want you to meet marcus lemonis. lemonis: hi. how are you? i'm marcus. shauna: i'm shauna. you. lemonis: nice to meet you. father daughter working together? shauna: yeah, yeah. it's fun. lemonis: and have you been in the business a while? shauna: i have. i started right out of college. so, i'm the director of marketing now. lemonis: you're the person that gets everybody in the front door. shauna: yes, that's my goal. lemonis: what's it like working with your dad? shauna: i love working with him. i mean, my dad has always said that he started all of his businesses because he wanted to be able to pass something down to his kids, and, of course, i want to make him proud. mike: she's a huge inspiration for me and a motivation for me. lemonis: you can feel the affection between you guys. -shauna: yeah. -mike: oh, yeah. i'd like to have you meet my business partner, paul kramer. lemonis: okay. mike: want you to meet marcus lemonis. lemonis: how are you? i'm marcus. nice to meet you. paul: thank you for joining us here. lemonis: absolutely. how do you share roles and responsibilit

lemonis: okay. anna: marcus, this is susana. lemonis: oh, hi, susana. susana: hi. lemonis: marcus. susana: hi, marcus. nice to meet you. lemonis: how are you? nice to meet you. susana: yeah. lemonis: don't be nervous. you guys manufacture your own stuff? anna: yes. susana: yes. anna: we manufacture in our new jersey factory. sue is responsible for design, and i'm responsible for all operations and sales. lemonis: so you handle production and sales? anna: yes. i'm very capable. lemonis: that's interesting. susana: the front stuff is too emotional for me. anna: sue is the creative engine of the company. susana: yeah. anna: so we don't want to expose her to all the -- you know, all the unpleasant stuff. susana: i don't like to be in the front of things. lemonis: okay. susana: i like to be in my world working. lemonis: you're the artist. susana: yes. i just... anna: she's very -- takes everything very close to heart. and, you know, in operations, every day there is a problem. there is -- i mean, every second there is a problem. not every day -- every five minutes. lemonis: right away i

lemonis: i'm marcus. caity: thanks for coming. ss? caity: yes. lemonis: okay. caity: but with the help of an amazing team. lemonis: do you guys sell online? jessica: we do. lemonis: how much does the web do? caity: it varies. we're really trying to increase web sales, but right now, year to date, our average is about $2,700 a week, and our goal is more like $5,000 a week. lemonis: oh! jessica: speak of the devil. monica: you guys, i am so sorry. hi. lemonis: how are you? monica: you're really cute. lemonis: nice -- thank you. but you're really late. monica: i said i was sorry. lemonis: i'm kidding. jessica: [ laughs ] lemonis: talk to me about the store. what are you thinking about? monica: this store and the website are both extensions of my home. lemonis: everybody said you don't spend much time here. monica: i don't. lemonis: why? monica: because my job and my kids are in los angeles. lemonis: makes sense. hello, ladies. welcome to monica potter. monica: hi. lemonis: come on in. monica: how are you? woman: hi. lemonis: how are y

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: how you doing, my man? i'm marcus. -j.d.: j.d. -lemonis: nice to meet you.nd so, what do you do? you come in, and you take product, and you shoot it on the street? j.d.: uh-huh. i do that part and also, like, the web site. lemonis: so let's go -- i want to see how this process works. giordano: yeah, let's do it. let's do it. aeneas also does some modeling for us. ♪ lemonis: the shirt that he has on, what's the name of that shirt? -giordano: i don't have a name. lemonis: what's the name of that shirt? giordano: chic gas station. it's like mechanic chic. lemonis: what was the name of this shirt? short-sleeve polo zip-on. giordano: i don't have all the names of everything. lemonis: you don't have any names. i don't think that rocco knows who his customer is. it's probably anybody that walks in that he can sell something to. lemonis: so why -- in a nutshell, why did you call me? giordano: the company has a lot of potential, but it's not doing well. it's not all about money. it's about contacts. it's about that i'm entering my 40s without a paycheck, even though

i'm marcus lemonis. i had to see it myself. i have friends here, and i wanted to help them get out. thank you for your service. it was chaos, crowds of people just waiting for help. governor, how are you? how are you? i met the governor. we surveyed the damage. it was staggering. the width of the hurricane was 35 miles. puerto rico is 30 miles. a third of the island still without power. you guys know you're american citizens, right? yes. do you feel like it? yes, but we've been abandoned by our government of the united states, as well as the government of puerto rico. a bridge washed out, a community cut off. it's horrible because this is our only entrance and exit. there's nowhere in and nowhere out. for you, this is the end of the world right here. doctors saving the injured and the sick. also, the ptsd, post-traumatic stress disorder. from the hurricane. yes. they don't have food.

my name is marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not going to wake up every morning wondering if we have a job. we're going to wake up every morning wondering how many jobs we have to do. it's not always pretty. everything is going to change. everything. but i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. this... let's go to work. ...is "the profit." ♪ in 2010, new york city fashion designer rocco giordano started faded royalty, a streetwear brand he was determined to grow into a household name. giordano: our whole thing is affordable pricing, good quality. lemonis: he had no formal training. his first venture was selling hats, and after finding early success, he was able to grow his brand, opening three retail stores. giordano: there's only one rule in business -- stay in business. and i'll do everything in my power to make this work. lemonis: but as time passed,

lemonis: i'm marcus. jeff: yes, i know exactly who you are. lemonis: nice to meet you.'m a little confused. on the front door, there's two brands there. i thought i was coming to jd custom. jeff: you are. the other company on there is my biggest customer. lemonis: what kind of business is the owner? jeff: nail polish. this is one of their lines. lemonis: and so they're a nail polish manufacturer? jeff: they have several lines, yes. lemonis: so did you guys design this display? jeff: i designed this, yes. lemonis: and what about all this stuff in the back? jeff: if i didn't design it, i had a major part in designing it. lemonis: very cool. is everything you do makeup oriented? jeff: no, but it is definitely our biggest market. lemonis: is this whole display made of acrylic? jeff: yes. lemonis: different colors? jeff: different colors, all different colors. lemonis: you came up with this, too? jeff: yeah, that i came up with. lemonis: now, would this be considered an elaborate design? jeff: yes. lemonis: what makes it elaborate? jeff: you got the half-inch thick gauge acr

-katie: bye, marcus. -lemonis: bye. ♪ is it warmer in here than it was in there even? eah. the thing is the press runs at 390 degrees, so it's always hot. lemonis: yeah, but, i mean, they could pump some cool air in here. marci: it would be a little more enjoyable. lemonis: it's odd to me that marci is out in the warehouse standing and working with this very hot machine -- i mean, really hot. and right on the other side of the wall are a bunch of guys sitting in cubicles with plenty of light and plenty of air conditioning. so what is -- is this printed on paper? marci: yeah. so, this is printed on special paper. lemonis: okay. the girls inside were telling me that the business is somewhat disorganized. marci: it is a little frustrating, though, to know that they're out fishing and then we might not be able to make payroll. lemonis: as opposed to getting on the phone, -selling, making money. -marci: mm-hmm. fishing is more important. i actually have a video on my phone of a friday afternoon i think you would probably find pretty interesting. so this is just me. it's a qu

lemonis: how are you? i'm marcus. megan: hi, marcus. it's a pleasure to meet you. meet you. matt: here you go. megan: thank you so much. lemonis: why do you choose delivery as opposed to going to a dispensary? megan: i choose it for convenience. i'm a parent. i can't always go to a dispensary. if a kid's with me, that's impossible. lemonis: right. megan: i also like the fact that it's discreet if it needs to be. lemonis: megan dooley fisher told me she uses cannabis to treat the pain she suffers from her auto-immune disease. and she uses a lot. how long will this last you? megan: okay. well, i'm probably a far heavier user than almost anybody out there. lemonis: okay. megan: this is 250 milligrams. i could eat this right now and go on with my day. you would never know anything. lemonis: 250 milligrams? megan: i'll eat that whole bag. lemonis: okay. so, i've never used. how much could i have? megan: i would say that you wouldn't even have one of these. you would have to start with a 2.5 milligram. lemonis: and you could eat this whole bag? megan: yeah, i could eat t

-lemonis: jack, i'm marcus. -jack: it's nice to meet you. -richard: he's our man here. ne of the things that i wanted to accomplish is to improve our margins because the dairy -- the cream that goes into the ice cream -- is the single most expensive item. what do you actually produce here? jack: we produce over 80 different variants of ice-cream mixes. lemonis: what makes it sort of the different variations? jack: usually butter fat, sugar, and fat content. a haagen-dazs is a 16%. lemonis: and what are we? michael: a little bit above 12%, yeah. lemonis: okay, so our ice cream is lighter because it's got less butter fat. our flavors are more pronounced. and that's why our quality is so good. let's take a tour. jack: this is where all the raw milk and cream comes in, marcus. right now what you're seeing is they're filling this up with cream. we fill the totes. lemonis: so does it come to you like this? richard: exactly like this. lemonis: it's like a water bed. what does this cost? richard: today, $2,100. last week, $2,800. lemonis: i have a lot of work to do in building a

lemonis: i'm marcus. caity: thanks for coming. lemonis: so you're really the person that runs this business? caity: yes. lemonis: okay. caity: but with the help of an amazing team. lemonis: do you guys sell online? jessica: we do. lemonis: how much does the web do? caity: it varies. we're really trying to increase web sales, but right now, year to date, our average is about $2,700 a week, and our goal is more like $5,000 a week. lemonis: oh! jessica: speak of the devil. monica: you guys, i am so sorry. hi. lemonis: how are you? monica: you're really cute. lemonis: nice -- thank you. but you're really late. monica: i said i was sorry. lemonis: i'm kidding. jessica: [ laughs ] lemonis: talk to me about the store. what are you thinking about? monica: this store and the website are both extensions of my home. lemonis: everybody said you don't spend much time here. monica: i don't. lemonis: why? monica: because my job and my kids are in los angeles. lemonis: makes sense. hello, ladies. welcome to monica potter. monica: hi. lemonis: come

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

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petros: nice to meet you, marcus. lemonisw, 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. 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. lemonis: this place is -- it got a lot bigger. -petros: yeah, right. -lemonis: it goes back even -- petros: it goes back farther, 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

now i know why you put the money up here. [ music continues ] my name is marcus lemonis. on my show, "the profit," i use my own money to invest in struggling american companies... i'm 100% in charge. ...and help turn their fortunes around. now i've come to one of the last holdouts of communism to meet some pioneers of capitalism. >> the doors for the first time are wide open. >> i'm definitely a businessman. i love doing this. >> do you think you're gonna be in cuba for the rest of your life? >> yes. because cuba is changing very fast. >> the obstacles are daunting. this clothing designer has to buy fabric on the black market. >> ooh! >> this restaurant owner isn't allowed any more than 50 seats. the state says she isn't allowed to expand her business. you cannot have two stands? >> no. >> this sucks. meet cuba's new business class, surviving and thriving under one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. [ music continues ] [ flamenco guitar plays ] i had barely set foot on cuban soil when i saw how the new business laws are changing lives. armando lee rolled up in a

lemonis: i'm marcus. lisa: how are you doing? lemonis: nice to meet you. tell me what's going on here. cory: okay, so today we actually have a pop-up shop and customers come, they get a cookie. they sit down and wait for their car. lemonis: are we generating revenue? or are you giving them away? cory: the company buys them and then we give them. lemonis: very smart. whose idea was that? cory: both of our ideas. lemonis: okay. now more importantly, i love cookies. cory: so you got to try them. lemonis: so i'm a really tough judge, though. cory: okay. okay. i got you. lemonis: okay. cory: okay, this is the chocolate chip. they're all natural, and they have no preservatives added. lemonis: the chocolate chip was amazing. cory: thank you. second, this is a double dark. this is like the brownie. nice and soft in the middle. lemonis: it's delicious. cory: and sugar cookies. lemonis: is there orange in this cookie? orange peel? cory: it's a secret recipe. lemonis: okay. let me just tell you right now. lisa: oh, no. lemonis: if we do a deal, i'm gonna need to know

i'm marcus lemonis. ♪ ♪ lemonis: tonight, we're going to california., and trend-setting, the golden state is also the greenest.

-lemonis: i'm marcus. -lisa: marcus, this is kacey. -kacey: nice to meet you. ice 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, t

i'm marcus lemonis. ♪ ♪ lemonis: tonight, we're going to california.trend-setting, the golden state is also the greenest. man: we're ending prohibition and we're mainstreaming pot. damian: there's blue dream, gorilla glue, sour banana, green crack. lemonis: why do i think green crack is more potent than sour banana? medical marijuana has been legal here for years. but now, the game changer -- proposition 64. woman: marijuana is now legal in california. lemonis: soon, any adult will be able to buy weed. did the vote passing increase the odds of you becoming a billionaire some day?

i'm marcus lemonis. this summer, i traveled to l.a... we're ending prohibition and we're mainstreaming pot. ...and the desert. did the vote passing increase the odds of you becoming a billionaire some day? absolutely. now i've come to where it all began and where the money is pouring in. so all the real estate you work on is for the marijuana industry? yeah. it's going to be a huge market. california's now the largest legal marijuana market in the world. will the feds step in and try to stop it, or is it time for me to invest? ♪ my journey began on the avenue of the giants, a magical drive through the largest stand of untouched redwood trees in the world. welcome to marijuana country -- humboldt county, california. people have been growing pot up in the hills here since the '60s. it turns out some of them are still at it. but if you want to meet these pioneers of pot, and trust me, you do, you have to work for it. think over the river and through the woods, and then some. it took me half an hour to drive just six miles of unmarked dirt r

i'm marcus lemonis. ♪ ♪ d are you? cory: 13. lemonis: really? cory: yep.s mom have created a popular cookie brand. cory: would you like to try a cookie? jennifer: these are really good. cory: thank you. lemonis: but now their company is going through growing pains. lisa: when you don't have the right resources or the brain, this is what happens. i'm back to square one. lemonis: the c.e.o. struggles with the fundamentals. how much does it cost to make a dozen? cory: a dozen is around... lemonis: you don't know. cory: oh, no. lemonis: his mother struggles with self-doubt. lisa: i don't think i can take the company where it needs to be. lemonis: you can. i'm positive. i wouldn't be standing here. their product tastes great, but it can't be sold in stores. what's the shelf life? cory: two days.

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

now i know why you put the money up here. [ music continues ] my name is marcus lemonis.ow, "the profit," i use my own money to invest in struggling american companies... i'm 100% in charge. ...and help turn their fortunes around. now 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, 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 risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we are not going to wake up every morning wondering if we have a job. we are going to wake up every morning wondering how many jobs we have to do. it's not always pretty... everything is going to change. everything. ...but i do it to save jobs and i do it to make money. this... let's go to work! ...is "the profit." ♪ -i'd really like to do a manufactured by detroit denim. -in 2010, eric yelsma founded detroit denim, a maker of high-end men's jeans. -they're unhemmed. so we will mark them and get you the fit that you want. -every component from the buttons to the thread is sourced in the u.s. and every pair is sewn right here in the heart of motor city. -danke. -tired of the corporate rat race, eric noticed an opportunity to help revitalize his city by tapping into local designers and fabricators. -when you are done with those leather straps, marguerite, i want to get started on these jeans. -soon after he launched, he partnered with a production manager, brenna lane. and from there, t