lemonis: i wanted to revisit zoe's chocolates in season 4 because i'm a sucker for a great story, but i also love chocolate. like, i think probably every single night at 2:00 in the morning, i eat chocolate. amber: so you sometimes have one piece at 2:00 a.m. sometimes...? lemonis: i rarely have one. and it depends on how angry i am how many i eat. zoe's chocolate was one of the countless businesses that i visited during "the profit." let's go make some money! [ horn honking ] i've traveled the country trying to fix the people... and you do $1 million a year? you should be proud of that. man: but we don't know how to keep any of it. lemonis: ...fix the process... you see? it is flimsy. don't ever make these again. you don't sell them. ...and create a few products. juli: it reduces anxiety and depression. lemonis: i kind of like it.

i spent countless days working on these companies. how much money did you burn through? parker: $650,000. lemonis: but we can't always fit everything i'm thinking into the show. so tonight i'm gonna give you an inside look at an episode from season 4 -- zoe's chocolate. those are good. over the next hour, i'm gonna take you deeper behind the scenes than we've ever gone before. zoe: you want to add pretzels and chips and stuff. lemonis: zoe was being unreasonable and not listening. we're gonna hear from the business owners. amber: what was it like having marcus in your business? zoe: it was a little nerve-racking. lemonis: it was fun for me, though. zoe: i'm sure. lemonis: and find out if my opinions have changed... $200,000 for 40%. i made a big mistake here in formulating my offer. that kind of pissed me off. ...by taking the sweet greek family business from average to out of this world. zoe: our ultimate goal is to make this company great. lemonis: but i can only see that with action. yes, i can be a nice person, but i'm gonna blow you up and melt your face off.

my name is marcus lemonis, and this is an inside look at "the profit." one of the reasons why i wanted to do an inside look on this particular business, it's because it's important to understand how the dynamics of a family can affect the decisions that you make in any business. and so tonight's episode is really meant to show you how you can actually navigate with partners and how you can open up your mind and how an amazing family can make their business even better. in 2007, zoe tsoukatos teamed up with her two brothers to launch zoe's chocolates -- a confectionery company based in waynesboro, pennsylvania, and quickly gained a small following. but 10 years in, sales have dropped sharply and the losses are mounting. and zoe's fear is that her family legacy may disappear. amber: what was your motivation for zoe? you already had, like, a huge candy business -- sweet pete's. chocolate is obviously a part of sweet pete. lemonis: yeah, chocolate was never a big part of sweet pete. they were more into the salted caramels and the lollipops.

and you think about anything in the marketplace, there's a good, better, best model, and sweet pete's looks like it's playing to the masses. and zoe's was playing to a little bit of a higher-end confection. ♪♪ is that, like, my john quincy adams coat or something? like... ♪♪ dina: welcome to zoe's. lemonis: hi, there. how are you? dina: good. nice to meet you. lemonis: what is your name? dina: dina, dina hunter. lemonis: dina, nice to meet you. can i try a few things? -dina: sure. lemonis: there's baklava, black daphne, hazelnut, sesame-tahini. wow. dina: because zoe's family is greek, a lot of their pieces feature a mediterranean flavor. lemonis: this is really good. dina: yeah. lemonis: okay, this is a dirty little secret, but sometimes when i'm going to a business for the first time and i taste something, if it doesn't taste great, i don't want to make a bad first impression. so i'm like, "yeah, you know, it's good."

in this particular case, i'm telling you without any hesitation that the product is spectacular. zoe: hi. lemonis: how are you? i'm marcus. zoe: nice to meet you. i'm zoe. lemonis: nice to meet you. i was just eating your chocolate. zoe: oh, good. and you liked it? lemonis: this one's good. i've had one, two, three, four, five already. how many flavors are in the case? zoe: probably 18. lemonis: and how many do you have in your library? zoe: i think there are 18. lemonis: oh, so everything you make is out. how many are out there was 18, but how many exist in the total library of things that they've ever made? way more than that. and what i learned as i got to meet more family members is that they had all these ideas and all these cool things that some worked, some didn't, but that not everything had been revealed to the public. and that was exciting for me. whose idea was this business? zoe: pantelis, my brother, and i were living together in d.c. lemonis: doing what? zoe: i worked for a state and local government consulting firm. lemonis: and what was your brother doing? zoe: he was doing marketing, and dad was working elsewhere

manufacturing chocolate for another company. lemonis: here in pennsylvania, he was doing it? zoe: yeah. and they wanted to move away from hand-making chocolate. lemonis: did they let him go? zoe: yeah. lemonis: they did? zoe: yeah. my brother and i decided to come back and kind of get him back on his feet. lemonis: you just one day said, "we have to go help dad." zoe: kind of, yeah. and 10 years later, here we are. lemonis: i don't know if there's any better definition of a family business than making sacrifices for your family. and i will tell you that in that moment, my attraction to the business and my willingness and desire to help became exponential because she put, again, the business in front of herself. so, how much of the business do you own? zoe: we're at 35, 35, and then the other one's 30. just the kids. lemonis: your mom and dad don't own any of it? zoe: nope. lemonis: your dad works here? zoe: yep. lemonis: so your entire family lives off this business. zoe: yep. lemonis: can we meet them? zoe: you sure can. lemonis: it's much bigger back here. so is this the whole family?

zoe: pantelis. lemonis: hey, i'm marcus. nice to meet you. eleni: i'm the mom, eleni. nice to meet you. lemonis: eleni, how are you? very nice to meet you. how are you? george: hello, marcus. lemonis: george, right? george: yes. lemonis: nice to meet you. george: nice to meet you. petros: how you doing? petros. lemonis: petros, how are you? petros: nice to meet you, marcus. lemonis: now, you've been in the chocolate business for how many years? george: almost 40 years. lemonis: and how long ago did you meet? eleni: 39 years ago. he was in greece. lemonis: oh, you were in greece. george: i got in love with my wife, and i came here. lemonis: who are these pictures of? zoe: that's my mom's parents. petros: yeah, and a little push cart in baltimore. zoe: in baltimore, where they were hand-rolling chocolates, and my dad came over. he learned the trade. george: i love to work for my kids. lemonis: it's nice to have your children support you. george: oh, yes. i think that's the most important, to love each other. amber: i love family businesses. i mean, especially a good family like zoe's. do you find them hard to do? lemonis: if i look back at our track record of 100 episodes, in almost every case, a true family business, the bigger the family,

the greater the success. there's history, there's legacy, there's purpose. they seem to be better governors for the behavior. there's less fun and games. this place is a lot -- it got a lot bigger. petros: yeah, right. lemonis: it goes back even... petros: it goes back further, yeah. lemonis: holy... petros: this is the kitchen, where we manufacture everything. lemonis: oh, my gosh. i just want to see the process. petros: so we're boiling the cream, and we have our raw chocolate, a little butter. lemonis: can i stir it? oh, yeah. petros: so this is gonna cool. after it cools, we'll cut it into squares. it'll go through the enrober and get covered in chocolate. lemonis: in plain chocolate. petros: right. lemonis: why don't you do some basic things like chocolate-covered pretzels and chocolate-covered almonds? zoe: we have a lot of unique products. i mean, you can get the chocolate-covered pretzel anywhere. lemonis: people will pay more for a zoe's pretzel because it's zoe's chocolate, and the chocolate is what's amazing. shouldn't matter what it goes on. you need more. i'm a fan of chocolate-covered things, and i didn't ask them to do that because i'm a fan of it.

i asked them to do that because i believe that the perceived value of taking a very simple commodity, like a pretzel or a potato chip or a cookie, and enrobing it in chocolate would allow the margins to explode. it creates a novelty item in beautiful packaging that will drive repeat sales, but zoe doesn't like pretzels. and so they didn't do it because she didn't like it. and if it wasn't zoe's idea, it didn't happen. now, she's much better today, but i still don't have my pretzels. this place is huge. is this the shipping department for online? petros: for online, right. everything that gets processed goes through here. lemonis: would you say that the entire front-to-back of the building, would you call it organized? pantelis: no. lemonis: what prevents you specifically from organizing things that you see that are unorganized? do you have to ask zoe if you're allowed to? pantelis: no, it's like a snowball, then there's something else that needs to be organized, then there's something else. lemonis: so it's just like, "'f' it. i'm not even gonna start." pantelis: yeah, it's kind of like -- yeah. lemonis: what's the brand identity? zoe: the product's good, we buy locally sourced ingredients. lemonis: we have a box. we have a pamphlet.

i don't really know what the story is here. zoe: the insert is our flavors. lemonis: what is your real story? why did you create the brand? zoe: i think the fact that we're siblings. lemonis: like, you're siblings. do i know that? zoe: i do think we have a good story. lemonis: i agree you have a good story. i just don't agree that you've told it yet. you guys put in blood, sweat, and tears to go help dad. your dad's a greek chocolatier. all that's the story behind it. tell people. zoe: but, i mean, why would i choose one chocolate company over another? i mean, you buy it because i like the product that they're making. it's not family stuff like that. ♪♪ amber: explain how a lack of brand identity could hurt a business. lemonis: i think it's important to understand the history and the legacy and the lineage of your business because people are gonna connect with that. would you rather buy a box of chocolates from somebody that just looks like a random internet site or would you want to buy it from a beautiful 5-member family that has a 100-year history in the chocolate business? amber: you want to call them? lemonis: yeah. [phone ringing]

hey, guys, how are you? zoe: good. hanging in there. pantelis: yep, busy. lemonis: we are gonna want to get updates on everybody's life. pantelis: we've got some big updates. lemonis: we have big updates? zoe: no. we don't. lemonis: zoe, do you have a boyfriend? zoe: i do. lemonis: i need to check him out. nobody's dating my zoe unless i do background checks, credit checks, the whole deal. what questions do you have, amber? amber: what was it like having marcus in your business? zoe: you just don't know what to expect, first of all. but i feel like when we met him, it was almost like we've known him. and at the same time, you know, it was gonna be scary. and i think it was scary to have our business that we cared about and we worked so hard on picked apart. but, you know, in retrospect, it helped tremendously to know the things that we were faulting on. lemonis: i think it's a lesson for all of us.

okay, guys, we'll see you in a little bit. ♪♪ why are you so uncomfortable with telling people how this business came about? why'd you roll your eyes? zoe: i mean, it's just, like, i hate saying it because it's embarrassing for our dad. it has no bearing on what we do. you know, it's over, it's done, and, i mean, here we are. lemonis: what is obvious to me is how much you've poured into this. zoe: yeah. lemonis: and for me, it isn't just about money, it's about what you gave up, moving back here, going through this on a daily basis. it really looks like you've sacrificed everything for this. zoe: but for having been here for 10 years, i think it's painful to see that we haven't gotten to the potential that we know we can be at. you know, we're not stable at the age that we're at. lemonis: is it tight financially? like, no cash? zoe: yeah. lemonis: and so how do you keep the doors open?

zoe: well, in the summertime, we had to get a line of credit. lemonis: oh, you got a line of credit. lot of debt on the business? zoe: yeah. i think about $170,000. lemonis: that much? zoe: yeah. for us, it's kind of one of those things, like, "okay, well, what else could we do at this point? you know, we've been doing this for 10 years. if this doesn't work..." lemonis: you feel like it's close to failing? zoe: i feel like the last couple years, it's just been declining, and i can't figure out why. it just feels like we're bleeding somewhere. sometimes, we won't get paid, or sometimes, one of us will get paid and then we'll just split it three ways. lemonis: oy. zoe: or we haven't paid my dad for a couple months. lemonis: every business owner can understand what zoe is explaining right now and what i give the family credit for is while they have a very successful business that's lasted for 10 years, they're at a crossroad. and so when i go into these businesses, i want to go in with kid gloves

because i know how much they have poured into their business. and once we uncover all of that, then it's really trying to figure out, can you move forward and can you solve those problems? i could see how you guys just trip over each other. this is the reason there's a problem. amber: was it a wake-up call for you guys? lemonis: she was pissed. liberty mutual customized my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. lemonis: so the rev what a great day! what an ok day. what a messed up- only pay for what you need.

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visit amerisave.com now. pantelis: $675,000. lemonis: and in 2015, it was $757,000? so why the drop? that's a significant drop.

pantelis: we had issues a lot. like, some distributors kind of dropped us. zoe: whole foods. lemonis: whole foods? zoe: we lost our whole foods. lemonis: how did you lose all these accounts? what happened? zoe: we don't come up with more products. pantelis: yeah, whole foods was, "let's do a candy bar that has walnuts and pecans," because it's, like, in, it's a fad, but we'll be like, "i don't think so." lemonis: why? pantelis: because we don't like it. we don't think it's a good idea sometimes. petros: right. lemonis: any big customer that wants to grow their business with you is looking for diversification, and they're looking for something that is unique and exclusive to them. and when you say no to them, you can potentially turn a retailer off. $82,000 loss in '15. what did you lose last year? pantelis: i think it's like $120,000. lemonis: so, how are you guys funding these losses? pantelis: we have an loc. lemonis: a line of credit. pantelis: yeah. lemonis: it's how much? pantelis: $90,000. lemonis: okay. what else? pantelis: so another $30,000. lemonis: another line of credit, so two lines of credit? pantelis: yeah. we have our car loan. it's a company car. lemonis: okay. how much is that? pantelis: $30,000. lemonis: how about credit cards?

pantelis: $12,000. lemonis: okay. that's $162,000 in debt. how much cash is in the bank right now, today? pantelis: $60,000. lemonis: $60,000. pantelis: yeah. lemonis: we need to figure out how to generate more revenue. zoe: just need more sales. lemonis: you need more sales. that's the problem, but the product's really freaking good. and the fact that you guys give and give and give to your parents, it tells me a lot about who you are as people. i want to make an offer. the company today has $60,000 in cash and $162,000 in debt, so my offer is $250,000 for 50% of the business. i want to be equal partners. the money will be used to pay down some of the debt and the rest will go into organizing the facility, making some retrofits to the retail location,

launching the online business, doing some product development, and potentially coming up with some new packaging. how does that sound? pantelis: we were gonna ask for 60%. lemonis: so my offer is $250,000 for 50%, and your offer is... pantelis: 40%. lemonis: why? petros: moreso because we're a family business, and we've worked so hard, and i know our dad has put in a lot of time and has invested a lot of himself, and i think that would make him happiest. lemonis: i made a big mistake here in formulating my offer because i wasn't dealing with one particular individual. i was dealing with a large family, five family members, and three of them were working in the business every single day. and i should have come up with the idea that they came up with, which is leaving each of them with 20% so that, "a," they felt like they didn't lose their family business, they had 60%, and the three of them could be equal partners. okay. pantelis: what do you think?

lemonis: $200,000 for 40%. but i have full financial and operational control. zoe: so you want to add, like, pretzels and chips and stuff like that. whatever. lemonis: okay. zoe: how would we talk about it and go for the deciding factor? lemonis: i would decide by myself. when i say i'm 100% in charge, it isn't just for fun. i mean it. you are not in charge anymore. i didn't literally mean that i would decide by myself, but i felt like if zoe was asking something and raising an objection right out of the rib, i needed to give her an answer that would stun her a little bit so that i could find out where her level of flexibility was. zoe: okay. we're ready. we're ready for it. pantelis: yeah, yeah. lemonis: okay. ♪♪ we have a deal? pantelis: yeah, we have a deal. thank you. zoe: thank you. lemonis: okay. petros: thank you very much. ♪♪ lemonis: pull up the website so i can see everything.

how many today? zoe: one. lemonis: one order today. so one thing that i would do differently today that i didn't do back then is i would want to understand the traffic that came through the website. i would want to understand the abandonment rate -- people that came to the website and left. i would want to understand how much time people spent on the website, what pages they went to, and i would want to understand how many people filled up the cart and left. essentially looking at conversion for traffic. i'm at this business, zoe's chocolate, and what i'm trying to do is create the world's largest focus group. so what i need you to do is log on to zoeschocolate.com, place an order. they're amazing. i normally would not do this, but i need to prove a point. zoe: oh, look at all these orders. oh, my. that's...lot of orders. lemonis: so what i did is i did a facebook live video. it's already had 8,000 views in 15 minutes. how many orders are there? zoe: 150. lemonis: 150 orders.

okay, let's get to work. ♪♪ let's go, guys. let's get these orders filled 'cause they're gonna keep coming in. zoe: pan, you start shipping those. pantelis: no, no, no, get a highlighter. zoe: no, this is fine. the glass thing's right there. petros: right here, right? the thing's here. zoe: oh, is it there? eleni: here it is. pantelis: where? in here? lemonis: let's go, guys. pantelis: thank you for calling zoe's chocolates. how may i help you? okay, thank you very much. lemonis: what did they say? pantelis: they want to add an item. lemonis: does the system allow you to modify their order? zoe: no. lemonis: in most cases, people want to modify their order. they want to add to their order. so every time you prevent them from modifying the order, you're preventing them from giving you more money. zoe: just print it. pantelis: should we count how many we have? zoe: no, just don't even count. pantelis: no, i'm saying make sure it adds up to that. zoe: no. lemonis: now, come on, guys. amber: what about when marcus did, like, the impromptu live facebook? was it a wake-up call for you? lemonis: she was pissed. petros: i think that really highlighted the holes of where we were right at the time, kind of highlighted where we needed to improve

and, you know, what our weaknesses were. zoe: it's scary. i think one of the things is not being able to fill somebody's order quickly enough and not being able to have that kind of crisis management of what are we gonna do? how are we gonna do it? yeah, it was a little nerve-racking. lemonis: it was fun for me, though. zoe: i'm sure. [ laughs ] lemonis: i love the fact that everybody's pitching in now to solve the problem. but i could see how you guys just trip over each other. this is the reason there's a problem. zoe: so what should we do in this instance? lemonis: you're the leader. zoe: but that's why i'm getting everybody to pitch in. lemonis: do you think that's the best use of everybody's time? pantelis: listen, i'll organize that. you go do your thing. if i need help, i'll call you. zoe: how are you gonna get all these orders out? lemonis: these orders are not gonna get out today. because nothing is organized. ♪♪ when i look at any business, as you should, we want to really understand how big the business can get without adding more resources and more equipment and more space and more people, and you want to flex the system to understand where the leaks are.

and so every single business that has an online store has to be thinking about raw materials, supply chain, finished goods, packaging, the website, customer service. and so if your business doesn't have that and you're trying to figure out why you can't process orders, well, there's your answer. zoe: the font is very churchy to me. lemonis: "the font is very churchy." this is probably one of the few moments where i thought that zoe was being unreasonable and not listening.

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hi, this is margaret your dell technologies advisor there's an art to listening. it's the ability to hear more than what's being said. to understand the meaning in every pause. and to be able to offer the answers that make someone feel truly heard. i understand, let's get started. that's what you get when you talk to a dell technologies advisor. man: i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. man: i feel free to bare my skin. ask your dermatologist about skyrizi.

♪♪ man: i feel free to bare my skin. lemonis: these orders are not gonna get out today because nothing's organized. i sent you into a chaos zone. zoe: yeah. lemonis: and what happened was, is that there's no system and no process. you have to figure out how to delegate properly. what do you want everybody to do? i know this is a lot. like, i know it's like drinking out of a fire hose, i do. let me be clear. i sent them into chaos zone intentionally. i learned over the years that it was better for people to see the problem themselves than to listen to me tell them that there was a problem.

it's really important to me that people do the work themselves and solve the problems themselves. i'm not gonna be there every day. pantelis, you are responsible for the organization of this entire facility. pantelis: okay. lemonis: and nobody can help you because i want you to take ownership of one thing and have nobody mess with you. okay, guys, thank you. zoe: okay. thanks. lemonis: one of the mistakes that i made in this process is that i should have actually drawn a visual for the three of them like a highway and everybody's got their own lane and then define inside of that lane what was gonna actually happen. that last piece was me starting to outline highway lane number one. pantelis, you're in charge of the organization. while pantelis works on organizing the whole shipping area, i want to get started on renovating the retail space. i want to figure out a way to eliminate that wall and open up this whole space. we're moving all the shipping to the back and we're gonna take the old retail space and combine it with the old shipping space

with a giant window so we could see what's happening in the kitchen. while construction is going on up front, the retail store will be closed. when i look back at the idea of renovating the front space, i probably went a little too overboard. i probably spent $20,000 or $30,000 more than i should have, but i was likening it to getting dressed to go to work. right? if you look good and you feel good and you're professional, your behavior is going to follow what you've dressed yourself as. and i looked at that retail store as the window dressing behind the level of professionalism that i was looking for from this company behind the wall. ♪♪ good morning. zoe: good morning. petros: good morning. lemonis: how are you? i asked zoe and petros to meet me in my office in los angeles. in that office is a company i invested in about a year ago called flex watches. over the last year, these guys have proved themselves

to be masters at marketing and branding, so i wanted them to sit down with zoe and petros and see if they can come up with some new ideas. so why don't you start with your inspiration boards? sean: so the first step in our process is usually to do research on the brand and find out the brand's story and where you guys come from. we went back and we looked at inspiration from the mediterranean and from greece. and that's where we first start is looking at kind of... lemonis: there's that zoe smirk. here she comes. ready? go ahead. sean: ...start to build just a basic color palette off of that. lemonis: what do you think of the color palette? zoe: [ laughing ] i don't think of that with our company. why would you choose all blue if you have...? how does it differentiate between different flavors? ♪♪ petros: like, when i see that, it reminds me of, uh... zoe: going to church. ♪♪

trevor: i mean, if that cross is gone, does that change your mind-set on the church? zoe: no, the font is very churchy to me. lemonis: "the font is very churchy." zoe: our circle with the big "z" in the middle, it's very identifiable. amber: were you frustrated when zoe was extremely outspoken in the presentation or was that just passion? lemonis: this is probably one of the few moments where i thought that zoe was being unreasonable and not listening. if you were meeting with a world-class agency, you wouldn't exactly make them warm and fuzzy about helping you if the first thing you said is, "your work looks stupid and it's just wrong." i mean, honestly, if you want to stop, we can because... zoe: no, i mean... lemonis: ...these guys put a lot of work into this, and i feel like you're not even being open-minded about hearing what they have to say. you're like, "i don't like it." sean: our initial reaction to the branding and the logo was that we didn't know how it connected to you. zoe: what's the story to this, that we're greek? lemonis: i don't want to be here. this makes me crazy. there's really three degrees of marcus -- really nice and passive, pissed off and quiet,

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was that we didn't know how it connected to you. zoe: what's the story to this, that we're greek? lemonis: yeah, you are greek, by the way, because every friggin' chocolate you make, you told me when i first met you, had a bunch of greek traces or mediterranean traces to it with tahini and baklava and sesame and all these other things. if you have a company that leans one way or the other, either embrace it or get away from it, but don't try to act like it isn't connected. your dad is an immigrant from greece. he came to this country and became a chocolate-maker. i don't think it's so visceral that, like, people are gonna be like, "oh [bleep] i'm not buying the chocolate." it's a work in process. man: exactly. lemonis: this packaging is gonna start getting produced next week.

and so you're gonna be working directly with sean on landing at a final place because we are going to have new packaging and new colors. get to work, okay, guys? ♪♪ eleni: hey, we put dad to work. zoe: nice. so i wanted to talk to you guys about, um, how he wants us to tell the story about why we came back home. i feel uncomfortable talking about it, and i don't know exactly what... how to handle it. amber: why was zoe so resistant to tell your story? lemonis: i think ultimately she was doing everything she could to protect her family's business. as i've gotten to know them more over the years, i realized that yeses or nos are all based on how she wants to protect her family. amber: right. lemonis: she doesn't do it to me anymore

because she feels comfortable with me. she includes me in everything. it's not the five of them. it's the six of us. zoe: it was a tough time for everybody, and i don't like reliving it. and i don't want dad to be upset or to be sad. eleni: i think it's an important thing you should do because it was a difficult time, and i think, for the longest time, we put it under the rug, but i don't think we're unique in situations like this. and i don't think we should feel embarrassed because you have to know how important you guys were all for us, especially for dad. george: how strong we got is because everybody loves it... ...because of you. lemonis: i love the dad. don't you? amber: yeah. lemonis: doesn't everybody love the dad? amber: i did. eleni: the fact that we've managed to get past everything, you should be proud. lemonis: amazing. eleni: you should be proud because you've proven how much you care for us, also,

and i think that's extremely important as parents, that you have always been there for us. i don't think we could have really asked for anything more. zoe: well, mom, you're such a good teacher. such a good mom. george: we love you. zoe: i love you, too. ♪♪ lemonis: now i'm gonna give you a little inside information, and that is that i had several conversations with mom and dad about the importance of them being the bridge builder on this particular topic. and i knew that zoe would listen to mom or dad. and so i said to her, "you should talk to mom and dad and see how they feel about this. and if they say no, then i'll stop talking about it." when there's a family business, you can't insert yourself in the middle of it. you have to stand on the sidelines and try to direct and coach from the outside and hope that they can build the bridge together. ♪♪ i'm back at the shop, and i want to check on how pantelis

is doing with organizing the entire facility. okay, i like what i'm seeing so far. zoe: yay. we worked our asses off organizing it. lemonis: guys, it doesn't look that much more organized, it just looks like there's just less [bleep] here. pantelis: we had to, you know, get orders out. we still had to do online shipping. sorry you don't like it, but it's pretty much the best that could be done. lemonis: okay, well, what about that? pantelis: those are orders. lemonis: look at it. pantelis: what should i do with it? lemonis: organize it. pantelis: it's organized -- online, wholesale. lemonis: when i see a stack of papers like that, i understand that people are overwhelmed. but one of the things you want to do if you have online orders is to organize them in a way assuming that somebody may get hit by a bus. and if pantelis gets hit by a bus, who's gonna fill these orders and figure out what exactly is there? and so you always want to leave a business in a structure and a process in an organized manner so that the next person walking in that has no idea what's happening

can clearly understand it. i mean... pantelis: don't let it fool you. it's not that bad. lemonis: don't let it fool me? no, no, don't let it fool you. pantelis: no, it didn't -- lemonis: it's not that good. we got to fix it up. really? ♪♪ it's like a...maze here. is this coal or something? pantelis: that's the chocolate from where it drips underneath the enrober. lemonis: clean it up! so here's the moment of truth. do you guys want me to be your business partner or not? all: yeah. zoe: yeah, i mean, we called you for that. we're hard workers. we're up for a challenge. lemonis: when i'm outnumbered with three people against one, i tend to amp up my intensity, hoping that the three of them band together against me and they really rally by figuring out who's gonna do what and how they're gonna solve the problem. and the three of them are like, "'f' him. we're gonna show him. we're gonna clean this place up and we're gonna organize everything."

ultimately, i get the last laugh, but that's a little bit of my strategy sometimes when i feel like i'm outnumbered. i don't want to be here because of [bleep] like this. this makes me crazy. zoe: i 100% agree. we need to clean it. lemonis: why does it look like this? zoe: it shouldn't look like that 'cause we overlooked it. lemonis: you overlooked that, you overlooked the stuff in the back. zoe: you didn't see all the stuff that we did do. we did as much as we physically could do. pantelis: we'll get it together. lemonis: when?! pantelis: we're gonna get it together. lemonis: when are you gonna get it together? pantelis: i'm doing it right now. lemonis: when? zoe: we want to get better. our ultimate goal is to make this company great. lemonis: but i can only see that with actions. ♪♪ that was one of my most frustrating moments when they were like, "we're gonna do it." it's like, "but when? when are you going to decide that process and flow is the key to profitability?" i don't think i was asking for a lot. usually i have to get frustrated or raise my voice so that they understand that, yes, i can be a nice person, but there's a line for me. and there's really three degrees of marcus.

there's really nice and passive. there's pissed off and quiet. and there's "i'm gonna blow you up and melt your face off." if you watch the episodes, you've seen all three of them. amber: what are you here with these people -- 1, 2, or 3? lemonis: i go between 1 and 2 with zoe's. i've never hit 3 with them, ever. never even 2.2. zoe: definitely don't like the font. that's a no for me. lemonis: can i be honest with you? that kind of pissed me off.

i have an idea for a trade. zoe: we wa oh yeah, you going to place it? not until i'm sure. why don't you call td ameritrade for a strategy gut check? what's that? you run it by an expert, you talk about the risk and potential profit and loss. could've used that before i hired my interior decorator. voila! maybe a couple throw pillows would help. get a strategy gut check from our trade desk. ♪♪

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all our techs are pros. they know exactly which parking lots have the strongest signal. i just don't have the bandwidth for more business. seriously, i don't have the bandwidth. glitchy video calls with regional offices? yeah, that's my thing. with at&t business, you do the things you love. our people and network will help do the things you don't. let's take care of business. at&t. liberty mutual customizes- wait... am i in one of those liberty mutual commercials where they stand in front of the statue of liberty and talk about how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? uhhh... yes. huh... what happens in this one? seagulls. oh, i like it. how are you doing? (seagulls sounds) only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

our ultimate goal is to make this company great. lemonis: but i can only see that with actions. zoe: help us. we're trying to learn how to do that better. lemonis: here's what we need to do -- clean the place and get it organized first, which is what i thought i was coming back to. ♪♪ i thought i sent the message that i wanted the place cleaned up, but i wanted to give them a chance to do it themselves. i feel like the only way i'm gonna get it done is if i start doing it, and maybe they'll take a clue from it. i'm pissed. ♪♪ so, do you like this or not like this? zoe: no. do not like it. lemonis: we need to figure out our branding and we're gonna do it now, so i'm bringing more mock-ups for zoe to review. zoe: well, i definitely don't like the font. that's a no for me, but the boys like it. this could potentially be cool. lemonis: here's a news flash for everybody. this is what it finally ended up being. and everything i did got replaced because zoe still couldn't get comfortable. i have to be honest, she did a great job.

meanwhile, we're putting the finishing touches on the entire renovation and we're hanging pictures that speak to the family's history. the shelves are going in, but most importantly, we're putting in a ton of customer seating. i want the locals to feel comfortable to hang out here and have a cup of hot chocolate. and with the grand opening right around the corner, i'm anxious to see what new products petros has come up with. petros: this is a quinoa brittle. lemonis: those are good. amber: how many sku's do they have? lemonis: today? 42, i think. but they bring them in and out. and so it's important to know that what they used to do is they used to have everything all the time, and they've gotten really good at bringing things in and out. zoe could be...one of the best seasonal promoters and product creators that i've ever seen. she really embraces the holiday and brings her product to life. pantelis: starting here, all of our barcode upcs are labeled here. lemonis: love that. finished goods here. pantelis: finished goods, as well, yeah. lemonis: all labeled. i think you did an amazing job.

it feels like a real production process now, and it's, like, ready for volume. lastly, i have some exciting news that i want to share with the family. i am taking you to miami. we are going to be meeting with norwegian cruise lines to put your chocolate on all of their boats around the world. zoe: that's awesome. pantelis: amazing. lemonis: they needed to have a library of types of pieces -- 50 pieces, 18 bars, and 12 novelty pieces. zoe: we'll have it ready. ♪♪ zoe: we'd like to tell you guys a little bit about our company. so we grew up in the family business, and aside from having our dad be mr. willy wonka, we loved it. but ultimately, we all left and went to school, continued our professions, and after about 30-some years, our father lost his job. so we left our jobs, we moved back into our parents' house

to continue on the family legacy and also start something for our dad again. petros: we wanted to create flavors that really stepped outside of the box with a large array of products. so we have everything from apple pie to baklava chocolates. we have things like gluten-free chocolate-covered cookies for kids. pantelis: and we're committed. i mean, no matter how big an order, no matter what you might need specifically for your vips or your birthday parties, maybe even a wedding, we make it happen. lemonis: i have to tell you, this presentation is one of the best presentations that i've ever seen, and i did not help them at all. and this is an example of business owners listening and learning through the entire process and most importantly, trusting the process. meg: that's great. the three of you seem super passionate about your brand, but what's the largest order you've ever done? pantelis: um, 7,000 bars. meg: 7,000 is less than two ships. pantelis: okay. ♪♪

lemonis: can i be honest with you? that kind of pissed me off when that lady said that because i felt like the family showed up and gave an a-plus presentation. in that moment, it took a lot for me not to step in and say, "hey, wait a minute, please don't be dismissive of my family, my business family." zoe: what is something that you would like to see from us? lemonis: and that's why zoe and her brothers are successful entrepreneurs. if you're looking to take your business to the next level, log on to... broken windshield... take 1... meg: hey guys, my windshield just got broken, i feel like i need to blow off some steam. let's go... 1, 2, 3, 4... mr. blanks? there's no need to be stressed.

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we have the capacity to do at least 5 times what we're doing right now. meg: which is roughly... pantelis: we do about 700,000 pieces. zoe: a year. ross: you think you're producing 20% of what you're capable of? petros: i would estimate about, yeah, about 20%. lemonis: one of the things that i watched the family do just then, they said, "well, i'm sorry, you're too small." and then they came back with, "well, we can do much more than that. our capacity is a little lower." and so it's a good idea for you to really practice how you deal with the customer saying no and how you're gonna solve that problem. ross: i think we'd start with one ship. that's typically what we do with anything new. zoe: what can we do to get your business? what is something that you would like to see from us? lemonis: boom. there you go, zoe. meg: ...brands that have recognition or a key differentiator to bring onboard. i think your heritage and how you came into this business is actually something that really differentiates you. the more you can share that with people through the product, through the visual identity of your company, i think the more it can be a strength for you. zoe: can we leave here today with a handshake

that we will develop a program for you guys? meg: we would love to see the program you have to offer. zoe: thank you very much. lemonis: that's why she's a badass. she dealt with all the issues around the story. she heard the story. and then what did she do? she went in for the close. and oftentimes -- you guys have watched the episode for years -- the business owner forgets to ask for the sale. they do all this work to prepare for it, and then they forget to ask for the handshake. and that's why zoe and her brothers are successful entrepreneurs. today's the day of the grand opening, and i couldn't be more excited to get the store put together. okay. the new space looks amazing. i put over $100,000 into renovating the facility. i installed new floors, new ceiling, a giant window to look inside, new lighting, new fixtures, new displays. the new look and branding came out amazing. it's got a touch of what zoe wanted and a touch of what i wanted. but what was most important is the picture of george.

ultimately, this was about him. how is dad? zoe: dad's doing great. lemonis: does he come in a couple of times a week? zoe: every day. petros: he's here every day. i mean, he sees, you know, how the business is evolving. and i think he feels rewarded, you know. pantelis: and he's part of it. he's grateful every day for being able to come down here. lemonis: are we ready? zoe: yeah. -eleni: we're ready. -george: yes! everything is gorgeous. we've gone through a lot of ups and downs many years ago, and thanks to my kids, very, very happy. and very proud. lemonis: wow. george, since this business was all really built for you -- you're the one that taught everybody everything -- i would like you to be the one to turn the sign. george: okay. lemonis: okay, are you ready? george: i'm ready. ♪♪

zoe: hello. welcome. lemonis: go around. you can sample anything you want. welcome. this is zoe. zoe: hi. very nice to meet you. pantelis: we have a hazelnut for you. it's hazelnut with roasted hazelnuts on top. you like that? good, good. lemonis: when you look at all the businesses over the years that have been on the show -- 7 years and over 100 businesses -- there are some common themes that separate the success stories from the failures. in some cases, the failures are my fault. i picked the wrong people or i make the wrong choices. but in all cases, the success stories are rooted in the people that own the business because they're able to make the changes. they're able to trust the process and they're able to understand the delineation between people, process and product. and when something gets out around, they know how to fix it. i'm very proud of how you handled this whole process. i really enjoyed it. zoe: thank you. i appreciate it. lemonis: now the hard work begins. pantelis: yeah, we're ready for it. lemonis: very proud of you, pantelis. pantelis: thank you very much. petros: thank you very much for everything.

lemonis: really proud of you. you have a great family and your great parents. i'll see you soon. you guys really are the role model of a family business. let's talk a little bit about the business. what's happened over the last couple of years? petros: you know, the kitchen's been way more streamlined. everything's been picking up a lot more in the kitchen. i mean, we're running, you know, eight hours nonstop, seven days a week. zoe: we still work with williams-sonoma, lockheed martin. pantelis: mgm, just, you know, now that they reopened again, the casinos. zoe: the minibars. pantelis: yeah, the minibars, those have been pretty good. petros: but we can't discount, like, the smaller stuff, too. you know, the wine shops, things like that. they're, you know, they're steady always. zoe: yeah. and they haven't left, which is good. lemonis: i think you guys have demonstrated what most businesses strive for -- good growth, profitability, margin improvement, but respect and consistency. you guys really are the role model of a family business.

petros: really kind words. zoe: we appreciate that. lemonis: zoe, if you love zoe's as much as i do, will you please buy some damn chocolate once and for all? amber: and send some. lemonis: we're not sending anybody anything. amber: where's my finder's fee? lemonis: you don't get a finder's fee. you get a discount of 1%. amber: thanks, sport. and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." i fell to the floor. i just remember, like, she's dead, she's dead. and i was so confused. i was like, what's going on? what-- what happened? josh mankiewicz: a small texas town, two super close friends, and a summer night in the park. they have this lookout. and you could see the harbor bridge lit up. it's really pretty when the stars are out. josh mankiewicz: it was the next morning that they found it. travis weismann: i could see the two girls lying there.