard to delegate. i have a lot of, like, anxiety about that. lemonis: as a business owner, you have to trust the people that are around you. and quite frankly, the business isn't just you. it's all the people that work here. it's your customers. it's your vendors. it's your landlord. your job, as the owner of the business, is really you have to think about yourself more as the steward of the business, and you can't do everything and everybody's job. if we are gonna be in business together, i have to teach you how to be a better business leader, but i am gonna push you to deal with it. jennifer: mm-hmm. lemonis: you have some financials we can look at? jennifer: sure. lemonis: so, this is the balance sheet as of right now. jennifer: as of today? yep. lemonis: and this the p&l. so, 2014 is when the business started? jennifer: correct. lemonis: so, $183,000 in sales the first year. 2015 -- $597,000 in sales. 2016 -- $844,000 in sales. and then it dropped to $728,000 in 2017.

jennifer: i didn't expect it to go down. i wasn't pushing sales. i was moving into this new space, which was from 600 square feet to 4,500 square feet. lemonis: yeah. current assets -- $78,000 in the bank. total assets -- $92,000. and then in terms of debt... jennifer: no debt. lemonis: you have $78,000 in the bank. your business over four years has made money. your margins are spectacular. jennifer: we still need your help, though. lemonis: i know you do. i don't only help businesses that need money. i help businesses that have dysfunction. what are the things that scare you about your business? what are the things that you worry about? jennifer: ul listing is a safety certification. our parts are assembled at a ul-certified manufacturer, and they're all stamped and marked. our products, as a whole entire product, are not. lemonis: parts and pieces are, total assembled is not. jennifer: correct. i'm concerned about how much the process and the product is gonna have to change in order to comply with the book of rules that's that thick. lemonis: i think what does scare me is you doing everything. jennifer: i joke, like, "is this jen's basement still,

or is this a real business?" lemonis: this idea isn't really a long-term strategy. i think growing the business commercially into retail businesses and restaurants and hotels is something that looks like a possibility. what would you ultimately like to see happen? brian: i think moving forward, i would like to have equity, have jen appreciate what i bring to the table. jennifer: i'm gonna advocate against it. brian: giving me equity? jennifer: absolutely. brian: why? what?! jennifer: i mean, i could easily hire a professional website company to build me a brand-new, pretty website. brian: i don't understand where your feelings are coming from. jennifer: there was definitely times when i was like, "i don't even know what you're doing. can you send me e-mails with, like, what you're working on?" like, i feel like sometimes i ask for help, and i feel like he only does what he does. he doesn't help. brian: okay. lemonis: there's definitely a frustration from her, brian, and this is the thing that we are going to work on. so, my offer is $250,000 for 33% of the business.

i have to have full financial control because i want to make sure that we're relieving the burden of you having to do all this stuff. jennifer: um... honestly, that is a lower valuation than i was expecting. lemonis: people leave because they don't understand what their path is. jennifer: [ crying ] i can't make that decision! it just doesn't sit well with me.

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you've got some serious watching to do. jethan i was expecting. that is a lower valuation there's a lot of assets here. 30% is definitely, like, the max that i wanted to give up in general. coming into today, i had $500,000 for 30%. lemonis: my valuation was at $750,000. your valuation was north of $1.6 million. jennifer: that's 'cause i know how profitable it is. we're making -- netting $50,000 this year. you know, if i didn't make a deal at all, i just delay this all one year, and i'll have the $250,000. lemonis: respectfully, i don't know how sustainable this is for you to be wearing all these hats, with half the staff and a website that still isn't functional. jennifer: absolutely. and i'm not just looking for cash, but it's really about everything else that you bring to the table. lemonis: okay. so, i'm $250,000 for 33%. you're $500,000 for 30%.

my counter and my final offer is $250,000 for 25%. jennifer: you have a deal. lemonis: thank you. jennifer: thank you. i'm so excited. lemonis: good decision. jennifer: thank you. lemonis: congratulations. you've done a great job. you've really built a nice business. brian, thank you for your help today. brian: thank you. lemonis: thank you. jennifer: [ chuckles ] ♪ lemonis: so, jen and i made a deal for me to invest $250,000 into the company for 25% of the business. we're gonna improve our inventory process. we're gonna work on having two clear lines of revenue -- direct-to-consumer, meaning an individual, and direct-to-consumer, meaning companies. we're gonna work on the website to make it robust so that the user experience is simple and easy and clear. i think the last thing is we want to make sure that everybody understands their role and their opportunity.

jen wants to have full control. she's so used to doing everything herself. and if she wants to grow her business, she has to truly understand what the value of each of her people is and how to put them in a job that increases their chances of success. everybody excited? all: yes! lemonis: all right, let's light this thing up! good morning! jennifer: oh, good morning! lemonis: how are you? jennifer: let's do this. lemonis: good to see you. jennifer: you, too. lemonis: good morning. good morning. so, i brought you guys out to hinsdale, which, as you know, is a suburb of chicago, and i bought a historic building that's been here since early 1800s. and i'm renovating it to just preserve it and bring it back to life. and it's really up to you guys to resolve the lighting for the entire building. so... brian: whoa. what's gonna go in here? lemonis: shouldn't matter. this is a building-preservation project. jennifer: okay. lemonis: part of what i want to see is your process. jennifer: sure.

lemonis: i'd like to put on a beautiful event to reveal hangout lighting to the chicago construction/real-estate/ architecture community. we need lighting both for aesthetics and for light. jennifer: we've never actually done much design consultation. lemonis: i'm not looking for you to consult. i'm looking for you to solve the problem. dustin: i think this is 100% doable. even not having a designer, this does not seem, like, out of the realm of possibilities. jennifer: i feel like our style doesn't exactly fit the current style. i think it'll be a little bit more modern. dustin: maybe some of those, like, spoke -- those, like -- the brass spokes. i think anything with a cage, too. jennifer: yeah, but all this intricate woodworking -- it's definitely a different style. dustin: i want like 150 bulbs in this room! lemonis: jen seems petrified, and dustin's like, "all right, man, we could do this. we could do that. what about this? what about that?" and what he's doing, in my mind, is he's selling the client

before the client has even said yes. that's a great salesperson in my mind. dustin: oh, my god, the exposed rafters -- i want to wrap stuff around this so bad. i'd say 150 pendants on the second floor. lemonis: a couple observations. there's not a clear mission. it's like, "okay, we don't know what to do." kelsea: i think, like, with jen -- she used to do all the things. and i just think one person should just be taking something and doing that. brian: but i think everyone can benefit from more defined roles. lemonis: and whose job is it to define your role? brian: jen's. jennifer: i feel like it's my job to say that, but my reaction wants to be, like, asking you... brian: i'm not sure we're answering marcus' question. lemonis: i think in terms of delegating, you and i just need to work on, "you're going to work on this. you're going to work on that." i know it's new. i just think we have to get better at that. and then dustin saying he's leaving. i love the fact that you're here and that you're excited about it. but it sounds like, "maybe i don't want to leave if i can find a role and i can make more money and i can contribute." dustin: yeah, absolutely.

lemonis: okay, so, are you ready to go back to the office? jennifer: yeah. lemonis: okay, thanks, guys. kelsea: thank you. ♪ lemonis: so, i want you to go through and put people in defined roles so they understand what their contribution is to the team. jennifer: i'll be -- i don't know how to do that, honestly. like, i don't know how to be, like, "you do this. you do that," like right now. lemonis: so, why don't you grab my favorite tool -- the whiteboard? and let's just think, "okay, what's the end goal? who's doing what?" jennifer: presentation and sign-off -- i would say a combination of me and catherine. lemonis: who's asking for the money? jennifer: right now, me. lemonis: are you the best salesperson? jennifer: no. lemonis: who's the best salesperson in the room? jennifer: dustin. lemonis: okay, keep going. assign roles. jennifer: definitely me. sourcing -- that's -- that's definitely me. dustin: your name is already on this list three times, jen! it's already too much. lemonis: it may be hard for jen, but delegating specific roles to people on her team are gonna be what's required to move this company forward. all of us want to contribute and be a part of it. and you like to do this because maybe you feel like you have to.

we want to help. does everybody agree? okay. thanks, guys. jennifer: thank you. lemonis: that was fun. ♪ hi. jennifer: hi, marcus. lemonis: do you want to talk? jennifer: i would love to talk. lemonis: okay. i received a phone call from jen wanting to discuss the deal that she made with me, and she wouldn't tell me good or bad. she just said she wanted to see me. jennifer: i made a deal that i think is giving up more equity than i would want to right now. i was thinking something closer to $150,000 for 10%. lemonis: i'm not comfortable with you slashing the equity. i never look at myself as a checkbook. jennifer: right. lemonis: and so when i put together what you said to brian, you talked about the fact that maybe you didn't even know if you needed brian, and now what you've said to me -- it's hurtful. jennifer: i was concerned that because we're, like, a less-struggling business,

it would be easy for you to, like, kind of forget about us and let us just, like, keep making money. lemonis: do you worry a lot? jennifer: sure. i think i have a lot of, like, anxiety. lemonis: you worry too much. jennifer: yeah. lemonis: the $150,000 for 10% doesn't work for me. jennifer: okay. lemonis: i need to think for a minute. ♪ you're responsible for their well-being. jennifer: as a businessperson, you are required to have some coldness. you can't keep someone around just because you like them.

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anif you've got a lifee. you gotta swiffer lemodoesn't work for me.r 10% jennifer: right. lemonis: i need to think for a minute. jen is basically backpedaling on the deal that we made, and while i like her business and i like her creativity, i'm really struggling with how she's viewing me. can i borrow you guys for a minute? let's maybe chat over together. i'm not there to save the owner. i'm there to improve the business. and the business involves everybody. so, jen came back to me and said, "instead of you having 25%, i only want you to have 10%."

so you guys are gonna help me make this decision. does this business need another set of hands and eyes? dustin: if it wants to be more than it is right now, then yes. brian: she could use another set of hands around here, yes. lemonis: hey, jen. jennifer: yeah? lemonis: i think what i heard from the team is that they believe the business could use more structure. they want a career here. i know that my offer is $250,000 for 25%. i will go down to 20%. i will also change my number to $200,000, not $250,000. if i go to $200,000 for 20%, then 5% of that will go into a shared bonus plan for them. so we're all growing together. jennifer: mm-hmm. yeah, i think that sounds terrific. i think that's a great compromise for everybody in this room. lemonis: so, do we have a deal? jennifer: okay. lemonis: okay. jennifer: thank you, marcus. lemonis: all right. more than anything else, jen is fearful, and i think she hates change. and the idea of sharing equity is to give her an example

of how bringing other people into the fold will allow the business to be more successful. all right, guys, i'll see you later, okay? jennifer: all right. bring it in, guys. group hug. group hug. [ laughter ] so, when you first walk in, the entryway -- we have this big, gold dome. we thought it was perfect for a traditional grape cluster. there's this really grand atrium that was both a challenge and an opportunity to create something that fit the space. lemonis: it's been a week, and jen has put together a presentation wanting to show me all the progress that's been done on the hinsdale job. this looks badass. this, for me, hits the mark on a lot of levels. jennifer: got it. lemonis: what's the thing that's different in this room right now that allowed this to happen? jennifer: i wouldn't have let catherine spend the amount of time she did on this. i went, "we've got a budget to work with. we're doing everything. let's pull out every bell and whistle we got and every resource." lemonis: so, what you're saying is if you actually brought other people into the process and you let them do their job, that they can do great work. jennifer: yes. lemonis: oh.

i'd like to have the grand opening in the next couple weeks. where is everybody that was at hinsdale? who's missing? jennifer: dustin. lemonis: where's dustin? jennifer: he decided to leave to work on his own business. we had offered him a sales position last week. we'd started working through that with him, and yesterday came to the conclusion that it wasn't really right for both parties. lemonis: we have talked extensively about making people on the team feel like they're valued here and that they have a future, a career here. and then one week later, dustin, who's got a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm -- well, jen just lets him walk out the door? do you feel like he's qualified to do the job? jennifer: no. lemonis: and you're not qualified to be a leader just yet. okay. thanks, guys. jennifer: thanks, marcus. ♪ lemonis: what's up?! what are you doing, my man? dustin: i'm here working.

lemonis: is this your place? dustin: yeah. lemonis: so, are you officially gone from hangout? dustin: i'm officially gone. lemonis: what happened? dustin: [ sighs ] a lot. i was gonna take a sales position, right? at first, that was gonna be in-house. take anything that walked in, work on everything. lemonis: commercial jobs. dustin: yeah. i knew that i was gonna have to build a sales program with no guarantee of pay. i asked for two months. if i sell up to like $25,000 worth of product, anything after that, sure, i want a commission on, but, like, the first $25,000, i won't take commission. lemonis: they didn't want to invest. dustin: yeah, they didn't want to take the risk. lemonis: which is why people constantly leave. it's 'cause she doesn't want to invest in growing the business. dustin: totally. sure. lemonis: all dustin wanted was to receive a salary for two months so that he can get things set up and get started. and candidly, it doesn't seem like an unreasonable request to me. i want you to be open-minded about doing some -- because i honestly feel like the type of product they're selling requires creativity. dustin: yeah. lemonis: you have no problem asking for the sale. dustin: no. lemonis: let me send you a few leads and see if we can make it work. dustin: okay. lemonis: okay, brother. dustin: sounds good, man. lemonis: i'll see you soon. lemonis: by the way... dustin: high there. lemonis: bye there. dustin: bye there!

♪ lemonis: so, i want to talk about something that's been on my mind. it's me just getting comfortable with how you think about people. i want to use dustin as an example. how did you end up just letting him go? jennifer: there were various tasks that i gave him that i was disappointed in the result, like not knowing how to add things on excel. lemonis: not everybody's good at numbers. jennifer: no, i know. and, sure, i could have spent more time training and investing in that, and i didn't feel like that was a worthwhile investment. i mean, i could easily do sales. as a businessperson, you are required to have some coldness. you can't keep someone around just because you like them. lemonis: it was your job to find the best in him. once they enter your door and they become your team member, you're now responsible for their well-being. i'm not advocating that you have to employ everybody and have kumbaya parties. i'm saying that when you bring somebody in,

you make the decision to bring them on. if you hired him for the wrong reason, you have to try to make it work. jennifer: i hear you. ♪ hey, guys. woman: hi. brian: hi. woman: hi. lemonis: today i've brought the team to depaul university. i've lined up professors and grad students from the college of computing and digital media. what i ultimately want them to do is go through the website and walk brian through what works and what could use some help. what percentage of your total revenue comes specifically from this website? jennifer: maybe 40 -- 40%. lemonis: and the balance comes from...? jennifer: etsy. dolores: hmm. something's awry here. it's not enough that you're getting from your website right now. alex: yeah, i kind of found that all of these options here -- i thought that each of these would be clickable, but no matter where you click, it directs to the same place. it would be great if, like, you can see the options, you can click on them, and it would change in front of your face? dolores: how long do they spend on the home page? brian: the home page is about 20 seconds.

dolores: that's a huge amount of time. lemonis: what is that telling you the user is doing? dolores: it appears that they don't know what to do. mary: it's very important to know your analytics. you can make dashboards of your analytics to answer some really powerful business questions. do you already have a couple of dashboards? brian: no, i started setting them up a while ago. lemonis: should we have dashboards? dolores: so, this is the most important thing that you need to do. woman: have you done any usability tests? brian: nothing formal, no. sheena: so that means you actually go out and talk to the users. let them build a light from start to finish. denise: if you ask them to try the task and you watch them, you'll see problems that you probably wouldn't expect. lemonis: all right. thanks, guys! problem with the website -- it's not user-friendly, and it doesn't generate revenue. because the goal behind a do-it-yourself, make-it-yourself product is that you can visually do it yourself and make it yourself. they gave you a roadmap of what they think should be done. did you not know that those resources were available? brian: i know that they're available.

we didn't treat it as i'm running the project. i can present to jen and have her sign off. it was at every stage, jen was like, "this is how we're gonna build it." jennifer: i would say that i used to manage seo at my last company. i went to school for marketing. brian: i want to talk. i have a lot of technical knowledge. i've taken user experience courses, and i can do the job. lemonis: jen, are you willing to give him the chance to do that job? jennifer: yeah, absolutely. brian: we need to have clearly defined goals for exactly what i'm doing. lemonis: tell him what you expect. i don't want you to go through the process saying, "i'm gonna let him do it, but ultimately, i'm not gonna really let him do it." have you ever done that to somebody? jennifer: uh... lemonis: truth. truth. jennifer: you ask every person who left -- you should read the cards and the letters that they wrote me. i love them! that's why i do what i'm doing. so it's really hard to hear that you think i [bleep] on people.

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lem"i'm gonna let him do it, go through tbut ultimately,ng, i know i'm not gonna really let him do it." have you ever done that to somebody? jennifer: i don't know how to answer that. lemonis: it's a yes or a no. jennifer: yes. lemonis: so if the answer is yes, then you have to give him, right now, clear tasks so that he can succeed. jennifer: mm-hmm. lemonis: jen's not gonna be clear with you? i'll be clear. we need a website right now, and we need it to be good. all right, let's go to work.

♪ jennifer: so, these are gonna be the wall sconces for the upstairs. lemonis: while jen has everybody full steam ahead on the hinsdale project, kelsea took her own initiative to set up an entire inventory system to ensure the company never runs out of product. kelsea: what we're looking at is, like, future goals of how do we stock things, instead of just making to order. lemonis: it feels more organized. kelsea: you like it? lemonis: yeah. and brian is taking the lead on setting up a usability test to help us grow the website. brian: you can use any of these colors and any of these keyed sockets. lemonis: the purpose was to ask people to go through a do-it-yourself process, and then you take that experience and you transfer that to an e-commerce experience. brian: thank you all for coming. lemonis: okay, thanks, guys. ♪ ♪ i came by to see all the progress.

so, what's different? brian: well, so, i set up new dashboards in google analytics so we can better understand who's using our website, what they're doing, and why they're doing it. lemonis: okay. brian: it's helped a lot. lemonis: when we showed the focus group this page, they had a number of comments. so, did you a functionality and variability to the pendant light? brian: no, i got a quote for developing that. it was $30,000. jen didn't want to. lemonis: hey, jen. jennifer: yep? lemonis: quick question. we went to the seven-cluster pendant, and the technology doesn't work. jennifer: mm-hmm. lemonis: and i asked brian why, and he said it was gonna be $30,000, and you didn't want to. jennifer: i don't really see any benefit. lemonis: so, what if you sold 50% more? jennifer: absolutely. lemonis: i'm starting to realize the business is stuck not because of brian. because of her. she stopped brian from spending $30,000 on building out the website 'cause she didn't see the return on investment. i'll spend whatever it takes up to 100 grand. 'cause that's how important it is to me that you succeed. jennifer: thank you. ♪

brian: i'm currently acting like your partner, but you're not willing to make the commitment. lemonis: after all this back-and-forth with brian and jen, i really wanted to get the two of them together to, once and for all, figure out how he was gonna get paid and how she was gonna motivate him moving forward. you want to feel like a partner and for it to be more realized. brian: correct. jennifer: it's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of having my ex-boyfriend be a part of my business, especially to make that commitment for the rest of my life. there's unsure-ness. there's, like, a hesitancy. lemonis: well, you're nervous right now. jennifer: yeah. brian: brian's lack of direction and brian's lack of performance is actually your fault, not his fault. brian: my motivation was never, you know, fame, success, money. it was i wanted to be part of something. i would like to have equity. jennifer: i know the value of what partners can bring to the table and that i can't do all this myself and i need both of you. so here's what i would like to do. my offer to you is a $50,000 base salary

plus 2% commission on total sales and 10% equity. ♪ brian: all right. lemonis: how [bleep] hard was that? jennifer: yeah. lemonis: okay, thanks, guys. ♪ hi, there. barbara: hi, marcus. lemonis: how are you? nice to see you. barbara: welcome to ul. lemonis: this is my partner jen. jennifer: hi, i'm jennifer. barbara: hi, jen! lemonis: jen told me when we met that she had never gotten her products fully certified for distribution. and so, as we move closer to the installation day for hinsdale, i'm taking her to ul -- the place that specializes in authenticating the work that you do. barbara: this is the rain lab! lemonis: that's awesome! barbara: we are validating products to comply with standards for safety. lemonis: to get the entire company certified, you're saying, "do i want to protect my employees? do i want to protect my customers?" jennifer: yes. lemonis: why? jennifer: so they continue to come back to us

and have a great experience. lemonis: and they're safe. jennifer: and they're safe. yeah. lemonis: how's brian? anything good, bad? jennifer: i mean, i'm starting to digest what happened yesterday. on day one, i wasn't comfortable with giving him equity, and that hasn't changed. there's just something that that doesn't sit well with me for the very long-term. lemonis: are you kidding me? what's your deal with people? this is the exact same thing she did to me after she shook my hand and we made our deal. but whether it's an anxiety issue or a trust issue, candidly, i'm running out of patience. and i feel like if we don't get this solved, i don't know that i can move forward. why is it that you don't want either people too close or people in your business or people to be partners with? is this the reason you keep losing people? jennifer: i'm honestly really frustrated. everyone -- you ask every person who left. you should read the cards and the letters that they wrote me about what i've done for them and how they wouldn't be where they were if it weren't for me. i love them. that's why i do what i'm doing. so it's really hard to hear that you think i [bleep] on people. but when i think about it, i think i have a bad job

telling people that they did a good job because i don't think -- i think i'm -- lemonis: standards. jennifer: yeah, i'm very critical of myself. lemonis: the reality of it is, is that you waffle on people. jennifer: i could do better. lemonis: we all can. and i know you don't do it on purpose 'cause i know you're not that person. all i'm asking you to do is do a little soul searching. and i think we have to have that conversation with him. jennifer: yeah. lemonis: yeah. you have to stop agreeing to stuff and then changing your mind. jennifer: yeah. right, i know. ♪ dustin: how's it going? i'm dustin. colin: hey, dustin. nice to meet you. jennifer: hi, i'm jen. nice to meet you. colin: hey, jen. how you doing? nice to meet you. dustin: you guys got a great place. lemonis: i made it very clear to jen that i wanted dustin to be part of the organization. and so i invited her and brian, along with dustin, to uncle dan's, a business that i own in chicago. and i wanted to talk to her about this idea of dustin being an independent salesperson. dustin: i think we could definitely, like, come in here and, like, transform your space with custom pieces, awesome pendants, and chandeliers.

this is, like, the perfect spot to have, like, a big statement piece right here. we should definitely get you guys some samples and see what we can have happen. jennifer: absolutely. lemonis: dustin is now doing his own thing, and he'll only be able to do jobs or projects based on commission. no loss to the company. and so if he sells something, it's upside for everybody with zero risk. dustin: love to be doing business with you, sir. colin and carla: yeah, we look forward to it. lemonis: jen, do you see the value in this process? jennifer: absolutely. lemonis: okay, great. i appreciate the fact that jen is seeing the value in having dustin come onboard, and she's changed her mind-set around him. but there's still this elephant in the room about what's happening with brian. so, jen and i were together yesterday. we had a great experience at ul. but when we were walking out, jen said to me that she wanted to talk to me about your pay and your equity. jennifer: i really do want you to be around and i appreciate your value and i don't question that at all. there is still a little, like, some stress in giving away equity. it's mostly the difference between a partnership and an employee.

brian: how do you expect people to feel valued and appreciated when you say that? jennifer: sure. lemonis: he wants to be a part of something. whether this is your intention or not, it comes off like, "i may be done with you and may have you exit stage left." brian: yeah. that doesn't work. lemonis: for anybody. i'm not even secure in our relationship because i don't know if you're gonna change your mind. jennifer: i feel terrible. [ crying ] i'm so caught up on the equity thing. this has been five years, and, like, i can't make that decision. it just doesn't sit well with me.

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you could be paying for that pricey love band yourself. so get an allstate agent, and be better protected from mayhem. like me. can a ring bearer get a snack around here? jennthis has been five years, on the equity thing. and, like, i can't make that decision. it just doesn't sit well with me. lemonis: there's always alternatives. and so i think the way to mitigate this is to not change the deal on somebody but to structure it in a way that allows both of you to be happy. based on how you feel and based on how open he is, it can be shifted to phantom units, which he could earn up to 10% of the profits. at the end of the next 12 months, if the company is profitable, you could earn 2% profit units. the following year, he would get 4%. if he leaves on his own, the company has the right to buy them back. jennifer: i feel good with that. brian: yes. jennifer: yeah. lemonis: so, you are obligated to fulfill your commitment. jennifer: mm-hmm. lemonis: thank you

for finally making a decision. can we go do some work? jennifer: yeah. lemonis: okay, come on. ♪ with the equity issue behind us, we can now get everybody focused on finishing the hinsdale project. the commercial client showcase is in three days, and the entire team is working together to make sure that it's flawless. did you draft this? jennifer: i used a template, and then i did it. lemonis: in order to prove to me that jen has finally gotten over her employee-equity issues, she had a formal document drafted -- an agreement between her and brian. most important part of the agreement -- "any amendment or modification of this agreement will only be binding if evidenced in writings signed by each party." jen can't change her mind. the fact that jen took the initiative to draw up the papers and sign it shows me that she's willing to not just flip-flop and back out of things. congratulations on getting it done. thank you, buddy.

brian: so, a big thing we want to bring to the website is the feel you get when you walk in the door. whenever anyone walks in the door, they're like, "wow." lemonis: now that brian has his equity deal resolved, he can move forward on growing the business. and he's gotten a full proposal on revamping the entire website. brian: our process is very complex, and it comes across as overwhelming. simplifying that -- that's something that's very important to us. lemonis: based on the level of sophistication that i want the website to have, i've agreed to invest an additional $100,000 to make sure that happens. ♪ today's the grand reveal of the hinsdale restoration, and with over $150,000 invested in lighting alone, i'm excited to see how it all turns out. from my perspective, it's really jen that has everything on the line today. if the commercial clients really like her work, it could be unlimited business for her.

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lemonis: based on everything i've been through with hangout and the amount of money that i've spent on this hinsdale building,

i'd be lying if i told you that i wasn't nervous about what i was gonna see. wow! so, is everything done? jennifer: it's done. should we flip the switch? lemonis: this is your thing. the space literally changed. i can't believe the work that jen and the team did. every single room is different. and the creativity and the attention to detail they used really brought the room to life. and it actually changed the entire space. jennifer: usually, we're not part of the installation, so i think it was super-super-fun to experience, like, what the customer goes through. lemonis: how has jen been in letting you do your job? kelsea: awesome. like, i sanded some of that with my staff. jennifer: i get to just, like, focus on kind of the fun stuff and the big picture. lemonis: and the business. jennifer: yeah, exactly. lemonis: how's the website coming? brian: it's good. we have about 10 weeks left of full development until the final product's up. lemonis: wow. jennifer: i'm really proud and really happy with everything. lemonis: from the time we met to now, what did you learn,

and what would you change? jennifer: how incredibly talented my team is, and how collaborating with different ideas, you end up with something much better in the long term. lemonis: what would you change? jennifer: honestly, how i treated brian. and appreciating his value in this company. i'd say that's number one. lemonis: my level of respect for you changed dramatically in that statement. it's okay to make mistakes, but the open recognition of it is proof of why you're gonna be a spectacular leader. jennifer: that's awesome! lemonis: there were several moments that i thought about walking away from hangout lighting, but in hearing jen take ownership of her behavior and acknowledge her mistakes was enough for me to feel totally different about her. i feel like she's grown as a businessperson, but more importantly, i feel like she's grown as a person. jennifer: thank you all for being here. i really appreciate it. i say thanks to my team. and a big thank you to brian.

he is spearheading a new website that we are excited to launch this summer. you'll be able to visually design your own fixture. lemonis: high five, brian! jennifer: and last but not least, thank you, marcus. this opportunity has been incredible. we've had so much fun getting to be creative and take our capabilities to a whole new level. lemonis: thank you for joining us tonight. we would love for you to see every inch of the building. have fun. enjoy yourself! jennifer: whoo! lemonis: jen. great job. jennifer: thank you so much. lemonis: jen has come a long way, and this company's ability to double, triple, quadruple sales is a lay-up. woman 1: the finishes are beautiful. jennifer: yeah. woman 2: i'm really into my back patio right now. lemonis: i know that jobs like this -- $100,000, $200,000 -- are gonna be a dime a dozen for her. woman 3: i love it! it's so beyond... lemonis: and with the new website, her ability to capitalize on the leads is gonna be greater than ever. my expectations are very high, especially with jen at the helm.

you are a tough nut, but i knew inside there was something very special. and i think potential is limitless. jennifer: thank you. i think so, too. ♪ a maker of upscale cleaning products faces a crisis." so, last year, the company lost $477,000. but its owner refuses to face reality. max: marcus, some tea. lemonis: feels like you guys are, like, a little delusional about what's happening. her fancy branding is way off the mark. taylor: it looks like the queen of england would have it. and i don't think it should 'cause we make toilet cleaner. lemonis: her extravagant price point is way out of reach. max: so, the triggers, they're all $9 at retail. lemonis: who can afford that? max: yeah. lemonis: and yet she's more interested in her image than fixing the problem. kathy: my hope for you is throw away the facade.