lemonis: okay. erik: well, basically, what you do is you go online. you would select from a program, whatever you'd like. these are the programs. and we deliver gourmet health food right to your door. lemonis: fuel foods offers various meal plans. if you buy 10 meals, the cost is $9.50 a meal. but if you pre-pay for 300 meals, it drops to $7.50 a meal. now, that's a big discount. but incentives like that help cash flow, and they build brand loyalty. erik: so, we don't have any real production going on today. we have packing going on today. we're packing for tomorrow's orders. they'll arrive tomorrow to the clients. lemonis: so, today's thursday. what days do you cook? erik: i'll show you here. lemonis: what do these different colors represent? -erik: it's a packing day. -lemonis: okay. erik: so, we're packing on this day for delivery tomorrow. -lemonis: okay. -erik: same deal here. they're packing here for delivery on friday. lemonis: and when is the food prepared? erik: the menu changes twice a wee

lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. lemonis: if you don't like money, don't follow my process. lemonis: i make the tough decisions. lemonis: we're closing the store. we're done. i'm not talking about it anymore. lemonis: i back them up, spending my own money. it's not always pretty... man: perfect flavor. lemonis: ...but this is business. lemonis: you got to trust the process. lemonis: i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. lemonis: thanks for your business. lemonis: this is "the profit." queens, new york, is a dense and diverse world of cultures and businesses. and it's home to artistic stitch, an embroidery and silk-screening business run by sal loretta and nick meola. the company started 18 years ago in sal's garage. -sal: where we at with this job? -fabio: it'll be done today. lemonis: today, it's become a $2-million-a-year business, the bulk of that revenue coming from uniforms, hats, and custom shirts. fabio: hey, that's one down. here we go. here we go. lemonis: two years ago, sal and nick decided to mo

lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis.i made a deal for me to put $75,000 into this business, and i'll own 25% of the business. you can expect the entire process in here to change dramatically. how many of you have seen the recipe book and studied on it and been trained on it? you been trained on the recipe book? that's because there is no recipe book. we're gonna upgrade and improve the process and the equipment so that the same amount of people can make enough pie to not run out at 2:00. on a scale of 1-10 -- "10" being laser-focused, "1" being all over the place, describe her. 1-10. shay: all over the place. lemonis: so that's a 1. -shay: i would say a 3. lemonis: a 3. man: i think 3 sounds pretty accurate. -lemonis: 3? -man #2: 3. -lemonis: 3? -woman: 3. -lemonis: 3? -man #3: 3. lemonis: betty's struggling to manage this place, let alone her second place, which has been a drain on her time and her money. so for now, i want her to focus on this location and this location only. while you guys have done a good job, you've

-lemonis: $7.: we want to deliver a high-quality burger with the freshest and finest ingredients. a $7 burger isn't gonna work. we want to average a 25% food cost. if the burger costs us $3.50 to make, then the retail price is gonna have to be around $12. we're gonna operate with the food cost as our basis, not our gut. what is the first thing that somebody will order? fuji: a burger. lemonis: and how are we presenting it? fuji: lettuce, tomato, and ketchup and cheese. that's gonna be the standard. lemonis: we know that, with the margins on fries, right, it probably costs us somewhere around 50 cents with packaging and everything. and we're gonna sell our fries for $5. think about the margins on that. today, 70% of their revenue comes from selling hamburgers. and so we want to drive the product mix to have hamburgers not be more than 50% of all the product that we sell. the other 50% of the products that we sell have to be products with margins of 80% and 85%, like fries, potatoes, ice cream. we're

-lemonis: okay. lady: i never understood that market. we had mill valley, california. lemonis: [ laughing ] and why didn't it work? please, don't say because you didn't know the market. lady: that is what happened there. lemonis: jeans isn't barbecue. it's not that complicated. whether this is cleveland or the most fascinating city in america, it's jeans. really. so three stores left today. lady: yes -- san francisco, chicago, then dallas. lemonis: what was the worst year? lady: i believe 2013. and we did like $8 million on the top line, -but we had losses. -lemonis: how much was that? lady: $396,000. lemonis: and that was with 13 stores? lady: that was with the whole engine running. lemonis: ah. in 2013, lady did $8 million in sales across 13 stores but lost close to $400,000. that's because only three of the stores were actually making money. and the big problem was they weren't making enough money to keep the other 10 open. and so the only solution was to keep those three and say goodbye to the re

lemonis: wow. over 600,000 customers per year, and a little over 1/3 of them order coffee. that equals about 220,000 cups per year. in one pound of coffee, you can make 40 cups of coffee. based on that, larkin's would need to order just under 5,800 pounds of coffee per year. west end sells it at a wholesale price of $7.25, then from this one meeting alone, they would generate $42,000 a year in sales. that's 5% of their annual revenue with just one meeting. -i'll turn it over to you guys. -john: okay. we appreciate the time that you guys have given us today. i realize how valuable that is. and we're here just to tell you about west end coffee. we are a full-service coffee-roasting facility. man: if it was a custom blend. becky: i don't know if we're gonna offer a private recipe for larkin's. if that's the case, we wouldn't have that on the shelf. john: to answer your question, chef, if you order that on monday, you'll have it in your kitchen on friday. so it may not necessarily be true that we would

-lemonis: how are you, sir? -lemonis: i'm marcus. -armik: armik. -lemonis: nice to meet you.-mark: we've met before. -armik: oh, yeah. mark: yeah, he used to pour candles for me. armik: mm-hmm. mark: but, uh, there were some issues. lemonis: what is mark doing? i just told him two minutes ago not to lead with the disagreement that they had. you know what i think the problem is? he doesn't want to give up control of making candles. he wants to continue to be a one-man band and keep this business in his garage. mark: instead of you doing the two blends -- it was a blend, remember? it was like a 75-25. there was a pom and a soy. you only filled it with the pom. you didn't blend it. armik: this is not the way which we agreed. based on our papers, we did right. and i had asked him, if you want, you know, just send it back. send it back. we are gonna correct it. mark: okay, see, i didn't want to get into it. lemonis: stop for a second. question i have for you is can you accept that there was a difference of opinion? mark: yes. i'd love to move forward. lemonis: but are you gonna mo

lemonis: okay. i feel like we've put a great collection together, and i'm excited to see how it goes. i'm marcus. how are you? -steven: i'm steven jones. -lemonis: nice to meet you, sir. allison: hi. i'm allison. lemonis: this hotel is one of the best resorts in all of florida. people from all over the country come here. how many total rooms in the entire property? steven: the property consists of 250 rooms. lemonis: i think it's a real opportunity to not only make money but get the brand out. steven: if you're looking at our colors, is that something you could incorporate into it? allison: yes. absolutely. john: how do i know if this has been in a room for four months? allison: we would co-date. however, once your guests are tasting it that's not going to be an issue. lemonis: we sell about $1 million a year just in sea salt caramels. john: wow. -steven: a lot here. -john: yeah. a lot of options and a lot of customization which is nice, as well. allison: yeah, we would love to work with you. steven

lemonis: tonightrob: whoo!rofit," lemonis: ...it's a business unlike any i've ever visited, at a start-up specializing in sleek and stylish longboards... i'm honestly blown away by the quality. ...something is very wrong. as an outsider looking in, it's kind of unsettling. the product is absurdly overpriced. mike: it's $329 retail. rob: do you just want to not do well? lemonis: the owner is often absent. mike: i have obligations that -- lemonis: well, what are they other than your business? and what scares me the most is that the employees are fleeing... where is everybody? ...in droves. josh: nate's no longer here. chris quit. mike: nearly 100% turnover in staff. lemonis: why are these people leaving? -mike: i don't know. -lemonis: bull[bleep] if i can't figure out what's fueling this mass exodus... when they quit, they're basically saying, "you're fired." ...kota longboards will come up short. my name is marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not gonna wake up every morni

-lemonis: well... while i appreciate keith recognizing his brother's experience, i'm not quite sure that 50/50 is exactly the right formula. if i asked most of the employees here who is in charge, what would they say? matt? -your name is matt, right? -matt: yes, sir. lemonis: who's in charge between the two of them? if the building is burning down, who do you go ask? matt: i call 911. [ laughter ] lemonis: when you have a situation where there's 50/50 partners, you also have 50/50 leaders with no one clearly in charge. what is the total revenue of the business? keith: last year, our revenues were down a little bit. -we did three and a half. -lemonis: $3.5 million? keith: yeah, just over $3.5 million. the two years prior to that, we were $4.3 million and $4.4 million, respectively. lemonis: so, business is down. keith: one of my bigger customers, they slowed down for a couple months. -lemonis: what's the name? -keith: weis markets. lemonis: weis markets? okay. of the $3.5 million, how much do they do a

-lemonis: 10 days? -joe t.: more than that. -lemonis: 100? -joe t.: no. -lemonis: 30?more. -lemonis: 60? -joe t.: yeah. -lemonis: 60 days? -joe t.: yeah. lemonis: there was 60-days time between you terminating the person and you stopping your communication with her? which means, joe, that it still happened inside of the window that you and i were partners. this discussion is about you making a decision that put the business in jeopardy. joe t.: i know, that's what you're saying. lemonis: you put your partners in jeopardy, you put me in jeopardy. why did you fire her? joe t.: she was being evaluated over time, and so was everyone else. lemonis: when i first got there, you never said to me, "there's a list of employees. they're problem children. i'm having to coach them." joe t.: i am not the person who's gonna say, "hey, i'm done with that person." i'm going to try to put them through my training program and see what i can do to make them better employees. lemonis: did you do that with the young lady? joe t.: as a group? absolutely. lemonis: i'm not saying as a group. w

lemonis: yeah.an #2: have you figured it out? 'cause we don't know. woman: she's off saturday, sunday, and monday. woman #2: she should be here on saturday. our biggest day she's not even a part of. i just don't... lemonis: how does this affect you in doing your job? woman #2: mis-booked appointments, lack of assistance, and just customer service and lack of product. woman #3: we have never seen her once come up anything about inventory, about putting things in the computer. lemonis: nobody in here has ever talked to carolyn? woman: i think she has some idea. woman #3: but she's the type of person that thinks with her heart. she never wants to, you know, hurt anyone. she wants to give someone the benefit of the doubt, you know? lemonis: communication doesn't exist here. it's like the inmates are running the asylum. i'm hoping that she has a better feel for her financials. i need to understand the revenue. what's the total revenue, and how does that break down per store? carolyn: annually? lemonis: y

lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. if you don't like money, don't follow my process. i make the tough decisions. we're closing the store. we're done. i'm not talking about it anymore. i back them up, spending my own money. it's not always pretty... man: perfect flavor. lemonis: ...but this is business. you got to trust the process. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. thanks for your business. this is "the profit." coopersburg, pennsylvania is about an hour north of philadelphia, in the heart of amish country. and it's home to coopersburg sports, a novelty-and-sports business. scott pino started the business in 1991... scott: i can't find the yankee order out here. lemonis: ...shortly after he secured the coveted license from major league baseball. he eventually was able to place his mini bat, his top seller, in every major league baseball park. business was great, and they were pulling in over $4 million a year and making a hefty buck. but in 2008, a major sporting-good company entered the novelty game, an

lemonis: yeah.ike: we were not gonna succeed at doing that. this is like hand-to-hand combat. kind of the art of war. go where your enemy isn't. lemonis: they've kind of limited themselves to one length. basically what you're telling me is you're gonna do the opposite of where the market is. i don't think that sounds like a good idea. has sort of a rubbery feel to it. mike: yeah. exactly. you can feel the grip on that finish, so you don't need grip tape. lemonis: so, nobody else has this sort of finish. mike: nobody else in the industry has this. lemonis: what does it cost to make? mike: well, we're right at about $116, complete. -lemonis: all in. -mike: yeah. lemonis: including all the loaded labor. mike: exactly. lemonis: and the average retail price of a product like this? mike: they're all the same. $329. we're moving to $349 next year. uh, that's reasonable for this product. lemonis: for who? mike: certainly for that action-sports, active-lifestyle person between 35 to 55. lemonis: yeah. if the

-lemonis: okay. so, when i look at the showroom build-out of $100,000, how did you fund that -- cash? steve: yeah. lemonis: ooh. that's a lot of cash. steve: i don't have credit. you know, we lost a condo in the keys. we've got cars repossessed. lemonis: what happened that caused cars to get repossessed? mary: the recession, everything. lemonis: the recession crushed you guys. lemonis: not only does grafton have a million dollars in debt, but it's with three or four different lenders. the problem is, when they have a downturn, they're not just in trouble with one bank. they're in trouble with lots of different lenders. in a downturn in the economy, this is one of the first affected. this business is good when it's good, but it's scary when it's bad. and so a business like this should have no debt, 'cause you can't handle the recession. steve: correct. lemonis: today, grafton operating only with custom furniture is a very dangerous proposition. you're dealing with high-end clients and high-end real es

-lemonis: how you doing? anthony: mr. marcus lemonis. it's such a pleasure to finally -- -lemonis: are you anthony? -anthony: yes, sir, it is. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -anthony: pleasure to meet you. lemonis: you know what i love about highway 17? anthony: it's a lot of signs? lemonis: [ laughing ] all the signs. anthony: yeah, new signs, we do a lot of. we just did one, the car wash. i don't know if you saw it on the way here. big l.e.d. board, it was about 32 grand. we just finished it. lemonis: oh, whoa. anthony: customer's really stoked about it. lemonis: now, i don't know your business, and i'm excited to learn it. and so i know a little bit about it, 'cause i buy a couple million dollars a year worth of signs across all these businesses. anthony: i know a good sign company. -lemonis: i know you do. -anthony: [ laughs ] lemonis: but i got to get comfortable with what you're doing. so, what exactly does asl signs do? anthony: we are a one-stop shop manufacturing plant. so we do high volume, low labor. -lemonis: banners? -anthony:

lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. if you don't like money, don't follow my process. i make the tough decisions. we're closing the store, we're done, i'm not talking about it anymore. i back them up, spending my own money. it's not always pretty... man: perfect flavor. lemonis: ...but this is business. you got to trust the process. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. thanks for your business. this is "the profit." fairfield, connecticut, is a pretty new england town right on the coast of the long island sound, and swansons fish market is one of fairfield's local institutions. for over 40 years, they've been selling fresh fish, hot soups, and doing a little catering and, along the way, got their fair share of critical acclaim. gary: okay, you're getting the works today. lemonis: gary swanson jr. took the market over from his dad and worked alongside his wife, sue, and they made a comfortable life for his family. but on july 4, 2009, a fire destroyed his original store. [ siren wails ] dispatcher: code 6. ga

to-lemonis: wow!profit"... this thing's beautiful. ...two english gazebo makers are chasing their american dream. you guys build these from scratch? damion: everything. we design it, we manufacture it, and we install it. lemonis: but while their product is a thing of beauty, the business is anything but. damion: patronize me like that. -that's what you do. -simon: i'm not patronizing you. damion: little things like that -- that's what pisses me off. lemonis: their process is amateurish. damion: we have to drive a mile down the road to use the restroom. lemonis: their marketing is misguided. how do you acquire your customers? damion: 99% of our business comes from these fairs. lemonis: and their relationship is at a breaking point. damion: you're making it out that you just sat back... simon: i'm not making it out at all. he asked me, so i told him. damion: ...drinking a whiskey, smoking a cigar. lemonis: if i can't help them get their house in order, this company will fall to pieces. damion: it's so hard for me

-lemonis: yep.tephanie: [ sighs ] lemonis: well, you know, i've spent the last couple days asking you guys a lot of questions. while i struggle a lot with the product, you guys have spent a lot of time working really hard, but the business is really in trouble. i mean, you do $5 million of sales. but at the end of the day, last year, you lost money. stephanie: how do you envision the growth of this business? lemonis: it's about changing every single product that you have. you have $900,000 tied up in inventory. half of it should go into the garbage. how long can you survive? nicolas: we're trying to be as lean as possible. i have about three months where i won't be able to pay my rent at home. lemonis: how much money do you think this business needs? nicolas: i believe it needs around $1 million. it's 20% of what we do on an annual basis. lemonis: well, it's 20% of what you sell. my offer is $800,000. i have full control. there's 100% of the stock today. -i'll have 50% of it. -noemi: [ gasps ] steph

lemonis: okay. franchising is an incredibly attractive business model because it allows you to get paid once you perfect a concept. my big fat greek gyro only gets about $10,000 when they sign up a new franchise. in success, that fee could grow much higher. better still, each of your franchisees pay the owner a royalty on a monthly basis. that could be anywhere between 4% and 12% of your monthly sales. mike: right now we're making about $60,000, $65,000 annually on royalties. lemonis: they pay an up-front fee. mike: correct. lemonis: you control the branding. mike: correct. lemonis: who picks the locations? who goes out and vets it 'cause it's your brand? mike: i do. lemonis: who developed the menu? kathleen: we did. lemonis: i was gonna take a trip to greece this summer, and i'm looking for tater tots... cheese sticks, cheddar balls, mushrooms. -hummus isn't greek. -andreas: lebanese. lemonis: what do you actually make yourself? mike: we have the traditional gyro. we have steak. we have fresh chick

lemonis: okay. so, there's more expansion land. norton: as long as we keep getting business, we can keep adding on. lemonis: how much is lunch? -norton: $8.95. -lemonis: and dinner? norton: $12.70 for an adult. lynn: plus tax. lemonis: all you can eat, $13.95? norton: yeah, that includes drinks and dessert. lemonis: i mean, that's a heck of a deal. $13.95 for an adult price on a buffet with chicken and ribs? that's a great price, but i don't know how they make that work. can we take a look at the kitchen? lynn: yeah, come on. let's show you the kitchen. this is lynn's world. lemonis: what is in lynn's world? lynn: we make the biscuits, the dessert. lemonis: when do you make the biscuits? can we make them together? lynn: yeah, we can make them together. they're a lot of fun. lemonis: how much time a day does this take you to make? lynn: well, 30 minutes a batch. that includes the prep time. but we're doing eight batches. lemonis: four hours a day, almost. lynn: yep. lemonis: who makes the biscuits he

lemonis: for how long? -tamika: like a year. -lemonis: wow.tonnie's basically relying on free labor. and the fact that his sister is willing to help out shows that he has real backing from his family. that's a big advantage when you're struggling. so, who's doing the quality control on this kind of stuff? -tamika: myself and tonnie. -lemonis: yourself? and so do you think this looks right? tamika: no, that one's not going out. lemonis: i don't want to see paper. this wouldn't clear. tamika: and the more we go through, we realize how much is wasted. lemonis: when this happens, two from the same batch at the same time, there's no process. tamika: and let me tell you, i have fought with my brother on this process. lemonis: why are you fighting with him? why aren't you just fixing it? -does he listen to you? -tamika: no. -lemonis: no? -tamika: no. lemonis: that looks nice. are you a professional cake decorator? marcus: yeah, i am. lemonis: it's a small space to work, no? and is tonnie easy to work with? marcus: yeah. lemonis: and how about her? is

-lemonis: and be open-minded. -giovanni: you've got it. lemonis: richard, i'm marcus lemonis.tt. lemonis: scott, nice to meet you. -scott: hi. -lemonis: this is lisa. -we'd love to get a tour. -giovanni: yeah. scott: we need to get you guys suited up. giovanni: holy [bleep] ♪ lemonis: what we saw when we walked into that place is the most professional, state-of-the-art food-manufacturing facility that i had ever seen in my life. giovanni: wow. scott: this is our q.a. lab. lemonis: so, this is chicken, beef, salmon, and egg. scott: all basically no byproducts, no corn, wheat, soy. lemonis: we saw their attention to detail, and we saw the great pride they have in making sure that pets stay healthy. i could tell this is having a real impact on lisa. man: check it out. lisa: it's awesome to see it in action and how it goes from this to the actual product. it's very impressive. lemonis: what i hope lisa learned from this trip is in order to grow your business, you have to be open-minded and learn and do research. freshpet is an opportunity for them to grow their business. if they h

lemonis: ...their business will burn out. my name is marcus lemonis,

>> my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. i don't know how you run your business this way. i make tough decisions. i can tell you for damn sure, you're replaceable. and i back them up with my own cash. there's your check. it's not always pretty. everybody's working hard, not just you. but this is business. >> i was just gonna try to stop you in your tracks. >> you'll never to stop me in my tracks. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. >> ching-ching. >> this is the profit. [upbeat music] ♪ worldwide trailers designs, builds, and sells concession trailers, mostly to food vendors. tom etheridge and nancy pappas started the company in 2001, and took it from a backyard start-up to a multimillion dollar business. >> you got 50%. i got 50%. >> tom and nancy were a couple, and although their relationship came to an abrupt end three years ago, they have continued to work together. >> working with nancy is difficult. nance, you never agree with anything i say anyway, so what's the point? >> i not only run the company, but i

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. 2.5 million people visit key west a year, and you only sell 40,000 pies. i make tough decisions. we're closing the store. we're done. i'm not talking about it anymore. and i back them up with my own cash. >> check that out. >> it's not always pretty... >> tired of this bull[bleep]. >> but this is business. >> we're gonna have a battle on this one. >> i do it to save jobs... i got to get some stuff done and you're gonna be our leader here. and i do it to make money. this the profit. [theme music] ♪ u.s. key lime pie company is a pie maker located in beautiful and sunny key west, florida. jim brush... >> jeff! >> and his girlfriend, alison sloat, bought the company, recipes and all, over ten years ago for just $1,200, and have grown the business from selling pies on the side of the road to having their key lime pie named the nation's best pie by the american pie counsel. even though they generate $1.4 million in sales, they have yet to turn a profit. >> we really are a victim of our own

lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses.u don't like money, don't follow my process. i make the tough decisions. we're closing the store, we're done,

lemonis: the owner is often absent. i have obligations that -- lemonis: well, what are they other than your business? and what scares me the most is that the employees are fleeing... where is everybody? ...in droves. josh: nate's no longer here. chris quit. mike: nearly 100% turnover in staff. lemonis: why are these people leaving? -mike: i don't know. -lemonis: bull[bleep] if i can't figure out what's fueling this mass exodus...