but more importantly, a great purpose. at a minimum, i expect them to do a million. i'm very proud of you. brad: hell yeah. trevor: thanks, marcus. ♪ lemonis: tonight on "the profit"... tad: are you guys hungry? woman: yes. lemonis: ...a veteran caterer has been feeding chicagoland for almost 20 years. tad: i got hamburgers. i got turkey burgers, hot dogs, and brats. lemonis: but all of a sudden, he's starving for business. tad: it's been rough, these last four months. lemonis: you're down almost 30%. tad: yeah. lemonis: a steep drop in sales has sent his anxiety through the roof, causing him to lash out. tad: mike, you got to work faster, man. jennifer: there's so much criticism and no praise. lemonis: and as their paychecks get smaller and their patience grows thinner, his employees are on the verge of a revolt. vincent: there could be a little bit of a mutiny going on within honest foods. lemonis: if i can't help breathe new life into the company... roni: can i use your oven?

tad: use the bottom one, all right? lemonis: ...and help the team fix their dysfunction... jennifer: it's grand chaos going on down there. lemonis: ...this caterer will be cooked. tad: maybe i'm not getting treated right! lemonis: how? because i'm asking you and challenging you? tad: [bleep] you. lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis. and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not going to 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." ♪ tad: chicken salad one. we got to make that today, right? lemonis: in 1997, with only $3,000 to his name, tad devlin started honest foods... tad: got water on for pasta. lemonis: ...a small catering business serving the chicagoland area. tad: a package of mushroom and a broccoli.

this is gonna be for "soundstage." lemonis: although tad had zero formal training, his excellent food and attentive service soon put him on the map. tad: it's smelling great in here! lemonis: over time, the company grew to 12 employees... tad: whoo, hot! lemonis: ...and every year brought more business than the last, until now. tad: holy crap. and then we're left with nothing. lemonis: a sharp drop in bookings this year has tad in a panic... tad: andy! lemonis: ...and his team unsure of their future. tad: ah. i think you need to reach out to the other customer and see if -- if that is for sure or not. lemonis: because of my fast-growing food company, i wanted to expand into the world of catering, and honest foods has one of the best reputations here in my hometown of chicago. if i can get them back on the path to growth, i honestly think the sky is the limit. tad: okay, we have 30 minutes. jennifer: yeah, we're crunched. tad: it's tight in here. is this all we have

to work with? jennifer: this is it. lemonis: the best way to see if a service business knows what it's doing is to see it live in action. so i'm stopping by a real-estate firm that's hired honest foods to cater their lunch. lemonis: hi. how are you? toni: hi! lemonis: i'm marcus. toni: toni. nice to meet you. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -jennifer: i'm jennifer. lemonis: jennifer, nice to meet you. jennifer: nice to meet you. welcome. tad: tad. nice to meet you. lemonis: tad, nice to meet you. tad: we're getting ready for lunch. lemonis: is corporate events primarily what you do? tad: most of our work is film production -- about 80%. lemonis: oh, really? 'cause i don't normally think chicago film production. when tad walks me through how he allocates his business revenue, with 80% of it being concentrated to one industry, what happens if that industry goes away? what does he do? well, i'm just gonna take a step back and kind of watch the process. tad: okay, we'll get all set up. you park the van. we'll start getting this thing all set up. need a spoon for that. vince: what about these coffee pots? tad: get them in the conference room. fire hazard. how much time do we have? woman #2: 12 minutes. lemonis: have you ever visualized trying to herd cats? that's what i feel like i'm watching.

tad: i mean, this is ridiculous. lemonis: everybody's running around like a chicken with their head cut off. just looks like mass chaos. what time is this event supposed to start, at noon? woman #2: mm-hmm. tad: hi, there. crowd: hi. tad: welcome. are you guys hungry? crowd: yes. tad: we have a grilled chicken, monterey jack cheese and avocado relish. we have herb grilled salmon. we have a penne pasta with pesto, brown and wild rice. don't forget to save room for dessert. woman #2: i saw the chocolate cake over there. lemonis: thank you, buddy. tad: you're welcome. lemonis: the food, by the way, is spectacular. tad: thank you. lemonis: it's really good. tad: thank you. lemonis: how many years have you been cooking? tad: 20. lemonis: and what prompted you to start it? tad: i ended up catering my sister's wedding 'cause she was broke and asked me for a favor. my dad thought the food was fantastic. said, "you should start your own catering company." he gave me $1,000. lemonis: $1,000? okay. tad: $1,000. my grandmother gave me $1,000. and i had $1,000. lemonis: and how much total business will you do? tad: last year, we did $1.3 million.

lemonis: okay. what do you think of your presentation? tad: the presentation? i'd give us a "b" -- a "b" to a b-plus. lemonis: okay. does it bother you that it's not dark, and it's off-center and... tad: yes. in our kitchen... lemonis: so, when you look at this aisle right here, food, beautiful. then, when you get down here, it looks a little... tad: that needs improvement. lemonis: look, there are three ways to differentiate yourself in a business like this -- food, service, and presentation. and on that last one, i'd say these guys would get an "f." the drab-looking tables, the faded ink on their cards, it's just not good. how you doing? vince: good. lemonis: i'm marcus. vince: you're marcus? how you doing? lemonis: i am. vince: i'm vince. lemonis: what do you do here? vince: whatever tad needs. lemonis: like, you take people out or... vince: if we have to, yeah, we'll take somebody out. nah, i'm kidding. but, like, yeah... lemonis: how's tad to work with? vince: he's tough. i mean, he likes things done a certain way. he gets crabby and stuff like that. lemonis: do you get crabby or no?

vince: are you kidding me? in this business, you hate people at the end of the day. lemonis: you do. vince: it's part of the business. lemonis: how's the food? woman #3: it's really good. man #1: oh, it's really good. lemonis: flavorful?? woman #3: mm-hmm. woman #4: chicken with the pasta is really good. lemonis: pasta is good? woman #4: yeah. lemonis: food was amazing. tad: thank you. lemonis: okay? i'll see you back at the office. tad: okay, thank you. ♪ lemonis: this is it? tad: this is our place. so, that's our hot side. and this is basically our cold side. this is my station here, where i work the ovens. some days, we do about 500 meals out here a day. lemonis: you do? who runs the kitchen? tad: i do. lemonis: and who runs the business? tad: i do. this is the office. this is jen. jennifer: hi! now i'm doing my real job. lemonis: so what happens in here? accounting? jennifer: everything. so... lemonis: who does the billing to the customers? jennifer: i do.

lemonis: and so who does the books at the end of the month? jennifer: tad does. lemonis: and who does the bank reconciliations? tad: i do. lemonis: and who makes -- who cuts the payable checks to the vendors? tad: i do. lemonis: and who negotiates the terms? tad: i do. lemonis: and who cooks the food? tad: i do. lemonis: okay. every question i ask tad is, "i do, i do, i do it, i do it." what happens if he gets sick for a day? does the business just shut down? is this considered quiet? tad: we're so seasonal. that might be one of our tricky parts. lemonis: are you in season now, or not in season? tad: not in season. lemonis: should you normally be? tad: we should be busy now. lemonis: it's nice outside. tad: yeah. lemonis: things should be... tad: i don't know what's happening. we're not -- i'll be honest with you. we're not -- we're not hitting our numbers. lemonis: is your business down year-over-year right now? tad: oh, yeah. lemonis: how much? tad: we are down, i'd say, at least 30%. lemonis: tad says he doesn't know why his numbers are down. but, honestly, i think i have a pretty good idea. his customer base isn't diverse enough. if you primarily go after film jobs and hollywood decides to take a vacation,

you have nothing to make up the shortage. that's what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket. tad: this is roni. this is where she does all of our pastries. roni: i do all the desserts. lemonis: let me -- let her and i just chat for a second. tad: yep. absolutely. lemonis: why do you think tad called me? roni: i think we have plateaued here. lemonis: what is his strongest area? roni: organizational stuff, "running" the place. lemonis: what's his weakest? roni: i think the way he interacts with people. i think there's ways that you can make people really feel about that big and like they want to crawl in a hole and die. it's just he has too much on his plate. lemonis: you guys have an extra apron around here? you got the hardest job. the cryin' onions. you want me to take over for ya? tad: you got to have everything the same size. lemonis: okay. tad: cooks evenly that way. okay. so, marcus, can i -- can i give you a... lemonis: yeah. let's do it. tad: all right.

so, you just started cutting... lemonis: can't even cut [bleep] onions by myself. you got to come in and tell me what to do. hey, dude, uh, other people know how to cut onions other than you. tad: go all the way to the center. lemonis: back off. get away from here. we got it. tad: all right. jennifer: tad? tad: yeah? jennifer: lauren just called. she needs her order bumped up by 30 minutes. tad: you got to be kidding me. jennifer: no. tad: all right. tell her what you need to tell her. we'll just do what we can do to get it taken care of. jennifer: all right. tad: mikey, throw this downstairs, all right? it's garbage. guys, we got to start hurrying up on this, okay? chicken quarters next. i got the meatballs in there. pasta -- come on, boil! mike, you got to work faster, all right? you got to get this stuff going. roni: tad, can i use your oven? tad: use the bottom one, all right? just leave the top one open. i'll get it figured out. roni: thank you for assistance in this matter. lemonis: it's almost like a switch just got flipped. calm, normal, and then explosive. tad: come on!

timer goes off, meatballs. all right? man #2: gotcha. tad: don't mess it up. lemonis: it's actually kind of fascinating. while tad's going crazy and screaming and acting like a tyrant... tad: stuff's got to get hot. lemonis: ...people aren't really reacting. it's almost like they're used to it. it's a pretty unhealthy dynamic. jen, do you spend most of your time in the office? jennifer: yes. lemonis: how long have you been here? jennifer: just under 2 years, but i've been a friend of tad's for 20 years. lemonis: wow. jennifer: yeah, dear friends. lemonis: you like it here? jennifer: i do. lemonis: what concerns you about the place? jennifer: it's chaos. it's grand chaos going on down there. lemonis: and who really creates the bulk of the chaos here? jennifer: tad. lemonis: okay. jennifer: yeah. he's a little famous for his temper. lemonis: a boss should be telling people it's gonna be okay, not pouring gas on the fire. jennifer: right. lemonis: you have a food truck? tad: yeah. lemonis: this is your only food truck? tad: this is our only food truck. this goes out for a lot of film stuff. so it's our kitchen on wheels. so it's different than your normal food trucks. lemonis: so, tad, for me, the big thing is people.

right? tad: mm-hmm. lemonis: you know that about me. tad: yes. lemonis: and so i have to be honest with you. i've noticed the way you approach your employees. you have a -- yelling at them and you're very aggressive with them. what's -- what causes you to be that way? tad: i want to make sure that they don't get me in a bad situation. i never want to not be able to support my kids, my family. i had a health problem, years ago. i had a blood clot. next thing i know, i'm in a hospital for weeks. i had four surgeries on my leg. i almost lost my business. i almost was never able to walk again. lemonis: that must have been hard. tad: hardest thing i've ever done. hardest thing i've ever done. and the fact that i've worked all the years to try to keep a business afloat, i get so scared that if something is not just right, that i'm gonna lose it. lemonis: and i get that. but there's a balance between fighting to provide and take care of your family and alienating your employees. okay? so why don't we sit down and dig into the numbers.

tad: all right. ♪ lemonis: in 2015, $1,312,000 in revenue. total expenses are $905,000. the cost of goods, $302,000. so, for the business to make $100,000 on $1.3 million, it's almost an 8% net. if you can get an 8% return on capital in a business today, you're doing something pretty good. tad: thank you. lemonis: it's not bad. tad: thank you. lemonis: cash in the bank? tad: $10,000. lemonis: okay. you're tight. tad: yeah. it's been rough, these last four months. lemonis: you're down almost 30% in revenue this year. tad: yeah. lemonis: from my perspective, you have two issues here -- a high concentration of business in one category, and you have capacity and opportunity in the kitchen. if you could understand where the pressure is in the business,

you would say, "okay, typically, it happens from this time to this time." how do you then find out what type of business could fill these other hours? and you have to go find that business. that's a way to all of a sudden take the same amount of labor and the same amount of rent and the same amount of lights and have more revenue attached to it. it's what i call capacity. if the business can operate for 15 hours a day, 6 days a week, there's 90 hours of capacity. and and it's really cranking -- how many hours really cranking? tad: i'd say, you know, between that 4:00 a.m. till right around 2:00. lemonis: if the place has 90 hours of capacity, and 60 hours of utilization... tad: we need to crank up 30 hours. lemonis: right now, honest foods is using about 60 hours of its capacity a week, or 3,120 hours per year. with annual revenue of around $1.3 million, that works out to about $416 of revenue per hour. take that number and apply it

to the 30 hours a week that they're not using, and you can see they're leaving almost $13,000 a week on the table, or close to $650,000 over the course of an entire year. bottom line -- they need more business. from a process standpoint, what you need help in is how to be a better manager. i feel like i could say with confidence that the product is better than other catering things that i've had. i think, from a people standpoint, we saw people working really hard here. i'd like to make an offer. tad: okay. lemonis: i'd like to offer $300,000 for 33% of the business. $300,000 would go into the account. and it would make sure that all the bills are paid off. we're investing and diversifying the business. tad: um, the one thing i'm unwilling to give up is control. i want to have quality control.

lemonis: coming up... tad: who's in charge of these events? it's me. and we have to make it happen. roni: seriously, i don't mean to be rude, but you can take that and shove it up your [bleep] ass.

♪ tad: uh, the one thing i'm unwilling to give up is control.

i want to have quality control. i still need to be involved with the food and the development of it. lemonis: i'd like to be involved in something like this but only if we're changing the game. are you open to change? ♪ tad: i-i need to, marcus, or i'm not gonna be here. lemonis: what does that mean? your business is gonna go under? tad: i worry about it, yeah. lemonis: $300,000 for 33% of the business, but i'm 100% in charge. we have a deal? tad: we have a deal. thank you, marcus. lemonis: you got it. all right? thank you, buddy. tad: all right. lemonis: i wanted to get everybody together for just a few minutes so that you know from this point forward exactly what's happening. last night, tad and i made a deal for me

to invest $300,000 into the business so that there's sufficient working capital. and for that $300,000, i'll own a third of the business. there's no question that the actual food product is spectacular. but we're gonna make the visual presentation of what we do more exciting. tomorrow there's a big event at libertyville chevrolet. i want to challenge you to be more creative and to bring the event to life. and we're gonna learn how to talk to people in a respectful manner. vince: respectful. perfect. lemonis: we're gonna find new ways to create business inside of the chicagoland area. ready to go to work? jennifer: yeah! lemonis: all right. let's go to work. let's you and i talk upstairs,alone. tad: all right. lemonis: thanks, guys. lemonis: what i'd like to do is have you think about potentially getting in the food-truck business. tad: food trucks? lemonis: i want to try to come up with a more predictive revenue model.

tad: we do catering. lemonis: but you have all the dry goods, all the machinery, all the storage, all the folks for prep. you have all the assets that are needed. so what i want to do is i want to go downtown where all the food trucks line up, and let's look at it. tad: okay. jennifer: i'm excited. there's so much to choose from. lemonis: this is a nice truck. tad: da pizza dude. i like it. lemonis: this is a nice truck. is it new? how expensive was it? oh, yeah. do how much a day, on average? $3,500? frankie: yeah. lemonis: so, you'll do about 600 grand this year? $500,000? thank you, brother. congratulations. good luck to you. roni: thank you. your pizza is delicious. frankie: thank you, lemonis: mediterranean express. how you doing, brother?

mohamed: [ speaks indistinctly ] lemonis: nice to see you. mohamed: you're lebanese, i hear. lemonis: yeah, man. mohamed: i'm lebanese, as well. lemonis: yeah, that's why i came to the mediterranean truck. how much was it to do the whole thing? so, he invested 58,000 bucks. and you'll do... on a $58,000 investment? mohamed: you got to know what you're doing to get to get stuff like that. lemonis: he knows what he's doing. mohamed: well, then, yeah, yeah, yeah. lemonis: i think. [ laughter ] for every truck that we invest $50,000, i'm looking to do $300,000 in revenue, minimum, per truck per year. tad: okay. lemonis: i'm looking to start out with two trucks. if we assume that each of them will do $300,000 in sales per year, at a 70% gross margin, then we're looking at $600,000 in additional revenue and $420,000 in gross profit. take out the operating expenses -- around $10,000 per month, per truck, or $240,000 per year -- and we'll end up netting $180,000.

that's almost double what tad did last year. and remember, that's just from two trucks. so, we want to think of concepts. tad: fair enough. thank you. lemonis: good seeing you. roni: thank you. lemonis: good seeing you. jennifer: thanks so much. tad: thank you, marcus. lemonis: look, i've told the team that they need to to upgrade their game when it comes to presentation -- the tables, the signage. and tomorrow's going to be our first test. what is tomorrow's event? tad: barbecue at a chevy dealership. lemonis: so i brought everyone to an auto-parts store simply to get inspiration and some props. tad: i'm just thinking of something for the front. lemonis: see, like, look. tad: yes, yes, yes, yes. i love it. for the signs, let's get a few of these. man #5: yup. tad: i'm gonna get like four of these, because we've got a few salads. man #5: real quick, so how many of these do you want? tad: maybe six. man #5: yeah. lemonis: for me, catering is nothing more than putting on a show. it's theater. and the more memorable we are,

the more business we're going to attract. tad: okay. lemonis: all right. tad: let's head back to the shop. tad: okay, bye. lemonis: all right, guys. yeah, let's go. tad: i think we got some good stuff. ♪ tad: mikey, give us as much slack as we can get. well, you need to either move it aside or you need to have space for people to walk through. man #5: right. tad: i need you to work on that make sure -- just work on that. lemonis: it's almost time for our event at libertyville chevrolet. tad: good morning, marcus. how are you? lemonis: while i'm anxious to see what our presentation and our food look like, i also want to see if tad can act like a leader. tad: no. i'm thinking -- here, do this. mike, you don't know how to do that. no, the -- i said all the onions are in what? lemonis: no such luck. hey, tad, let me -- give me a hand over here, and let them do their job, please. help me get all this set up. let them do their thing. tad: okay. lemonis: they got 30 minutes to be ready. tad just can't leave anybody alone. he tells them to do one thing, and then tells them to do something totally different. tad: roni, you're just working on dessert?

roni: is that okay? tad: no. lemonis: and then he gives them a completely different direction. tad: roni... roni: let's not talk to roni right now, for real. lemonis: and they're pissed. tad: i'm in charge right now of this event. i'm trying to learn respect. and i want everyone else down the path to learn respect, all right? roni: i'm -- i'm aggravated. tad: i-i-i know you are. roni: like, super [bleep] aggravated. tad: who's in charge of these events? it's me. and we have to make it happen. roni: this isn't how we operate. i look some kind of [bleep] who doesn't know what the [bleep] i'm doing. tad: you're pissed off, and it's throwing me against a wall. roni: seriously, i don't mean to be rude, but you can take that and shove it up your ass. lemonis: coming up, we're in the food-truck business. what do you think? vince: there could be a little bit of a mutiny going on within honest foods.

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my mom washes the dishes... ...before she puts them in the dishwasher. so what does the dishwasher do? cascade platinum does the work for you, prewashing and removing stuck-on foods, the first time. wow, that's clean! cascade platinum. roni: tad, this isn't how we operate. tad: you're pissed off, and it's throwing me against a wall. roni: seriously, i don't mean to be rude, but you can take that and shove it up your ass.

lemonis: you all right? roni: i'm aggravated. it's chaos. it -- it feels very chaotic. that's why i walked away. and i said, "i don't want to talk right now." lemonis: didn't feel like it was organized today. roni: not at all. lemonis: i don't think tad's a bad guy. he's just a nervous and panicky guy. he worries that people aren't doing their jobs. then he interferes. and then he wonders why people can't do their job. i think what i'd like to do right now is have you let the employees do their job and let them learn how to work together. tad: okay. lemonis: let them learn how to solve problems on their own. tad: okay. lemonis: it's either gonna happen or it's not. tad: ricky, i want you to be in charge of the food. i want roni to be in charge of her dessert. jim and andy, i need you guys to work together to make sure the customers are taken care of. lemonis: don't be shy. come on in, it's open. come on and eat. the one thing i will say is that the team did a nice job

weaving the car theme right into the middle of the presentation. this thing could have turned out like a really boring buffet in the middle of a parking lot. but instead, it looks like a good event. tom: it seems like the caterer is personalizing the event. he's, you know, aiming towards the people that are here. lemonis: and once tad backed off and let them do their jobs, roni, vince, and the rest of the crew were like a well-oiled machine. lemonis: looks nice. take tad out of the equation, everything sort of calms down. roni: always. man #7: amen. lemonis: that's how you run a business. thank you for everything today. kevin: you're very welcome. thanks for coming out. lemonis: appreciate that, and i hope we did a good job. kevin: you did a wonderful job. this is terrific. lemonis: i'd like to get everybody together that was at the car dealership. tad: yeah. lemonis: that would be great. tad: yeah, we can do that. lemonis: i'm back at honest foods. and i wanted to find out what the team thought about the event. and i wanted to know what they thought what went right, and more importantly, what went wrong. the execution and the food

and the presentation, i thought were great. jennifer: the client loved it. i got great feedback. i got some great connections. we have a 200-person event next week that came out of that. so, from the client's perspective... lemonis: so, we gave a good impression? jennifer: we knocked it out of the park for them. lemonis: how did you think the event went? tad: overall, i think it went well. vince: i mean, it was a cluster mess in the beginning. jennifer: terrible. that was a bad day. roni: my issue is just that i felt like i was set up for failure. jennifer: his managerial style could use some work. he has a bad habit. there's so much criticism and no praise. roni: when you've been beaten down for, like, multiple years, then, seriously, i think everything gets affected -- self-esteem, integrity, motivation, everything. tad: because i feel like all i hear is, "tad is mean to me. tad talks down to me." i don't feel like i can say anything anymore to anybody. lemonis: what? tad: i feel like i'm just -- i-i need to just do this. lemonis: why? lemonis: are they telling you to shut up? tad: because i don't want to say something that's gonna be offensive. lemonis: there -- there were issues in the morning, though. jennifer: yeah. lemonis: they were doing something,

you were looking over their shoulder. they put the table somewhere, you didn't like where the dessert table was. lemonis: that's a small example of not delegating and not allowing people to do their thing. if we could just work on the way you deliver the message, you could be unstoppable. tad: well, i'm gonna take that -- lemonis: is that true? vince: yeah, it's damn straight. jennifer: it's really true. vince: it's the truth. jennifer: because i think that we would then feel more committed and inspired. lemonis: then we'll do that. tad: all right. vince: absolutely. man: thank you. lemonis: with the event at libertyville chevrolet, the team showed me they understand the importance of presentation. so i'm gonna reward them with an entirely different job. and it's on a whole nother level. so, i brought you here because this year is camping world and good sam's 50th anniversary. honest foods is gonna do an event here for 1,000 people. tad: awesome. lemonis: and so you're coming into my house,

the most important business that i have. and so i don't want to put any pressure on you. but if you "f" this up, it'll be a huge problem for me because it's gonna make me look bad with these people. okay? you guys want to look around the store, see if you come up with some ideas? jennifer: yes. "happy camper" -- those are adorable. 10-by-10 pop-up tents. tad: yep. jennifer: we're thinking about lanterns, too. we are gonna have maybe a few tables. roni: i might need this. jennifer: you will. tad: then you got to build a fire, right? jennifer: that should be in your belt loop just in case. lemonis: so, this is the invitation that's going out. "catering hosted by honest foods." tad: oh, that's great. jennifer: that's adorable. lemonis: "let us know if you don't think it was good." [ laughter ] ♪ it's been a couple of weeks since i've seen the team. and i've tasked tad with finding a new food truck. hello? a brand-new revenue stream that i think is gonna determine the future success of honest foods. i've tasked him with finding it, buying it, inspecting it and getting it functioning. tad: marcus?

lemonis: yeah? tad: it's tad. lemonis: oh, hey, buddy. tad: where you at? lemonis: i'm at the front of the store. tad: well, this is perfect timing. i want to show you something. ♪ lemonis: the electric burger company is no longer in business. tad: i made it. lemonis: this thing is awesome. tad: oh, my gosh have i had a trip and a journey. lemonis: where did you come from? tad: minneapolis. and i drove it back all through the night. i just got here. lemonis: this is nice. tad: it's a nice truck. i really like it. lemonis: what did you pay for it? tad: $50,000. lemonis: this is awesome. love it. want to bring the rest of the group out to see it? tad: yeah, yeah. lemonis: oh, yeah. we're in the food-truck business. what do you think? everybody's kind of, like, bummed out or something.

vince: there could be a little bit of a mutiny going on within honest foods. just being honest. lemonis: coming up... tad: give me a [bleep] break on this [bleep] damn truck, okay? lemonis: why? tad: 'cause i drove all [bleep] night! mayi'm not getting treated right! lemonis: how? because i'm asking you and challenging you? tad: [bleep] you. my bladder leak underwear.orried someone might see so, i switched. to always discreet boutique. its shape-hugging threads smooth out the back. so it fits better than depend. and no one notices. always discreet.

lemonis: everybody's kind of, like, bummed out or something. vince: there could be a little bit of a mutiny going on within honest foods. just being honest. lemonis: guys, i want to maybe go inside and go over some ideas that you have. are people unhappy? because you said "mutiny," and mutiny to me is, like, people are unhappy and they want to leave. they are dissatisfied. roni: right. lemonis: is there a possibility that people want to leave? roni: yes. man #5: yes. roni: there hasn't been many discussions or anything about what is actually happening. i didn't know they bought a food truck. lemonis: you didn't know they bought a food truck? roni: no, i just found out right this second. lemonis: so, you decided to not tell people that we bought a food truck. i wanted people to know because i wanted people to be excited. tad: as an owner, sometimes you get tunnel vision. sad: i thought we was gonna go more towards movies. you know, like, a movie production. we're really good in that field.

lemonis: so i'm not abandoning the current line of business. ricky: to produce more product to go out the door, we need more people here. where we gonna put these people? lemonis: gonna have to work in shifts. ricky: okay. roni: i feel like the reality is the money that i'm making and the responsibilities that i have -- it doesn't work for me. lemonis: is everybody here paid by the hour? ricky: yes. lemonis: when revenue goes down, do people's hours get cut? tad: yes. roni: we leave earlier and definitely have, like, another day off. lemonis: well, when you saw the food truck, how many of you thought to yourself, "how could we afford to buy a food truck, and we can't afford to give everybody raises?" raise your hand if you thought that. roni: i think we all thought that. lemonis: raise your hand. sad: everybody raise your hand. lemonis: so, no group discussions are happening. and that's creating a lot of tension. jennifer: that's why maybe everybody didn't "whoo-hoo" when we saw the truck. lemonis: yeah. look, i don't think tad kept the food trucks from his team on purpose. i don't believe he operates with malice. he's just so hung up with what's going on inside of his own head and so anxious that he just didn't think about anybody else. it's the same exact problem

that causes him to panic and look over the shoulders. the purpose of the food trucks was to take away some of the unpredictability. if the entertainment business happens to be taking a two-week hiatus in chicago, i don't want to stand around wondering how we're gonna get our bills paid. and the goal would be, we know that a percentage of the revenue that comes from the food trucks is going to go into an employee kitty. i want to make some damn money. and i want you guys to make some money. if the food truck doesn't work, we don't get a bonus. if the food truck goes out and sells a bunch of stuff, everybody gets an extra check on top of their wage. we're going to get the pay right for everybody on a per-hour basis. jennifer: sweet. okay. roni: pinkie-promise me? lemonis: yes, but then you got to stop bitching. [ laughter ] roni: deal. lemonis: and so what you have to do as the leader of the business is take responsibility, going forward, and actually communicate with the team. now that mutiny is off the table, it's time to get back to business.

so i brought tad to panos foods, the largest food distributor in chicago. currently, tad uses several different vendors. but by consolidating all of his purchasing into one vendor, we're gonna save a ton of money. what would you say that you'll save buying here on a consolidated basis with one supplier, versus the way you buy today? tad: i would hope it would be at least 2% to 3%. adam: i would hope, anywhere between 8% to 10%. lemonis: it's always good to save money, but making money is more important. we need that second food truck. tad: tad's found one in l.a. that seems perfect. rachel: three-compartment sink and then the water heater and all that is down under here. tad: you know it's -- it's awesome. lemonis: i really feel like we're on the road to success. rachel: thank you, guys. lemonis: let's see if we can find the trucks. now that we have both food trucks, i've asked the maintenance team at camping world to prep them for artwork.

and tad and i are stopping by to check on their progress. what's happening? man #7: not much, sir. how 'bout you? lemonis: how does this one look? man #7: it's a little rough. lemonis: how much work you think there's gonna be? a lot? man #7: there's gonna be quite a bit, sir. we're looking at oil cooler lines... dirk: okay. man #7: engine serpentine belt is cracked real bad. dirk: okay. man #7: okay. right rear caliper, right rear brake hose. both outer tie rods have play in them. the steering dampener is weak. dirk: okay. man #7: okay? dirk: quite a bit. what do you think it's gonna cost? mark: conservative, i'm gonna say you're probably $4,500. lemonis: did you take it to a service center before you gave him the money? tad: no. lemonis: and so we paid how much for this truck? tad: $50,000. lemonis: it doesn't look good. mark: no. so that's gonna need a complete scrape and reseal. another $800 to $1,000. lemonis: did you look on the roof, or no? tad: no. no ladder. lemonis: no estimate, no research, and now we're gonna spend another who know's what.

i'm not happy about this. why does that happen? why, in one sense, are you in the weeds, in everybody's business, in everybody's -- questioning everything they're doing, but on something like this, you gloss over the detail? how does that happen? tad: i happen to love this [bleep] truck. and i'm asking for help in areas. and i don't feel like i'm getting it. lemonis: what help would you like? you want me to make sure that there's a place for you to get an inspection before you buy it? tad: yeah! lemonis: i did! i did! tad: you know what, give me a [bleep] break on this [bleep] damn truck! lemonis: why? tad: 'cause i drove all [bleep] night! mayi'm not getting treated right. lemonis: how? because i'm asking you and challenging you? tad: yeah. lemonis: you don't like it when people challenge you? tad: i don't -- i don't like it. [bleep] you. lemonis: if your business is in trouble and you need my help, log on to...

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with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro. you don't like it when people challenge you? tad: i don't -- i don't like it. [bleep] you. i need this [bleep]. i'm so tired and spent. lemonis: i know you're tired. it's part of being a business owner, and you know that. that's the choice you make when you own a business. and so you drove all night. yeah. you made [bleep] arrangements. we have a $5,000 bill or more here, 'cause you didn't get it inspected. okay. you'll learn from it. you think i'm picking on you. i'm not. but i will tell you that now you know how your people feel.

and they want to feel appreciated. and a pat on the back sometimes just isn't good enough. you know that. tad: i do. lemonis: if you really, genuinely don't change, everybody at some point will walk out. and you'll lose your business, and i'll lose my money, and they'll be gone. i know you're a good person. i'm happy about these trucks. i'm not happy that you [bleep] this one up. but i'm happy about them. okay? tad: marcus, thank you. tad: i want to tell everyone how excited i am for a new honest foods. i want to apologize, and i want to take responsibility for things that i've done in the past. and i want you guys to help in making this company great. i just want to say thanks for being here. jennifer: yay! i really appreciate you guys sticking close by. jennifer: whoo-hoo! lemonis: look, i really feel like tad is turning a corner. since our last talk, he's communicating better,

he's working well with others, and i'm very optimistic. where are the concepts that i tasked you guys to come up with? and it's not a moment too soon. he and the team need to work together to finalize the food-truck concepts before the big event at camping world. jennifer: i was in maui this summer. one of my favorite things in the world is the shave ice. tad: an 80% margin. lemonis: next one? tad: the grilled-cheese truck. lemonis: could be a huge moneymaker. and while i'm working with the artist to get the graphics ready to wrap the trucks, tad is working with the team to prepare the final menu. tad: i don't want it to just be my ideas. i want it to be your guys' ideas. ricky: we'll do a grilled-cheese dessert. tad: okay. ricky: nutella. tad: okay. ricky: banana. tad: oh, i like that. ricky: marshmallow. tad: is it getting gooey, ricky? ricky: oh, yeah. tad: that's a winner. ricky: four cheeses. tad: eight slices of cheese? i love it. oh, man. that's amazing. great ideas, guys. i love it. tad: hi, marcus. how are you? lemonis: all right, buddy.

you want to give me a quick tour of what everything is? it's camping world and good sam's 50th birthday party, and i'm excited. so let's look at the presentation of the food. i brought the entire honest crew to make sure that we throw a party that's worthy of 50 great years. and they're putting on the finishing touches before the guests show up. oh, i like this, now. tad: so... lemonis: this is clever. tad: we had these built for us. so it gives us more of like a rustic or a forest setting. lemonis: that, i like. oh, i like this. you turned a grill sideways. and you did the same here... tad: mm-hmm. lemonis: ...with serving dishes. tad: and these are all things that sell here at camping world. lemonis: yeah. very smart. i like this a lot. you made these displays? they're fantastic. roni: thank you. lemonis: what i'm seeing has blown me away. they've taken presentation to the next level. there's trees for the cupcakes. and there's grills for the salad bowls. they've looked at every single detail. good. tad: yeah. lemonis: and as usual, the food was kickass.

those were sick. how does the truck work? tad: truck is awesome. lemonis: grilled cheese from? tad: the big cheese. lemonis: the big cheese. tad: all right. lemonis: you're the big cheese. the food trucks turned out great. and now with the ability to go mobile, honest foods should be busy all year long. this really came out cool. tad: it looks great, right? lemonis: i love this van. tad: yeah. lemonis: so, that is not a snow cone. jim: it's not a snow cone. it's shave ice. lemonis: okay. jim: you eat it like a snow cone. lemonis: that's good. as honest foods continues to grow, keeping the lines of communication open will be more important than ever. when they're out on the road or they're at an event, or there's a problem, there's an emergency, i want them to have a solution that i know works. so we're gonna put in this at&t enhanced push-to-talk that allows you guys to communicate more efficently. and if you want to talk to one person, you can. if you want to talk to a group, you can, with one touch of a button. jennifer: is anybody back there that can bring us up one of those half pans of the grilled cheese? ricky: i just got done with a brand-new batch i can bring out.

jennifer: awesome, thank you. lemonis: this type of communication helps us be more efficient and avoid mistakes. why move this? tad: when we got here, it was overcast. and then, all of a sudden, the weather started changing and shifting on us. uh... [ thunder crashing ] lemonis: aw, [bleep]. there's water on them. i feel like this wind is gonna -- if that thing blows over, holy christopher. [bleep] lemonis: why don't we... [ thunder crashing ]

♪ lemonis: why move this? tad: when we got here, it was overcast. and then, all of a sudden, the weather started changing and shifting on us. [ thunder crashing ] lemonis: aw, [bleep]. there's water on them. i feel like this wind is gonna -- if that thing blows over, holy christopher. tad: i got it. lemonis: why don't we... [ thunder crashing ] as much as i hate all this rain, i'm impressed with tad and the team. by the time the first lightning bolt struck, they had already moved the dessert table under the tent.

the weather is -- is unpredictable today. now we just need to move it back. tad: do you want me to go with you? man #10: i got it. tad: okay. lemonis: we've invited all of our local customers to come celebrate camping world and good sam's 50th birthday. there are over 1,000 people coming, some by the busloads. ♪ [ applause ] folks, can you hear me in the back? folks, can we have your attention, please? i want to have a round of applause for the honest foods team, who did an amazing job preparing our meal today. [ cheers and applause ] tad: can i say anything? lemonis: yes. tad: on behalf of myself and the staff at honest foods, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. and we'd like to thank you, marcus. we got you a birthday gift. [ cheers and applause ] ♪

lemonis: all right! hold on a second. there we go! [ cheers and applause ] tad and the team have done an amazing job with the food and the atmosphere. and the guests, well, they're eating it up. the food trucks are also a big hit. by adding them, we'll be able to maintain a steady stream of revenue all year long. and with the pressure finally off tad, i know he'll make progress with the way he communicates with the team. i expect honest foods to become the go-to catering company for all of chicago. first of all, i don't know if i've seen a group work harder. when we first started this process, we wanted to try to find a way to give everybody raises. and we believe we're at the point where everybody's going to be able to get a nice raise. crowd: yeah! lemonis: you too! tad: all right! lemonis: all right! tad: i think this is a great opportunity for me

to grow as a person but to grow as a boss and a manager and grow as a friend. jennifer: yeah! whoo! lemonis: bring it in! bring it in! bring it in! tad: ready? caterers: one, two, three, honest foods! ♪ 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.