>> ray hasser, 14-year owner of lasher's restaurant also in long beach was haile skeptical when groupon approached him. at first blush he didn't see how what amounted to a 75% discount could possibly make him a profit. >> i put the math to it. and i came up with some ideas that i thought i could make money, and still take advantage of the tremendous impact. >> indeed the impact can be tremendous. groupon told lasher that nearly 700,000 people saw his offer. which resulted in over 600 groupons sold. >> when it goes on groupon it goes out to millions of people. around the world. i mean i have groupon people have bought groupon in china. >> but what seemed like a lucky windfall to one small business owner can feel like a disruptive tornado to another. >> of course it makes me sad. it basically ruined my business for these people. i paid for people's treatments out of my pocket who will never be my customer. >> according to a study done last year at rice university jones school of business, 32% of small to medium sized businesses reported they lost money running their groupon promotions. >>

. >> ray lasher didn't think groupon was worth it at first. the deep discounts didn't make sense to him until he realized he could up sell the customers keeping the groupon below the average receipt total. >> say they spend $100. $50 is the groupon. they spend another $50. that second $50, i'm making my full profit. i have people in empty chairs. >> timing is key. since the last weeks of the offer get the biggest number of groupon customers, he schedules it to expire early fall. >> as you get toward the end of the expiration date, it's not a bad idea to time it. i time the end of my groupon to my slower period of time. >> large numbers alone are not meaning success. >> it didn't translate to more sales or more growth. >> if you can harness the numbers, bring it on. >> i have great reps. it will be great for some and not for others. i know that. >> it's a complicated issue and groupon has made some changes. let's weigh the pros and cons of the daily deal sight with the board of directors. rita is the founder, president and ceo of grow media. gr