marcus: yeah. lemonis: and how about her? is she mean? arcus: [ laughing ] no, she's -- tamika: [ laughs ] woman: hi. how are you? lauren: what kind of cupcake would you like? girl: strawberry twist. lauren: you want a strawberry twist? all right, so, your total's gonna be $7.50. lemonis: how many staff members do you have? tonnie: 12. lauren will be the one who'll be in the front. -lemonis: hi. are you -- hi. -lauren: i'm lauren. lemonis: hi, lauren. how are you? -lauren: good. nice to meet you. -lemonis: very nice to meet you. -are you a baker? -lauren: when i have to be. lemonis: so what is your primary role here? lauren: i'm in the front selling the product. lemonis: okay, great. nice meeting you. lauren: you too. thank you. tonnie: there's a lot going on with tonnie's minis right now as we speak. i'm doing a project in newark that's close to being finalized. the people who are giving me the space, they're building out the store. lemonis: at their expense? tonnie: at their expense. so what i have to supply is equipment, the first month

-jack: hey, marcus. lemonisess of their lower-priced gazebo for true value. -you had your baby. -simon: yes, i did. lemonis: congratulations, my man. what's happening? damion: myself and jack got the true value gazebo ready, built. lemonis: you did? damion: i'll show you it if you like. lemonis: okay. and so what changed? damion: the furniture and the inside of the roof. lemonis: and i love the way that looks. what's the inside of the roof? damion: so, before, it was the tongue-and-groove boards, like this, and now we've done a weatherproof, marine plyboard. lemonis: what did simon think of it? damion: he wasn't over the moon about was -- lemonis: that's too much of a cutting of a corner. what happened since i left? damion: we were all on board, and simon goes to england, so i had to run the business, get these made. lemonis: did you communicate with him? damion: yeah. sent him pictures. lemonis: he ignored you? damion: he could have just checked in a bit more. lemonis: we're getting back to the same issue we ha

lemonis: how are you? i'm marcus. mary: nice to meet you. lemonis: ...owns the other half. their key employee is louis, the general manager. louis, how are you? nice to meet you. i'm marcus. he understands the process better than anyone. louis: what you need to do is do it multiple times, 'cause you can see the difference, how this is smoother and this is still rough. lemonis: so why doesn't that machine do it all in one? louis: 'cause it's not, like, one of the best planers. lemonis: do they make one that would do it all in one shot? louis: yes. steve: some of the machinery here are 50 years old. lemonis: look, it's obvious to me now that the company isn't the only thing that's three generations old. and if this equipment doesn't work and it's not up to date with the right technology, well, you're wasting a lot of time. what does it cost to get a brand-new one that does it the right way? louis: a really good one, about, say, $3,000. lemonis: if it costs $3,000 to get a new one, how much time extra did he have to take to do it three times? multiply it times the number of fur

dan: hey, how you doing, marcus? lemonis: how are you? bringing these guys to dna footwear, a popular retail chain in new york city. they're a big wholesale customer for inkkas. are you daniel? -daniel: daniel. -lemonis: i'm marcus. -daniel: marcus. pleasure. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -daniel: how are you? -lemonis: is this your store? daniel: this is my store, yeah. lemonis: supplying retailers like dna is a critical part of our business, but what's more important is to get feedback from the owner of the business and be good listeners and ask the right questions. what's the most popular seller of all of them? daniel: these did very well for us. that's the classic styles that are working. we call it the core of styles from them. lemonis: okay. what hasn't performed? daniel: this stuff. the seasonal stuff that they have -- you know, new products -- didn't take off like this one. lemonis: did you tell them that? daniel: i told them that. and that's why i said the classic should stay classic. and it's been working for us season after season

-cristina: hi, marcus. -lemonis: your name? cristina: cristina. lemonis: cristina, nice to meet you. -miranda: hi! -lemonis: hi, how are you? -i'm marcus. -miranda: hi, i'm miranda. lemonis: hey, miranda, how are you? -is this your place? -miranda: this is it. lemonis: how long have you been in the business? miranda: 10 years. we started in my house. i had chronically chapped lips my entire life. and so my daughter was born -- she's now 11 -- and while breastfeeding, started using lanolin -- for breastfeeding -- on my lips. lemonis: the nipple gets chapped. okay. miranda: and i'm like, "oh, i'll put it on my lips," and they were healed for the first time in 30 years. lemonis: now, what is lanolin? miranda: lanolin comes from sheep. it's like an oil, like, a protective coating on their fur. lemonis: i think it's especially cool when somebody starts a business that is meant to solve a problem. sometimes necessity is the mother of invention. miranda: this is where we started. that's the lano lip. this is my original formula, and it's got medical-grade

lemonis: i'm ready to work. there you go. j: marcus-made. monis: now, it goes without saying that before i invest any money in any business, i need to have confidence in the product. -i love the concept. -j: thank you. lemonis: the bread was nice and soft. -the lobster meat -- great. -j: thank you. lemonis: why'd you start the business? j: when i was in l.a. in 2008, i pursued opening my own bar-restaurant. lemonis: where'd you get the money to open that? j: my dad gave me my part. he lost a little over $300,000 when it was all said and done. i was having partner issues. that was back when i was living in l.a. and trying to be the l.a. lifestyle. lemonis: so what does that mean -- "living the l.a. lifestyle?" j: everyone has to have a bmw, an audi, nicest clothes, go to the nicest restaurants. lemonis: were you living that lifestyle? -you were spending money? -j: yeah. lemonis: why'd you start this business? j: because i was so frustrated with that business, but i knew i still loved the food industry. lemonis: how much money did you invest to

thank you, marcus. -lemonis: i wish you luck. -fabio: thank you. monis: i do wish the best for sal and his whole team going forward, but, unfortunately, it's not gonna be with me. thwith aches, chills,g. and fever, there's no such thing as a little flu. and it needs a big solution: an antiviral. so when the flu hits, call your doctor right away and up the ante with antiviral tamiflu. prescription tamiflu is an antiviral that attacks the flu virus at its source and helps stop it from spreading in the body. tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people two weeks of age and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu, tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion, or abnormal behavior. the most common side effects are mild to moderat

-sam: it's deep, marcus. lemonis: i'm sorry. then you can walk away. lemonis: mark, i'm telling you, for me to move forward with you, i need to understand it. mark: i don't know. mark: so our new collection, we tried to go with a traditional look with a little modern touch to it. scott: it may be beautiful, but we're not gonna see the results in sales that we all are hoping for. [ scanner beeping ] sir, could you step aside? "sir"? come on. you know who i am. progressive insurance? uh, i save people an average of over $500 when they switch? did you pack your own bags? oh! right -- the name your price tool. it shows people policy options to help fit their budget. [ scanner warbling ] crazy that a big shot like me would pack his own bags, right? [ chuckles ] so, do i have the right to remain handsome? [ chuckles ] wait. uh-oh. iall across the state belthe economy is growing,day. with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in the hudson valley, with world class biotech. and o

lemonis: how you doing guys? marcus. jack: jack hays. nice to meet you. onis: jack, how are you? -jeremy: jeremy felt. jed: jed hays. nice to meet you. lemonis: how are you? father-son? -together: yes. -lemonis: very good. and so, what's the plan here? maybe you guys could give us a summary and we could walk it? jed: yes. those buildings there, that's t.j. maxx. they're gonna open in the next few months. lemonis: let's walk the space. it's a construction site. what are they asking a foot? -jed: $777. lemonis: that's pretty strong. how many square feet? jed: 3,000. lemonis: so, over $230,000 a year? divide that by 12, you're talking about 18 grand a month? a good rule of thumb is that a restaurant's rent shouldn't exceed more than 8% of its total revenue. with an $18,000 rent factor, the restaurant would have to do at least $225,000 a month in sales. standard's current restaurant does about $100,000 a month in sales. if we were to open up a new location like this one, we would have to more than double our business. how many people live within 1 mile, 5 mile

lemonis: i'm marcus. nice to meet you. erik: nice to meet you. it's kind of a slower event, but it'll work out pretty good. lemonis: small businesses rarely have the budgets to do big marketing campaigns. so taking over a corner where you can pass out samples and brochures and talk to customers about your product, it's a good idea. so, how many customers do you have in total? erik: we have a total of 300 customers we service. we have 3,000 in the system. lemonis: and how long does a typical customer stay? erik: about three months. lemonis: so, your typical customer stays three months? erik: yeah. now, i have customers for life. lemonis: i want to see you do your marketing thing. erik: yeah. 20 new clients this week. lemonis: let me see it. make it happen. erik: [ laughs ] so, chicken and spinach, or do you want gourmet, delivered health food? there's two servings to a snack for $7.50. diana: if there's any type of allergy, we can actually help you with that. erik: hello, dessert samples. key lime pie? lemonis: erik's idea of healthy eating is a gr

thank you, marcus. -lemonis: i wish you luck. -fabio: thank you. i do wish the best for sal and his whole team going forward, but, unfortunately, it's not gonna be with me. ugh! heartburn! no one burns on my watch! try alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. they work fast and don't taste chalky. mmm...amazing. i have heartburn. alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. iall across the state belthe economy is growing,day. with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in the hudson valley, with world class biotech. and on long island, where great universities are creating next generation technologies. let us help grow your company's tomorrow, today at business.ny.gov the possibility of a flare swas almost always on my mind. thinking about what to avoid, where to go... and how to deal with my uc. to me, that was normal. until i talked to my doctor. she told me that humira helps people like me get uc under control and keep it under control when certain medications h

-sam: it's deep, marcus. lemonis: i'm sorry. then you can walk away. -- -lemonis: mark, i'm telling you, for me to move forward with you, i need to understand it. mark: i don't know. mark: so our new collection, we tried to go with a traditional look with a little modern touch to it. scott: it may be beautiful, but we're not gonna see the results in sales that we all are hoping for. working on my feet all day gave min my lower back but now, i step on this machine and get my number which matches my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic inserts. now i get immediate relief from my foot pain. my lower back pain. find a machine at drscholls.com chuck, i know i have a 798 fico score, thanks to experian.com. kaboom... get your credit swagger on. go to experian.com. become a member of experian credit tracker and take charge of your score. coughing...sniffling... and wishing you could stay in bed all day. when your cold is this bad... ...you need new theraflu expressmax. theraflu expressmax combines... maximum strength medicines available without a prescription... ..

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lemonis: thank you. let him know that marcus is here. i really didn't know what to expect when i went to vision quest, and when i walked in, there were some really interesting pieces. larry: hey! oh, my god! -lemonis: how you doing? -larry: bring it in, man! -lemonis: how you doing? -larry: oh, my god! you're here! -lemonis: are you -- -larry: oh, my god! look at you! -lemonis: are you larry? -larry: i am. lemonis: 'cause if you weren't larry, i'd be worried. larry: [ laughs ] -so nice to meet you. -lemonis: nice to meet you, too. that's a pretty cool light. -larry: yeah, thank you. -lemonis: the strainer. larry: it was for a national account. everything you see here is all for national-account work. lemonis: so no retail products. larry: no. lemonis: so, i don't just think about vision quest for just this. larry: no, no. -lemonis: design? -larry: that's the least of it. -yes. right. -lemonis: they say to you, "we have this space, and we're looking for x, y, and z -from a design standpoint." -larry: exactly. -lemonis: "can you make it?" -

lemonis: are you proud of her? michael: very proud. very proud. marcuscoming into our business and helping us go to the next level was the single best thing that's ever happened to us at pro-fit. lemonis: michael and tina are gonna make a lot more money with the pro-fit bars than they do with the pro-fit gym, and over the next year, we plan on selling about a million bars, generating $900,000 in revenue and $200,000 in profit. and we're gonna launch a number of new product extensions. tina: oh, my god! michael: good job, honey. you did great. tina: oh, i can't believe this! -michael: [ smooches ] -tina: ah! -michael: well done. -tina: amazing. iall across the state belthe economy is growing,day. with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in the hudson valley, with world class biotech. and on long island, where great universities are creating next generation technologies. let us help grow your company's tomorrow, today at business.ny.gov text mom. i'll be right back. be goo

lemonis: makes stuff for whole foods and costco. kenny: marcusred with me your formula and your process, and i love it, and i've had the biscuits. the kids have had them. they think they're great. i've heard rave reviews about the watermelon cake, also. lemonis: i just wanted him to come down and spend some time with you. lynn: okay. that sounds good. lemonis: any time you mass produce a product, you have to make changes not only for the size of the batch, but the amount of shelf life the product will have. kenny: in the restaurant here, are they generally not uniform shape? -lynn: right. -kenny: which is okay. lemonis: well, here's a bag of them. and, see, they're all different. kenny: because, certainly, when we go to commercialization, one of the keys is that it's consistent size, shape, and weight every single time. so they fit in the packages, so the nutritional data matches. i'll walk you through what we did. instead of self-rising, we used all-purpose flour. we find commercially is that everybody's self-rising flour is different. all-purpo

-lemonis: well, sam. -sam: well, marcus. have to excuse me. -lemonis: i don't have a lens. i just see things through what actually happened. sam: now, no one's perfect, but i try really hard to make sure that when i get up in the morning, i am the type of person that makes the world a better place. and that is a decision i make. now that doesn't make me perfect. lemonis: i totally get it. sam: i have tried to be honest and i have tried to be forthright -- lemonis: you haven't been honest at all. sam: do you know what? we're gonna be honest. lemonis: good. it's about time. sam: i didn't think we were a good fit for you. i wanted you to come here and help max. thank you for helping with that. you applied to the show for max to solve max's problem. -sam: i did, didn't i. -lemonis: and you took my money. -sam: and i wanted it -- -lemonis: and you took my money. sam: that is moot in this instance. lemonis: yes or no. ♪ ♪ rootmetrics, in the nation's largest independent study, tested wireless performance across the country. verizo

good morning, marcus. lemonis: what's happening? of the duster with the different type of trim. lemonis: okay. nicolas: you talked about the trim was fraying. -lemonis: can i see it? -nicolas: yeah. let me get it. lemonis: noemi, can you come on down? nicolas: the weaving is a little tighter, so it feels slightly different. lemonis: who's the one that actually changed this? nicolas: i did. lemonis: nicolas, why are you working on the duster? nicolas: because i had the resources to do it. lemonis: but you didn't include your mom? noemi: no, because we went through that. lemonis: it sounds like you have a problem with that. nicolas: i don't have a problem with that. noemi: it's the control. i told you. this is another problem we have. nicolas: so, are we talking about the past or the future or -- i don't understand. noemi: future. -nicolas: okay, so -- -noemi: we already decide. why are we going back and talking about it? nicolas: so, if we're talking about the future, what happened in the past is irrelevant. lemonis: nicolas, i told

marcus lemonis with carcash regarding an eviction. ...that could shut the business down for good. andrew: it's not right. really, it's not right. lemonis: in jacksonville, a talented candy maker tied up in a bad deal. dane: i don't want to sell. lemonis: in 18 months, that tiny company has been transformed into a multimillion-dollar business. you did $538,000 compared to like $35,000 the year before. peter: that's a big difference. lemonis: but the biggest move... what do you think we would do with this building? ...is yet to come. and a family-run clothing company, once crippled by bad designs and bad tempers, got a new look... man: oh, my god. lemonis: ...and new clothing lines. noemie: i love it. lemonis: but some very familiar problems still exist. nicolas: you don't change that. we will tell you whether it is feasible to do. lemonis: it's another progress report, tonight on "the profit." about 15 months ago, i came to jacksonville, florida, to check out a small candy company, sweet pete's. man: yeah, that's good. lemonis: the business was being run by allison behringer, but th

chris: hey, marcus. lemonis: so, the raw materials come in here. who schedules the workflow that happens? chris: i schedule every order that comes through. lemonis: so who's in charge of sales? -mike: me. -lemonis: who generates the actual sale order, the quote? mike: i do. lemonis: and who makes sure that it's priced properly? chris: i created the pricing tool, and mike said, "these prices are too high." mike: i'm trying to be competitive to -- to get sales in the door. lemonis: so you're inefficient, and you're priced below market, which means you have high costs and no margin. death spiral. the guy who's manufacturing the product and knows all the numbers isn't allowed to price the product? we're gonna let the salesman price it? not a good idea. are these organized in a way or would you say it's a little jacked-up right now? chris: it's not too bad. lemonis: it doesn't look super-organized to me. disorganized materials equals loss of time, which equals loss of labor, which means money is leaking out the door. i see boxes everywhere. i see piles o

-lemonis: i'm marcus. sasha: i'm sasha. nice to meet you. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -rich: hi, marcus. -i'm richard. how are you? -lemonis: nice to meet you. market square serves gyros, but beyond that, there are few similarities to the other locations. the color scheme and seating are different. even the layout's different. same brand, different experience. not a good idea. how's business? tell me a little bit about it. rich: well, as far as business is concerned, we do about a half a million a year. lemonis: half a million in sales? rich: well, to break even. lemonis: so, how often do you see mike and kathleen? sasha: the first of the month, like clockwork. rich: they're here to get their royalty check. lemonis: do they stay for a day and work on your business and help you? rich: no. we put $175,000 of our own money into it. we just gutted this entire building. lemonis: so, you put in all this equipment, the floors, the ceilings, the whole thing. sasha: everything. lemonis: $175,000's a lot of money to invest without getting support. sasha: yeah. lemonis: after visi

-lemonis: i'm marcus. -lisa: marcus, this is kacey. -kacey: nice to meet you. ce to meet you? how are you? pet food experts is one of the largest distributors of pet food in the united states. not only do they carry a ton of brands, but they carry a wide variety of price points. that's why we're here. do you have your mission statement? lisa: this is our food promise that we go off of. lemonis: "no byproducts, corn, wheat, or soy." -"no chemical preservatives." -kacey: mm-hmm. lemonis: why don't we walk and just kind of get a feel for it? i need lisa's expertise and her brand promise to determine what foods are gonna work and not work, but i also need her to be open-minded. -do we carry this nutro? -lisa: no. lemonis: does it have byproducts, corn, wheat, or soy? lisa: this one i don't know. no, this one doesn't. lemonis: chemical preservatives? lisa: doesn't look like it. lemonis: so, this has the food promise, but you won't carry it. -lisa: no. -lemonis: why? lisa: when we actually first opened, they were the biggest ones that had all the recalls and stuff, to

chris: thank you, marcus. lemonis been a week since i shook hands with mike and nikki, and i've arranged for them to meet me in los angeles. all i've told them is that we're gonna do some market research. -nikki: hi. -lemonis: hi, guys. nice to see you again. -mike: marcus, good to see you. -lemonis: how are you? -mike: doing well. -nikki: good. -lemonis: so, i'm friends with this guy by the name of rob dyrdek. does that ring a bell to you? mike: oh, yeah. [ chuckles ] lemonis: rob dyrdek is an entrepreneur who's also a professional skateboard rider. he's one of the best out there. man: all right, guys. welcome to the fantasy factory. -nikki: thank you. oh, cool. very cool. mike: holy [bleep] lemonis: i think rob's gonna shed a lot of light on what the right price points are in the marketplace. he knows the industry. i also think he's gonna give us great feedback on the demographic. mike: rob, mike maloney. nice to meet you. rob: good to meet you. rob dyrdek. -lemonis: what's happening, my man? rob: appreciate you, ma

lemonis: we'll go with "athletic." lady: [ laughs ] marcus, how you doing? lemonis: these feel -- so, the problem with these -- they feel big on me. lady: i like the leg shape on you. lemonis: no, i can't fit in 34s. lady: do we have the size 36? amy: we don't have them anymore. lemonis: these have too much stretch in them. i feel like i'm in, like, grandma pants -or something with leg stretch. -lady: yoga pants. lemonis: same issue. so these actually got even wider. lady: yeah, those are actually way too wide. you got to take those off. [ laughs ] lemonis: you want me to take them off right here? -just like -- -lady: well -- lemonis: they didn't have my size in most instances, and they didn't have much inventory for me to choose from. i felt like i was being given the leftovers. why is it called blujean bar as opposed to blue jean bar? lady: i'm from new orleans, and so i came up with this idea that it was gonna be, like, a blues bar, like a new orleans blues bar. lemonis: does it feel like a blues bar in here? lady: it does not feel like a blues bar. lemoni

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. >> we made $10,000 together. >> i make tough decisions... we'll change the recipes. >> i mean, that would be the last thing i'd want to do. >> and i back them up with my own cash. it's not always pretty. >> do you want me to get in your face? 'cause that's your face. >> but this is business. >> i've lost faith. we need to change dramatically. >> i do it to save jobs. awesome. and i do it to make money. this the profit. sweet pete's is a candy store located in jacksonville, florida, specializing in chocolates and candy handmade by master chocolatier peter behringer. >> so you guys like candy? >> mm-hmm. >> pete's love of sweets began at the age of 12, when he started making candy for his mom's shop-- peterbrooke chocolatier. >> i wouldn't do anything else. >> family business was thriving, and life was good for pete and his wife, allison. but after a dispute, pete left the business and was forced to start over from scratch. >> the last $10,000 we had, we pu

lemonis: how are you doing? i'm marcus. keith: marcus. keith lyden. lemonis: nice to meet you, keith. how you doing? dean: i'm good. dean lyden. -nice to meet you. -lemonis: dean, how are you? keith: my brother. lemonis: oh, this is your brother? okay. when did you start the business? keith: 2004. lemonis: and who put in all the money? keith: all the finance came from me. think we're up to about $160,000. lemonis: $160,000? dean: originally, i had some screening equipment and some sign software, but not much. he primarily got us going financially. lemonis: and what is the equity split? 70/30? -keith: 50/50. -lemonis: 50/50. dean: i had a graphics background and i had been doing this. i didn't have the financing to do it, so it was a perfect match. lemonis: so, you have a good brother, right? dean: if you can't trust your family, -who can you trust, right? -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, wha

. >> my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. >> we made $10,000 together. >> i makeions... we'll change the recipes. >> i mean, that would be the last thing i'd want to do.

my name is marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses.