my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. this business will never function well under the "green tea" name. i make tough decisions... >> it was a mistake. >> this is never gonna happen again. and back them up with my own cash. that's a real check, by the way. it's not always pretty... >> do you want to come over here? >> no. >> but this is business. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this the profit. [upbeat music] ♪ this week, i'm going to keyport, new jersey, a town that was devastated by hurricane sandy in 2012. i'm going to meet the owners of mr. green tea, a gourmet ice cream company. for nearly 50 years, mr. green tea has been hand-crafting exotic ice cream flavors and supplying the asian restaurant trade in new york city. >> so delicious. >> way ahead of their time, mr. green tea was producing flavors like green tea, ginger, and red bean. this family business was founded by richard's dad, santo emanuele, in 1968, who ran it with richard's older brother, james. richard's dad passed away, and then his brot

>> my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. i make tough decisions... i will not do it if you're managing the people. and back them up with my own cash. it's not always pretty... first time you ever emptied out poop? but this is business. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this is the profit. la dogworks is an upscale dog boarding facility located in the heart of hollywood, california. >> you're stinky dogs. >> founded by andrew rosenthal in 2004, this 24-hour full service center with 36 employees has everything from grooming to training... >> sit. >> in a state-of-the-art indoor dog park. this business generates $1.3 million a year, but recently, their numbers have started to tumble. sloppy business practices... >> i don't want to waste your time, and please don't waste mine. >> together with lax management... >> there's inventory missing? >> well, you know, it's hard to tell, because stuff slips through the cracks. >> has driven down sales and piled up $150,000 of debt. >> you know, i could lose everything. >> i

>> my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. i make tough decisions... it iyo

my name is marcus lemonis. and i fix failing businesses.siness last year did $50 million of business. unfortunately, we didn't make any money. you guys sell a lot, but there's one thing that you don't do very well. what is that? >> collect. >> collect money. so last night at dinner, i made a deal with alan and howard. and i'm putting in a million dollars. but you know what they forgot to do last night? they forgot to ask me for my money. it's a theme, but it's not funny. because your paychecks and the rent, all get paid when we collect the money, not when the stuff leaves on the truck. there's the money. >> thank you. >> thank you. [applause] >> from this point forward, i'm in charge. the first thing we're gonna do is fix the accounts receivable process, so that i know for sure what meats coming in and what meat's going out. i wanna know how much we're selling, how much we're collecting, and who owes what. we're gonna start by getting on the phone, and calling these customers that owe us money. we need to be paid. and from now on, when we d

my name is marcus lemonis, and some of you have seen me around. help fix this business, so people don't lose their job. there are 32 employees relying on this business for their livelihood. and ever since jacob's passing, they're starving for leadership. for the next week, i'm in charge. so what we're gonna do is we're gonna make some massive changes, and, at the end of this week, we're gonna have a grand reopening. we're gonna let our customers tell us if we've gotten it right. i need to get rid of excess inventory, make time-saving changes, and i need to organize what's left. in order for that to happen, i need to put in the right system, like a bar-coding system. this building looks terrible. maarse has a viable product here, but, in order to make it good, we need to display it to the customers in a way that's appealing. they need to see it, and it needs to be presented in a less-cluttered, less-disorganized manner. the entire store needs to be re-merchandised. we're gonna become profitable together. so, marina, you have something you'd like to

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. will never function well under the "green tea" name. i make tough decisions... >> it was a mistake. >> this is never gonna happen again.

. >>> our old different marcus lemonis joins us after the bell. "the profit" star here on cnbc has a few things to say about this market. plus, marcus has accepted the ice bucket challenge for als and will do so here on the "closing bell" and you won't believe who he's going to challenge to do it next, kelly. watch out. >> i know. let's take a look at markets right now. with an hour left in the trading session, the dow is turning in a strong performance, up 168 points or 1% now. it's actually the nasdaq as well that got an early start in the green, helping boost the risk complex higher. it's up 38 points to 4,503. and the s&p 500, and this will be one to watch, is at 1, 69 right now. >> and what a great year that was. joining our "closing bell exchange," rob bartenstein from washington wealth management, steven hammers from compass emp funds, anthony chan from chase, and winnie sun from sun group wealth partners. welcome one and all. rob, let me start with you. we've gone a long way up, we've gone a long way down this summer, but basically, we're r

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses.'m willing to write a "half a million dollar" check. i make tough decisions. i'm not willing to do the deal if you're in charge of sales. back them up with my own cash. it's not always pretty. i'll take sh

my name is marcus lemonis. i fix failing businesses. i make tough decisions.re no longer the general manager. and i back them up with my own cash. it's not always pretty. >> perfect flavor. >> but this is business. [bleep] is gonna change. i do i

my name is marcus lemonis. in the past ten years, i've bought hundreds of failing businesses, turned them around, and i've made millions doing it. i'll write whatever check i need to, even if you won't. if you want people to listen, you put money on the table. i'm gonna give you a check for $500,000. i found six struggling businesses, some weeks away from closure. my plan is to turn them around. for the next week, i'm 100% in charge. >> all right. >> let's go get to work. can't run a business if it's not clean. but i'm not just giving them advice. i'm putting up millions of dollars of my own money. if you don't know your numbers, you just don't know your business. i'll work by their side... i'll put in the hours... 'cause i have the same risk that they do. where's accounting? >> she's counting. >> no, where's accounting? >> um... >> oh, my god. this business is a total mess. i judge businesses based on three things: it's pretty damn good. most often, businesses fail because of people. >> i trusted people to man

my name is marcus lemonis. i fix failing businesses. so the business only made 50,000? i make tough decisions... you can't train every class. and i back them up with my own cash. i like [bleep] done right the first time. >> that's not on me. >> it's not always pretty. >> he starts bringing in equipment here, i'm gonna break into hives. >> but this is business. the deal's off. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this the profit. [hip-hop music] ♪ pro-fit is a small group personal training studio located in the town of dyer, indiana. while national gyms offers huge facilities and the latest equipment, small gyms like pro-fit offer a much more personalized service in a less intimidating environment. >> we concentrate on doing one thing because without trainers, you can't get results. >> michael sena has been in the fitness industry for over 35 years... >> change direction. >> first as a body builder, then as a personal trainer. >> i was a personal trainer before there was a personal training industry. i'm a book author, fitness product inventor. it's really be

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. if you think that i can launch you in a direction to make you a profit, then you should do a deal with me. i make tough decisions... how am i supposed to trust you? and back them up with my own cash. it's not always pretty. i have to know for sure that the partner that i have has the same goals as i do. this is business. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this the profit. [hip-hop music] ♪ sharla mcbride started planet popcorn with a single cart and 250 bucks. 13 years later, they now have 30 employees, three flavors, products ranging from kettle corn to churros to crepes. their popcorn sells at fairs and farmers markets all over southern california. but the bulk of her money is generated through downtown disney. planet popcorn generates $2.5 million in revenue, but it still can't turn a profit. this year, they're about $200,000 in debt. sharla's mother has mortgaged her house and loaned the business almost $200,000 to keep planet popcorn afloat. planet popcorn is an all

my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. i'm willing to write a "half a million dollar" check. i make tough decisions. i'm not willing to do the deal if you're in charge of sales. back them up with my own cash. it's not always pretty. i'll take the shower. jen, you take the toilet. >> i don't do the toilet in my own house. really? >> but this is business. i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this the profit. [upbeat music] ♪ eco-me is an all-natural cleaning product started by robin kay levine in 2006. with the partnership of her childhood friend jen mihajlov, a 12% owner, they built eco-me up from a small, do-it-yourself cleaning kit to a 17-piece cleaning line, including dog-grooming products. this product is sold nationwide at stores like whole foods and target, and last year they did a half a million dollars in sales, with only six employees. i personally use this product in my own home and find that it works extremely well. to stay in business, robin has leveraged friends and family to find every penny she c

>> 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

because those are important points, and housing was a hot topic yesterday on the show as well when marcus lemonisel yoshikami had two very different views. here's a taste. >> i think consumers are pulling back because they want to steal something. they feel like prices have kind of driven up in the last 12 to 15 months, so the consumer's sitting back and waiting and maybe putting in a lowball offer. i don't think the housing market is as soft as people think it is, because if you go look for a home today, the supply isn't nearly what it was five years ago. >> but i don't think you can really look at the supply, though, and really say that the housing market is strong just because there's a low supply. you could very well have people that are still under water on their houses. and if you look -- >> california, yes. >> yes, in california, absolutely. >> in new york, no. >> so, who's got it right? joining the discussion today is sherry olafson, real estate attorney and author of "foreclosure nation," along with diana and the rest of our panel. so, sherry, welcome. listen, is the housing market heali