y heart, thank you so much to both of you. lemonis: you should take a chance on people when you least expect it. they'll surprise you just like he did me. good job, buddy. good job. that chicken is bad-ass. tonigjennifer: when you are a southern woman... lemonis: oh, yes, ma'am. jennifer: ...it is all about the food. lemonis: ...a close-knit kentucky family has created a popular barbecue concept... welcome to lyles bbq. would you like to try a sample of our famous pulled pork? ...expanding from a roadside stand to a sit-down restaurant and a food court. greg: y'all want some barbecue today? lemonis: but they're starting to realize that they're chasing different goals. chandler: my personal dream is to work in a giant skyscraper running a really big company. lemonis: son chandler wants to grow big fast. chandler: i mean, we need about 100 stores in more densely populated areas. lemonis: mom jennifer wants to keep her focus on the food. you hate it, don't you? jennifer: i'm not a fan.

i care about the product. lemonis: and dad greg pursues his own ideas... and what is your role? jennifer: not listening. lemonis: ...without consulting anybody. greg: they accuse me all the time, marcus, of going rogue. lemonis: and the further they drift apart... jennifer: you want things a certain way. chandler: do you think i just like to fight? lemonis: ...the more the business suffers. greg: we've hustled, man, you know, and we ain't got a pot to piss in to show for it. lemonis: if i can't help lyles understand where they want to go and how they're gonna get there... jennifer: don't tell me that it's because of me that we're not out there. lemonis: ...their bright future will go up in smoke. chandler: leaving would be bailing on them, and i can't do that. i don't know how i'm gonna get to where i'm going. that breaks my heart. i don't know what to do. 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." ♪ over the last several years, i've heard from thousands of businesses looking for help, literally thousands, but never before have i encountered a situation quite like this one. because while lyles bbq did indeed apply for help with their business... jennifer: lyles bbq is a family-owned and operated veteran company. lemonis: ...one of the owners, the son chandler, also applied for a job with one of my companies. i mean, here's an entrepreneur who simultaneously asked me for help with his business, while at the same time, looking for a job leave his business. it's interesting, to say the least. so i couldn't help but come down to lexington to find out exactly what's happening. and because i don't know if chandler's parents are aware that he applied for a job with me, i'm not gonna say anything initially. as far as all of them know, chandler included,

i'm just here as a potential investor. chandler: oh, hey! how's it going? lemonis: how are you? chandler: i'm good. chandler lyles. lemonis: chandler, i'm marcus. nice to meet you. so, that's where lyles comes from? chandler: it's our last name, yes, sir, yeah. lemonis: is this the main location? chandler: this is, yep. lemonis: and who owns the business? chandler: so, my parents own 90%, and i own 10%. lemonis: who put the money up for the restaurant? chandler: my mom and dad. lemonis: mom and dad? okay. chandler: we've been in business for four years. we started as a food pop-up tent, just old-school smoker on the side of the road. my mom and i did that full-time. my dad had retired from the air force, so he was really able to help us in the beginning stages. and i had some money saved up from the air force, so -- lemonis: you were in the air force, as well? chandler: mm-hmm. i did 4 years. lemonis: thank you for your service. chandler: oh, thank you. lemonis: really appreciate that. hi, there. how are you? i'm marcus. thayer: i'm thayer. nice to meet you. chastity: i'm chastity. lemonis: chastity, nice to meet you. how do i know what to order? thayer: usually, we try to get you when you come in the door. we do want to get a menu board so that you will be able to see that. lemonis: couldn't you do it in chalk like that? chandler: we could. i'm just not in love with the way that sort of looks. lemonis: why? chandler: it's just kind of hard to read.

it doesn't look clean enough to me. lemonis: so, the alternative is nothing? chandler: yeah. lemonis: oh. how are you? jennifer: i'm good. how are you? i'm jennifer. jennifer, nice to meet you. jennifer: yes. nice to meet you. lemonis: so, i was asking questions. what's the number-one item ordered? jennifer: pulled pork. lemonis: no doubt? jennifer: no doubt. lemonis: okay. so, whose recipes are these? jennifer: mine. lemonis: and who's in charge of what? chandler: she's the art, and i'm really the business side of it, right? i'm trying to make sure we're able to scale -- like, we can't scale her, so i need to have something that is makable by a properly trained employee. if it was 100% her way, it would be we make everything that we can from scratch. jennifer: that's the problem, is that we're very much both control freaks about stuff. i'm in charge of operations, the daily running of the store. lemonis: okay. chandler: i'm the ceo. i get the final call. lemonis: what does that mean? [ both laugh ] it's a barbecue restaurant. chandler: yeah. lemonis: it seems to me that chandler maybe takes himself just a little too seriously. it's almost like he felt like he needed to put a label on himself. "i'm the ceo, just wanted everybody to know, which makes me the man in charge."

i thought it was a little unnecessary. and if he's the ceo of this business, what's he doing applying for a job with me outside of the company? chandler: got your pulled pork right here, your tri-tip, and then, your sliced turkey. lemonis: okay. this is the pulled pork? jennifer: mm-hmm. ♪ lemonis: oh, man. that pulled pork was really good. jennifer: good. lemonis: amazing. jennifer: good. that's the difference with our meats and what we do. we don't slice anything, we don't pull anything, we don't do anything to it until you order. and that maintains the moisture, and it -- lemonis: that's smart. chandler: it's just the best. lemonis: and these are the hush muffins. jennifer: mm-hmm. chandler: so, we used to have a hush puppy, uh, 'cause we had a fryer. and then we had to get rid of the fryer, because it was a gas line issue, essentially. lemonis: how much does that cost? jennifer: $5,000. chandler: yeah, we can't afford it right now. revenue is all the way down. lemonis: i like hush puppies, and i like corn muffins, and i didn't feel like i got either of those satisfied. they're nondescript. jennifer: really? okay. okay. lemonis: i think you think i'm criticizing you.

jennifer: i'm always very defensive about my food. when you are a southern woman... lemonis: oh, yes, ma'am. jennifer: ...it is all about the food. lemonis: if the fryer was back, it would help. people complain about not having fries? thayer: yeah. we get that a lot. lemonis: you sell a lot of nachos? jennifer: no. lemonis: okay. chandler: not a fan of those? lemonis: no. the chips are mushy, and i don't come to a barbecue place and think nachos. feels off-concept. they're missing out on selling popular items like hush puppies and french fries that a typical barbecue place would have, and instead, they've replaced them with things that you normally wouldn't see in a barbecue joint. that's just bad business. so, the bulk of your orders are pulled pork, and then, the next one is brisket. that's my core. and then i have original sauces. that seems like a good jumping-off point. i think if you cut the rest, your revenue wouldn't really move. jennifer: so, this is my fear with that, is when we cut things, we lose people. lemonis: are you annoyed? jennifer: [ laughs ] yes, i'm a little annoyed, i have to tell ya.

look, i -- when people don't like my food, i get very irritated. lemonis: i was a little surprised how jennifer reacted to my feedback. and i understand how a chef feels about their food being critiqued. but i was watching chandler, hoping that he would pipe in and say, "well, you know what? it's good to get feedback." i would say he didn't necessarily accomplish that. i'm gonna try your ranch. jennifer: okay. lemonis: that ranch is good. okay, this is the original sauce. really good. jennifer: mm-hmm. lemonis: here's the spicy sauce. jennifer: it's got tabasco, chipotle in it. lemonis: i think it's delicious. okay, so now i want to try to bourbon sauce. ♪ well, that's good, and i can taste the bourbon. jennifer: mm-hmm. lemonis: a lot. [ laughter ] i think your sauces are spectacular. jennifer: thank you. lemonis: barbecue takes on different forms across the country. people have different tastes and palates. and the fact that lyles offers a wide range of sauces representing the whole country is a pretty darn good idea.

what it allows is that the customers can take the basic barbecue item, and they could put their own twist on 'em. it made her, i would say, the boss of the sauce. what do you love about making things from scratch? jennifer: i think that way too much is processed nowadays. there's no difference between chain to chain to chain, because everything comes off of a truck. and everybody, they go home, and they eat boxes of mac and cheese or whatever. and this is somewhere that they can come, and they can sit down, and they can eat the same way that i did growing up. if you're gonna come in and spend your hard-earned money with us, it should be for something that you actually enjoy. lemonis: you're 100% right. as we've been going through the food, your body language is totally changed. jennifer: that's my baby, marcus. lemonis: no, that's your baby. [ both laugh ] chandler: depends on the day. lemonis: i love the passion and the commitment that she has to what she makes with her hands. you want to invest in people, you invest in people that have passion like that. chandler: i guess my position is, i'm just trying to find

a way to do that super high quality responsibly as we grow. lemonis: but what do you mean, as you grow? chandler: i mean, we need more locations. lemonis: why? chandler: because we've got to achieve some sort of scale, because even though it is a little riskier to go to another store, it creates cash flow stability. i think about 100 stores in more densely populated areas. i don't think we can do enough in sales out of here to support two families. lemonis: i'm seeing the first conflict, with chandler wanting to open up stores all over the world, and mom falling in love with what she's making in lexington, kentucky. i don't know how those two worlds could actually come together. how are you, sir? i'm marcus. greg: yeah. nice to meet you. lemonis: what is your name? greg: greg. lemonis: greg, nice to meet you. you got a nice family. greg: well, thank you. i'm proud of 'em. lemonis: and what is your role? jennifer: not listening. greg: they accuse me all the time, marcus, of going rogue. lemonis: so, what are examples of going rogue? chandler: we tried this mall location, and then it's slow. greg: well, the mall was my idea i got us into. turned out to be a crap show. lemonis: oh. is it losing money? chandler: yes. greg: and then i bought a box truck. it's gonna turn into a food truck.

chandler: just showed up one day with a giant truck. said, "we bought a truck." lemonis: what do you do with it? greg: we, uh, made it into a storage unit. it's parked out here behind the building. we're trying to do things. you know, we're throwing things against the wall to see if it sticks, 'cause, you know, it's -- it's about cash flow. lemonis: and you have another job, as well? greg: i do. i-i work for a human resource consulting firm. i have to work outside of the restaurant to provide the family with the stability to keep this going. lemonis: yep. greg: i'm kind of like the jack of all trades. chandler: the non-silent, silent partner. jennifer: i'm in charge in here, for the most part. lemonis: okay, just thought we'd clear that up again. it's clear to me that the three or them are not on the same page, and they're all working in different directions. and it's clear to me that nobody is taking the lead on solving the problems that are in front of them. chandler labeled himself as the ceo. is he the actual leader? chandler needs to be putting himself in the middle of it as the problem solver. all right, i'll see you in a little bit. jennifer: okay. ♪

greg: hey. lemonis: all right. chandler: welcome. good to see you again. lemonis: how are you? chandler: good. this is the mall food court here. lemonis: yeah. how come you didn't light your sign? greg: it's what we thought was affordable at the time, but we know we've got to get a lighted sign. lemonis: here's the weird thing. menu board here but not at the restaurant. chandler: right. lemonis: so, why did you do the menu here? chandler: i mean, there's really no other way to order. they don't really have a place to put the menus for them to come and pick up. and we signed the lease, and we had two weeks to open. lemonis: were you not in favor of it? chandler: neither one of 'em was in favor of it, marcus. lemonis: and why'd you do it? greg: to me, it was a good idea to see if we could incubate our concept in the mall. lemonis: and how many people come through the mall a year? chandler: 20 million. lemonis: and how many come through the food court? a million? chandler: maybe. lemonis: how many people come through your restaurant a year? chandler: not close to a million. we probably serve 4,000 or 5,000 a month. lemonis: 60,000 compared to the mall, and so you have the potential to do bigger days. what do you think of the store, the way it looks? chandler: it's half-done. lemonis: it's ugly. chandler: yeah. lemonis: and your business plan is,

let's just open a bunch of 'em and hope it works out. chandler: yeah. it's to open the next one. lemonis: this is the second one, and it's still ain't right. chandler: yeah, no, i agree. lemonis: people eat with their eyes first, and that wasn't what i wanted to see with my eyes. i'm gonna go around the back. greg: okay. come on. lemonis: can you walk me -- i want to see what's back in the kitchen. so, this is the back? jennifer: uh-huh. you got your reach-in right here. lemonis: oh, it's decent size. jennifer: mm-hmm. yep, yep. and, uh, so, that's our smoker here on the right. lemonis: this is a small space, and so, quite frankly, on a per-square-foot basis, this actually does pretty well, relative to the other one. [ laughter ] jennifer: it's known as the pirate ship over here. lemonis: what does the pirate ship mean? jennifer: it means that pickles aren't made over here, tortilla chips are done like that. and my whole thing is is that they're not getting the same experience food-wise at both locations. chandler: i agree. i want to do it, but i just logistically, i'm not gonna do grocery deliveries every single day back and forth, so -- lemonis: chandler, don't make it out like you have to get a semi-truck. chandler: no. i-i know.

lemonis: the fact that they're using different chips at the mall may seem like a small thing to most people, but it was a very glaring example of jennifer acquiescing to her son to keep him happy. and i see that often in mother/son relationships at work, where the mother just loves her son so much, he can't do any wrong. "i'm just gonna let him have it his way." so, now, we're gonna take your son hat off. like, why are you doing this? chandler: sure, i mean, i-i'm doing a bad job. if i'm the ceo, i get the final call. lemonis: stop saying -- please don't say ceo anymore to me. you're the one supposed to be setting the example, and you're taking the artist's ideas, and you're discarding them. chandler: right. jennifer: it's just like when we went round and round about these chips, and i told you my reasoning for doing the chips in-house, which were valid reasons, but the thing is, is that you didn't want to listen to that. i think that you push back sometimes just to push back, because you want it a certain way. chandler: do you think i just like to fight? i don't understand that. jennifer: no, i think you do it because you want things a certain way, and then you push back until you get me to say, "fine."

chandler: no, i think our arguments, there's never any sort of, like, mutual agreement. like, we got to have these conversations. like, if this was a real work environment, and you took the mother/son dynamic out of it, like, you got to have that conversation. jennifer: but if you took that dynamic out, you wouldn't do the same things that you do sometimes to me. chandler: that's fair. lemonis: i'm gonna add something. if we took the mother/son dynamic, you'd probably be fired. chandler: i don't agree with that. i mean, i have worked as hard as these guys -- lemonis: nobody's questioning that. what i'm questioning is, pretend she wasn't your mother, and the founder of the business found out that you were circumventing stuff. at some point, she's gonna be like, "look." like, i would never want to to invest into a deal where i thought she didn't have full creative control of what happened in the kitchen. who has the financials? chandler: uh, i do. lemonis: can we, all four of us, go sit down and look at 'em? jennifer: sure. lemonis: okay. ♪ lemonis: so, this is january to december 2017. this is full year. so, the mall did $230,000 of revenue

and lost $118,000. okay. then the restaurant did $887,000 of revenue, and it's only lost $49,000? chandler: it did, yes. yeah. greg: people feel like spending more money there, because of the experience. lemonis: 40.7% margin. that includes food and labor, right? chandler: yes. lemonis: "guaranteed member payment, $36,231." chandler: that's my salary. lemonis: how much did you guys take out? chandler: zero. jennifer: didn't take anything. lemonis: how much cash do you have in the bank account right now? chandler: uh, there's about $18,000 in the bank right now. lemonis: so, pretty tight on cash. jennifer: yeah. chandler: since day one. lemonis: do you have 2018 here today? chandler: this is through july. lemonis: so, your net income margin is 4% here. it was 5%, 6% last year. why is it down? chandler: i think that's the thing that's frustrated us so much, is that we know we have a good product. it is just, there's some core thing missing that we're just not seeing. jennifer: we need somebody to come in and help us, tell us, "this is what you're doing wrong. this is how you fix it. this is how we go forward."

♪ lemonis: normally, i would, you know, make an offer right now. i don't want to do that right now, because you guys want to just make a nice living, and he wants to rule the world. and i don't know that those two things can live together. i know this is an unusual move to make, but i really feel like i need to sit back and reflect before i decide if i want to make an investment. chandler: we just want to do better. that's why we called you. greg: if i can interject, this lady right here, she's the secret sauce to its success. she's the face of the brand. lemonis: i agree. greg: you know, we come from dirt-poor in south georgia, and we've scraped our whole lives. we just don't want to fail. ♪ lemonis: i think you have zero interest in running a restaurant. chandler: you know, i owe them. leaving would be bailing on on them, and i can't do that.

greg: you know, we come from dirt-poor in south georgia, fine, no one leaves the tablefine, we'll sleep here.

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and we've scraped our whole lives. we just don't want to fail. and we've hustled, man, you know, and we ain't got a pot to piss in to show for it. and you grind, and you grind, and you grind, and you want to have something. lemonis: i know you guys are special people. but i really do want to think about it before i make a decision. chandler: okay. lemonis: okay. greg: [ voice breaking ] i'm just flattered you chose us, man. lemonis: and i appreciate -- give me a hug. come here.

okay? it's gonna be okay. ♪ i've thought about it, and i do want to do a deal with this family, but it's gonna be totally different than normal, because the family members all want different things for the business. but i think i may know a way to actually make this work. good morning. how are you guys? chandler: hey. we're well. how are you? lemonis: how are you? jennifer: i'm well. thank you. how are you? lemonis: good. chandler: uh, dad was in a meeting, so... lemonis: okay. well, you know, i had a chance to think about, you know, what our relationship could look like. what i left really excited about were the things that you had created. and so, what i'd like to do is propose us getting into business together on the products that you've designed and come up with, 'cause that's really -- your -- your sauce collection is sort of a sampling of american barbecue. jennifer: mm-hmm. lemonis: so, my offer is to invest $100,000.

i don't want any of the money to go into your main location. the mall is actually the one space that i think you got to perfect. it probably wouldn't take more than $10,000 or $15,000 to take the front of that and get it right. and really, ultimately, you're doing it for branding purposes, and it should make a little scratch, and when the lease is up, you'll make a decision. and then put the rest of that money into exploring, how do you take the products that you have and what actually can be scaled. you know, if i'm gonna put the money up on those things, i would want to make the lion's share of the profit, probably 60%, 65% of it. chandler: for us, this is everything, and we're -- lemonis: no, no, no. what's everything is your primary location, which i'm not touching. chandler: right. right. lemonis: i can see the look on chandler's face. he really looks disappointed that i didn't do a deal on the actual business. but i am trying to find a perfect solution that allows me to work on a project with chandler, allows them as a family to make money,

and allows me to make money without me investing in the actual restaurant. what are you thinking? jennifer: i am a big one on integrity, making sure the integrity of our product always remains the same. that is my ultimate thing. lemonis: i want to be clear. the $100,000 is gonna go towards the mall. chandler: right. lemonis: and then developing products to see if there's something there. ♪ something you want to try? ♪ jennifer: yes. lemonis: we're in business together? jennifer: we're in business. chandler: we have a deal. lemonis: okay. chandler: yes, sir. ♪ jennifer: now, that one seems heavier. ♪ chandler: we're bringing the french fries back. lemonis: a few days after we made the deal, i got a video from chandler. i love the fact that he jumped on my suggestions immediately and brought the fryers out of storage, and he added hush puppies and french fries back to the menu. ♪ tarantino: when we look at sauces, we look at some key matrix that we need to know in production.

so, we want to know dissolved sugar. so, that helps me decide how thick a sauce is going to be. lemonis: i've connected jennifer and chandler with chef rick tarantino. he oversees product and food development for my entire food group. and together, we're visiting a co-packer to understand what it takes to actually mass-produce some sauce. tarantino: so, all these metrics help me see what the ph is. so, in order to be stable, we need to be below 4.5. jennifer: shelf stable? okay. tarantino: shelf stable. okay? lemonis: it goes without saying that product integrity is our primary goal, but we also have to learn how to mass-produce this product and do it at a price that actually could clear the market at retail. tarantino: this is a clear pet pack. it allows us to temperature seal the safety seal. lemonis: i'm gonna need you to start costing these out in this size. if chandler were ever gonna be on my team, this is exactly the kind of project that i would give him. i want to see if he could think methodically. can he use data to make decisions? and more importantly, can he work with others to get the job done? you've got to start with knowing what it cost you to make,

sharing that with him, and then he'll be able to show you how we can drop that price, okay? thank you, sir. tarantino: marcus, it's always a pleasure. mama, thank you for coming to our kitchen. chandler: thanks for having us. tarantino: good to see you, my friend. thank you. jennifer: appreciate it. ♪ lemonis: who's ready to serve some food? chandler: let's do it. greg: we are. lemonis: so, what i wanted to accomplish today was to really understand if this is a quick-serve concept or not. is this a mall concept? is it a food-court concept? what can be sold, what can't be sold, and how it competes with everybody else. jennifer: okay. lemonis: hi, folks! welcome to lyles. greg: what do you think about samples? lemonis: i love it. greg: i've been asking for us to stand out front giving samples, just to introduce 'em to our concept. lemonis: and who doesn't like the idea? greg: neither one of 'em. jennifer: but this is the thing, is that we don't have the money to afford somebody to stand out there and do it. lemonis: well, unfortunately, you've signed this lease.

jennifer: right. lemonis: and you can't afford to not run the business the right way. jennifer: right. lemonis: and so, i respectfully will say, if you continue to not do the things that you can't afford to do, this place has zero chance of making it. like, if you don't put graphics up, have people passing out samples, we're gonna be standing here in a line that doesn't exist. all right, so here's what we're gonna do. your dad and i are gonna go out there, and we're gonna show you that just inviting people and passing out something is an engagement. greg: that's right. lemonis: since you signed the lease, we got to clean up your mess. let's go. greg: come on, marcus. ♪ lemonis: how are you? greg: y'all want some barbecue today? we're a family-owned and operated barbecue restaurant. lemonis: would you like to try a sample of our famous pulled pork? that's mama lyles right there. she made everything from scratch. what do you think? you like it? good. greg: we've been in business about five years. everything is made from scratch, man. it's just like eating at our house. you like that? man: it's good. lemonis: okay, great. get some more. ♪

she looks mad. greg: oh, yeah. she's -- it's something she didn't want to do. lemonis: but what is it that she doesn't like? is it that it's not her idea? greg: the mall concept, it was not her idea. lemonis: okay, but we're here. greg: yeah. and i think that it feels like her competency is being questioned when you bring out suggestions that she might not necessarily agree with. lemonis: but we're here. greg: we're here. lemonis: so, now let's make it work. greg: sure. lemonis: we got to make it work. greg: right. and we can. we've proven that. lemonis: how was it? you liked it? i'm glad you liked it. awesome. nice seeing you. he said he loved it. jennifer: well, good. lemonis: yep. jennifer: so, why didn't he ordered any? lemonis: 'cause he had just finished eating, 'cause we weren't out here, 'cause you wouldn't let us be. jennifer: no, i have never said i wouldn't let anybody do anything. he is welcome to come over here at any time and do this, so i don't want to hear it. what? lemonis: oh, i'm sorry, jennifer. is this such a bad idea, that your husband and i want to actually pass out your good-tasting food so more people try it?

what she's really upset about is the fact that they're even the mall. jennifer: he can come over here anytime he wants to, so don't tell me that it's because of me that we're not out there. so, you know what? greg: hey, baby? jennifer: what? ♪ tarantino: i can mimic the exact process in smoke. jennifer: but you don't get the smoke ring in it. tarantino: but the flavor's all there. jennifer: but it's roasted. i'm a purist. i'm sorry. it's not smoked. it's roasted.

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lemonis: oh, you'd like to order? okay. excellent. come on up. sorry about that. that's why they're not ordering, 'cause you're yelling at everybody. they're scared. jennifer: no, i'm yelling at you two. greg: want to try a sample? jennifer: what can i get ya? lemonis: look, she's really sensitive about this subject, and i get it. in her mind, this is another example of greg's crazy ideas that ended up costing their family tens of thousands of dollars. jennifer: spicy sauce with that. lemonis: well, she's mad at us. greg: yeah. lemonis: and while i give her a moment to get over her emotions, i want to gather greg and chandler up to really understand how we actually move the business forward. the one thing i would say is that the place looks rinky-dink. i think maybe getting all the dust down off the pole would be a good idea. and then i think the walls need to change. but i think it's time to spend some money. yeah, so, let's just put a budget together. so, i would redo everything that a customer sees. if you get me the measurements, i'll get the wallpaper done. any images that you have, preferably with your mom in them,

even some good photos of, like, something coming out of the oven, preferably with your mom doing it or your mom making the sauce. this part of the wall and that part of the wall, i would build, like, a wood crate system, and i would just have all sauces. like, i would just load the place up. we know the food's good. we got to get the menu right, and then we got to get the aesthetics right. i also want to see how chandler handles the assignment of fixing a broken concept. if he's gonna have a job with me, he's gonna be assigned that all the time. i want to see how he meets deadlines, how he spends money, how we works with others, how much of the work he's willing to do himself, and is he willing to follow through on something that he started? so, you got the plan here. chandler: yeah, i think we're good. for sure. okay. greg: let's do it. ♪ jennifer: thanks. chandler: thank you. man: welcome. hey, hey, hey. lemonis: what's happening, guys? man: bud, how you doing?

lemonis: we're already gonna move forward with mass-producing jennifer's sauces, but i also want to see how open-minded the family is to other ideas, so i'm taking them to a meat co-packer to see if there's a way to take her recipes and some of her ideas and get them into the prepared food sections of grocery stores. and ultimately, whether or not jennifer's on-board with co-packing her meat, i just want her to be more open to ideas and see what their process is, and i particularly want to see how chandler's going to handle this. so, i wanted to bring you to beef international to explore how to potentially package and distribute pre-prepared foods. jennifer: okay. tarantino: our job is to figure out from you what makes you different, and what do you want to see us replicate? and we need to narrow in and hone down that flavor profile, that texture, that taste, and the cost effectiveness to be able to distribute it. lemonis: kevin, can we give them a full tour of what happens in the back and how the process works? kevin: yeah. ♪ tarantino: here's where we're making 10-ounce shredded pork. we can adjust and dial in the machine from the rubs and the sugar.

chandler: it's like, you can have a cajun rib, and you could have a southern sweet rib, and you could have eight different skews of rib. lemonis: i'm really not that surprised that jennifer is very skeptical about it. she wants to control the food quality. chandler: so, this is how you're hand-rubbing all of your meat. tarantino: that's how you hand-rub it. chandler: oh, that's awesome. tarantino: when you got to cook 10,000 pounds, you got to move 'em around in big-ass racks. chandler: i like it, man. it's almost the same process. it's just scaled way up. lemonis: but when you compare and contrast her against chandler, who's pushing and pushing, asking a lot of questions, trying to figure out how to solve the problem, there's one thing that's super-clear to me. they have totally different ideas about where they want to take the business. chandler: how did you guys cook this? tarantino: it's cooked in ovens, in combination wet and dry process. i can mimic the exact process in smoke that you get in a smoker, in these ovens, without losing the volume of shrink. jennifer: but you don't get the smoke ring in it. tarantino: no ring, but the flavor's all there. another thing we can do is we can inject the smoke flavor into the meat. jennifer: but it's roasted.

brewer: once you take the step to large-scale manufacturing, you develop this great appreciation for the scientist. he will take your ribs, and he will figure out exactly what makes them special, and then he will dial these ovens so that it comes out exactly like your stuff. lemonis: you guys know that she's not buying anything you're saying. jennifer: i'm a purist. i'm sorry. it's not smoked. it's roasted. ♪ lemonis: if your business is in trouble and you need my help, log on to...

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anything you're saying. jennifer: i'm a purist. i'm sorry. it's not smoked. it's roasted. lemonis: nobody wants you to compromise anything. jennifer: right. lemonis: what we have to understand is, when you scale it, what has to change in the process to make it scalable? and so then, you have to ask yourself, where is my level of compromise to scale, as long as i know that the ingredients are authentic,

and the flavor's authentic? jennifer: i get it. lemonis: is there something we can taste? brewer: we have some stuff warming up, up front. lemonis: great. let's go check it out. tarantino: we got some shredded smoked pork that we're gonna try to get you to taste. this is the moment of truth. chandler: i think it's good. it's a really good flavor. tarantino: what did you think about the texture? jennifer: well, i think maybe it's too shredded. lemonis: you hate it, don't you? jennifer: i'm not a fan. i care about the product. that's my passion. tarantino: at the end of the day, we have to sell product to make money. lemonis: does this feel at all like a good first step, in your mind? jennifer: i mean, whatever my name goes on, that i would say, yes, that's mine. that's all i'm looking for. i'm not being difficult. chandler: i was pleasantly surprised. i thought that had really good texture to it. i personally would be comfortable saying, like -- putting our name on that. jennifer: i see the possibility. i see the possibility. chandler: oh, hey. lemonis: in watching chandler interact with his mom, i'm a little nervous about how eager he is to push things forward without the buy-in of the business owner. jennifer was polite, and she almost wanted

to seem like she was open-minded to the idea. but if she never gets there on this idea, i'm okay with that, as well, and chandler should be, too. all right. thank you so much. man: thank you, sir. ♪ chandler: so, we started working on our sauces and jars and everything else. we had four different bottles that we liked, and so we put it out there as a sample. and this was the winner. and this one was second place. it's nice. it's sturdy. feels homemade. we just wanted to get it up, start selling. and then, these were just some plastic ones that we were testing, but they felt a little too cheap. lemonis: from the moment i laid eyes on the packaging that chandler chose, i knew he didn't think it through. here's why. it was made of glass. glass isn't gonna work. there's like a trait in your family, that you guys just throw sh[bleep] against the wall and hope it sticks. chandler: i-i disagree. i think you get stuff out and get feedback immediately, and then you can change it and fix it. lemonis: but there's a way to get feedback without just going,

and it's a little like the mall. you just went. greg: i got to disagree with you a little bit. that's kind of a measured approach. lemonis: this is measured? it'll be so cost-prohibitive, it'll eat into your margin, and a lot of people won't want the risk of glass. what's the perfect retail price that you want to sell to consumers? chandler: for me, it's somewhere in that $5 to $6 range. lemonis: that's on the shelf. what's that grocer gonna pay you for that bottle? chandler: they're gonna be $4.50. lemonis: say they want to pay 4 bucks for the bottle. so, if the grocer's gonna sell it for $5.99, and they want to buy it for $4, what's the distributor gonna want to buy it for? chandler: $3? lemonis: what are you gonna have to sell it for? chandler: $2. lemonis: okay. and then what are you gonna have to make it for? chandler: $1. lemonis: how much is this one? chandler: it's $2.20. lemonis: okay. that's out. chandler: yeah. lemonis: i love the initiative, but if we just slow it down, just pump the brakes a little bit, i think you'll throw less duds. chandler: understood. lemonis: can you and i just spend -- away from everybody? jennifer: yeah, sure. lemonis: while i was at the main location, i wanted to sit down with greg and jennifer and talk about what happened at the mall the other day.

if this business is gonna survive and, more importantly, thrive, the only way it's gonna happen is if they put the past behind them. i think it would be good for you to work through the mall thing together. this unresolved conflict's got to stop. ♪ greg: sure. jennifer: as much as none of us wanted the mall, it's one of those things that we're all gonna get through it together. i won't, uh, hold grudges anymore. greg: i appreciate you saying that, darling. jennifer: so, you're off the hook. [ laughs ] don't do it again. lemonis: no, no, no. [ laughter ] jennifer: what? [ laughs ] ♪ chandler: hey. it's good to see you again. lemonis: uh-oh. chandler: uh-huh. lemonis: let's get a beer. your mom and your dad, without you, talked about the mall today. and your mom committed to your dad that she wasn't gonna rub his nose in it anymore, and we were all just gonna do it together.

chandler: right. i think my mom and dad would be a lot less stressed if they just had one store to worry about, and my mom went to work there every day and got to do her thing. i don't think she'd ever tell you that, 'cause she wants to look out for me, but i think that's what she would want. i don't know. now i feel bad. lemonis: why? chandler: because my ambition is so different. i may have put pressure on them i didn't want to put on them. lemonis: what's your dream? chandler: my personal dream is to, like, work in a giant skyscraper running a really big company. you know, i had started to apply for jobs. and like, honestly, i even, at one point, had an interview with ml food. i was looking at the writing on the wall and seeing that i can't keep getting a salary while my mom's not getting a salary, while we're both working just as hard in the business. like, that -- something had to give. and my mom is more talented in the kitchen and more valuable, so i needed to get out so that she could make an income, and my parents could be okay. lemonis: i now know more clearly why chandler applied for that job with me.

i think he recognizes that what he wants out of the business and what his parents want out of the business, they're just very different. and i understand that in his mind, he says, "well, if i get this job, i'll take the pressure off of them." but the reality of it is, is that the fact that he's now bringing this up to me, for the first time, when his parents aren't around, shows me that he's worried about leaving them behind. ultimately, this is the character-defining moment part of the interview. i think you have zero interest in running a restaurant. you're trying to make the mall work for your dad. and you want to make the restaurant work for your mom. and when is it that you're gonna make something work for you? chandler: i guess after it works for them. you know, i owe them. leaving would be bailing on them, and i can't do that. i don't know how i'm gonna get to where i'm going. that breaks my heart. i don't know what to do. lemonis: let me tell you the reason that i came here. i thought to myself, you know, the best way to interview somebody for a job is to actually go hang out with them for a while.

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lemonis: it's clear to me now that he really doesn't want to be there. and it doesn't mean that he doesn't love his family or love the business, but he's starting to recognize that this business can't necessarily give him what he wants. chandler: deal. appreciate it. thank you. ♪ lemonis: a few weeks ago, i gave chandler a $16,000 budget to renovate the restaurant at the food court. and i wanted to see, number one, how responsible was he gonna be with my money, how creative was he going to be with the money that he was given, and did he actually take it to the next level and make it better than i expected? chandler doesn't realize that, basically, what he's about to show me is one of the steps of his interview. holy moses. chandler: hey. lemonis: what?! chandler: what's going on? lemonis: look at this place! you're, like, all over the place now. jennifer: everywhere. lemonis: i also love the video.

'cause i now feel like i know who you are. "oh, my gosh. is she on the food network?" it looks... jennifer: looks good. lemonis: ...unbelievable, don't you think? jennifer: it really does. lemonis: this is, like, the biggest sign in the mall now. jennifer: it is. lemonis: so, you changed the menu board. jennifer: yes. chandler: so, we condensed everything down to just the most popular items. lemonis: hey! greg: doing all right, marcus? lemonis: everything good? greg: doing well, man. lemonis: look at your mall project. it worked out. this is what you meant to do the first time. [ laughter ] what do you think of it? greg: i love it. i love it. the feedback and everything is just great, man. lemonis: working with the lyles family has been an amazing experience, and things are only getting better. the sauces are almost ready for being ready for online retail and distribution. and in the future, they could even be sold at major grocery stores across the country. chandler: initially, phase one, we're gonna sell online, and then, uh, chef here is gonna distribute for us. tarantino: we'll do an online website and then try to do some qvcs, home shopping networks. lemonis: i feel like it's a lot of progress. jennifer did an amazing job

taking her four top-selling sauces and making them shelf stable. and with us doing that, i expect that this company could generate at least an extra $100,000 a year from all the sources of revenue from the sauces. and with the re-branding of the newly renovated mall location and all the new foot traffic and the new attention it should get, i expect sales to increase at least 300%. there's just one last thing we need to work out. so, we've had separate conversations, and i wanted to put those two conversations right on the table so that everybody can maybe hear what the other party has to say. chandler: yeah, i mean, i don't think it's fair that i put the pressure on you to, like, feel like you have to support my personal ambitions as i go down that road. greg: let me make it perfectly clear. we want what's best for you. the reason why we do what we do was, you know, to make sure that you had something that you could make a good career out of. jennifer: the thing is, i don't want you to feel like you're dragging us along, kicking and screaming. i think for us, it's just more difficult to dream big,

and it's not that we don't want it. it's just that it's more difficult for us at this point in our life. lemonis: let me tell you the reason that i came here. 'cause i don't know that i talked to you about it, but there's a lot more to the story. i'm sure you're aware of this, but not so long ago, chandler applied for a job with my organization. and i thought to myself, you know, the best way to interview somebody for a job is to actually go hang out with them for a while. greg: oh, my gosh. really? it started with a few i thofifty dollars here. know, eighty dollars. a hundred dollars.

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the best way to interview somebody for a job is to actually go hang out with them for a while. greg: oh, my gosh. really? ♪ lemonis: it became more clear to me through the interview process that he cares more about you than he does himself. you applied for a job? there's your job offer. chandler: i can't believe you did that. greg: you planned this from the start? lemonis: totally. i think you had a great interview. it's your choice whether you want to take it or not. chandler: i'm aware of how much you guys sacrificed. i don't want to be the only one that receives things all the time. i-i just want to give you something back. greg: there's plenty of time for that. chandler: you guys -- greg: you got to do you, son. chandler: yeah. jennifer: your dad and i done everything we didn't want to do because we wanted to do it. it wasn't because it was a burden. and that's what makes us happy, is seeing you succeed. and if it's what you want, it's what i want.

greg: come here, bud. give me a hug. listen, you ain't got to worry about this, okay? whatever you want to do is fine with us. ♪ lemonis: we'll pay you $75,000 a year, plus bonus. you have a chance to work on this stuff with your mom, and you can work on a bunch of other things. chandler: i mean, this is a dream opportunity for me. it's a win-win. i'd love to take your offer. jennifer: i love you, baby. greg: you rock, marcus lemonis. thank you. ♪ chandler: here you are. lemonis: there's your signing bonus. chandler: [ chuckles ] no way. lemonis: yeah, way. chandler: oh, my god. thank you. lemonis: i know that chandler is going to be a much-needed and very effective addition to my team. and now that the family is all moving in the same direction, i have no doubt that this business is gonna run much smoother. thanks for having me. greg: thank you, marcus. lemonis: this is just the beginning for an amazing future for lyles,

and i'm happy just to be a part of it. all right, guys, we'll see you soon. jennifer: thanks. greg: safe travels. ♪ jennifer: [ laughs ] greg: that is so cool, son. i'm so proud of you. ♪ lelemonis:h! tonight on "the profit"... bunch of cheese snobs in here. ...a family-run cheese shop has been a staple in the community for decades. michael: who wants first? let's go. lemonis: unfortunately, the ugly, aging storefront speaks to a lack of passion. look how your windows look. looks like you guys don't respect the business. and what once was a thriving business has now become a burden to both father and son. michael: it felt like i was an indentured servant. lemonis: dad's terrible money management has racked up debt. the company is essentially bankrupt. if you don't solve the debt, the business is closed. that debt has weighed on his son. michael: i said, "you own the business, too. you come and run it."