lemonis: i'm marcus. nice to meet you. adelo: mr. lemonis, i mean. lemonis: no, marcus. adelo: oh, marcus, okay. lemonis: nice meeting you, adelo. adelo: nice meeting you. lemonis: this is a big place. adelo: it is. lemonis: what's all the wood for? adelo: we actually cook carne asada ribs and chicken. this is the wood oven. lemonis: oh, so you literally do it like a straight-up campfire. adelo: yeah. and this is it. this is our kitchen. i have this passion to cook. and i've been in the cooking business since i was 14 years old. i love it. you know, we're -- we're not the tex-mex kind of place. lemonis: yeah. adelo: we're more authentic. and we want to keep it that way. lemonis: yeah. adelo: the articles always talk about how authentic it is. this. this is when we first opened. lemonis: where did you get the money to open this? adelo: i worked 3 years. lemonis: saved up money. adelo: and saved all that money. i used to sleep for 4 hours. i had my route at 18, my produce route. lemonis: so you were delivery. adelo: yes. then i also had a full-time job as a deli clerk from

lemonis: good to see you. travis: how are you doing, marcus? lemonis: i wanted to bring you to pacific hospitality because anna wanted to present her ideas for redoing the whole space, and so we got to get started. and then how are you guys working together? travis: we've realized the mistakes that we've made in the past, learned from mike and paul and the mistakes that they made, and we're designing everything from the uniform to a brand-new menu, to a brand-new look and feel of the restaurant. shauna: where i come with ideas more in terms of the marketing side and how to bring people in, travis helps me really execute those logistically and operationally. lemonis: okay. so what do we have here? anna: okay. so my whole concept with this was keeping the vintage feel that they have. we have to honor that, obviously, in the design. then we started kind of playing with palettes. currently, it's red, black, white, like that's very prominent, so then i went into, like, the syrups that they have in farrell's, the butterscotch, the pineapple syrup, li

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 responsibilities? paul: operations for me. i have restaurant background. lemonis: what are the numbers here? paul: we're doing $4 million. -i can go back and -- -mike: no, we weren't that high. -paul: don't think so? -mike: nope. paul: we did, yeah. lemonis: so the numbers aren't crystal clear? -paul: yes. -mike: yeah. lemonis: i don't know what just happened. paul answers my question, and then mike says he's wrong. and quite frankly, they both look totally lost. -how many stores exist today? -mike: there's five stores. bob farrell started the company back in 1963. when we started the company, he came up to the opening. he goes, "guys, you did it. -this is farrell's." -lemonis: oh, that's awesome. paul: my uncle would take me to farrell's growing up. and farrell's is part of families. it was part of mine, and it's part of millions as they grow up. lemonis: lot of childhood memories.

lemonis: how are you? erica: that's my husband, andre, marcus. lemonis: i'm marcus. andre: hey, marcus. lemonis: nice to meet you. andre: nice to meet you. lemonis: you here to help us? andre: yeah, sure. every once in awhile, i come and help out. erica: he's been here, like, three times. ♪ andre: she's been running the business for five years, and the profitability is close to zero. it's not ran efficiently. and the margins are slim. lemonis: are they? andre: yeah. lemonis: what are they? andre: i don't know what they are, but i know -- lemonis: so, then how can you say that they're slim? andre: well, i mean, i know that she always needs some money. lemonis: so, is that the margins that are wrong? andre: i think it's the mar-- i think she also miscalculates. i used to do this full time, so i know for a fact that -- erica: andre, you never get -- lamarinette: how many years ago? erica: part time. andre: no, i did it almost full time 'cause i worked -- lemonis: so, your calculations are off, too. lamarinette: almost full time. erica: your calculations are off! ♪ l

grace: marcus? lemonis: yes. grace: hi, marcus. this is grace. lemonis: oh, hey, grace. how are you? grace: well, i kind of wanted to keep you in the loop of what's going on. my employment at the soup market has been terminated. he walks in and says, "you are fired for insubordination." he said, "you need to go now. you need to go now." and i refused to accept that. i said, "no, i'm not going to leave." he took out his phone, he dialed 911, and he had the police come and escort me out. lemonis: literally, the police came? grace: literally, the police came. lemonis: after all of this, now he fires her? grace: i want to give you a little bit of a back story because, unfortunately for him, he does have the eeoc hanging over him. two years ago, um, he made an advance. he had some strong feelings for me. i did not accept the advance, and that was part of the eeoc. i did file one because of the situation. lemonis: so you filed a claim with the eeoc. i knew that dave had feelings for grace, and i knew it wasn't a healthy situation, but to find out that she filed a complaint wit

my name is marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. we're not gonna wake up every morning wondering if we have a job. we're gonna wake up every morning wondering how many jobs we have to do. it's not always pretty. everything is gonna 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." cory nieves started mr. cory's cookies when he wanted to buy his mother a car. i put this in here when i was 6, and i said i wanted to get this for you. lemonis: only 6 at the time, cory worked with his mother, lisa... cory: they will go in the oven once this is ready. lemonis: ...to develop a recipe for an all-natural cookie. cory: perfect. lemonis: then he packed up his red wagon and started selling to local businesses in his new jersey neighborhood. woman: thank you. cory: thank you. lemonis: soon the world took notice. lisa: you know, tomorrow we're gonna go to this increasing your chance of getting more clients. cory: of course.

lemonis: good to see you. i'm marcus. i'm blown away by the interest that we already have with the concept, but closing a deal here today will give us real momentum. we've gotten a lot of applications -- almost 800 -- since we kind of launched the concept. and so one of the prerequisites we have is that there's significant restaurant experience. do you have it? -john: sure. my wife's family has been in the restaurant catering business for almost 50 years. i have a background in design and construction. lemonis: well, clearly your background is qualified. why don't we take a look at the menu board? john: you've got five burgers. are there other things than just burgers? i know it's standard burger, but... lemonis: is there something specific that you'd like to see on the menu that you feel is missing? john: i think if you add a kids' menu, i think that would be helpful, because i've got three children. if we're gonna bring the kids for lunch or dinner, you kind of want to see it on the menu. lemonis: i wouldn't be surprise

lemonis: my name is marcus lemonis. on my show, "the profit," i invest my own money in all kinds of companies... everything's going to change. everything. ...and help turn their fortunes around. marijuana isn't my thing. i've never even considered investing. is the business easy for you? andrea: hell no. there's nothing easy about this industry at all. lemonis: but the market here could reach $6 billion, and that's impossible to ignore. adam: we have this opportunity to create once-in-a-lifetime, multi-generational wealth. lemonis: the risks are huge. you're in a room filled with what the federal government considers illegal. jeanette: that's what makes it more exciting. lemonis: but so are the returns. what's the end goal for you? dan: selling my company for $120 million. lemonis: i'm here to take you on a journey and show you where the profit is in pot. ♪ ♪ i'm here in desert hot springs, california. now, many of you have probably never even heard of it. it's the forgotten son, the neighbor, to palm springs, where

lemonis: how you doing, my man? i'm marcus. -j.d.: j.d. -lemonis: nice to meet you. and 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 tho

-peter: marcus, i'm peter. -steve: marcus, i'm steve. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -steve: nice to meet you, too. lemonis: skullduggery, a family-run toy design and manufacturing company in anaheim, california, was exactly the sort of company that i felt had great potential. the company had generated $1.6 million in sales the previous year, but they were still losing money. steve: it's a big loss. lemonis: and while they had one or two products that had real potential, most of their products were missing the mark and collecting dust. i don't get this game. it's not fun. but if i can increase their visibility on the toys that were selling and push them to create new toys, i knew i could turn skullduggery around. so, i did a deal, and i invested $1.1 million for 30% of the company and an ongoing sales royalty. so, i want to be able to have control over the financial side. i don't want you taking on any debt or taking on any other partners without me being okay with it. -steve: i think that's fair. -peter: you want to shake on it? lemonis: and do we need to run this by

-lemonis: hey. -how are you? i'm marcus. -ray: good. -nice to meet you, marcus. -lemonis: nice to meet you. so is that what ray and jus is? -ray: exactly. yep. -justin: that's right. -lemonis: okay. -justin: it's a little bit of a play on outrageous. -lemonis: okay. justin: jerseys and crazy stuff we make. lemonis: they don't seem so outrageous. justin: if you wear it to the store, people kind of look at you funny. lemonis: you guys have, like, a boat dealership in your garage. justin: yeah, that's my boat and his boat. ray: my roomate-in-college's boat and then two other rentals. lemonis: you guys do a lot of fishing, obviously. -justin: as much as we can. -ray: yep. [ laughs ] ♪ justin: we are kind of geared towards the fisherman and the boater. -sun-protection designed. -ray: completely custom shirt. so, this starts as plain white fabric. lemonis: so a customer calls you and says, "i want to make a shirt for my fishing tournament." ray: on our website, they can actually go on and build their shirt. then they can add their logos because we have a logo library

-lemonis: marcus. -cate: marcus. hello. hello. -lemonis: nice to meet you. -cate: welcome to our store. -lemonis: thank you. did you know lady and i made a deal for 50%? -cate: yeah. -lemonis: how long -have you been here? -cate: six years. and i assumed the store-manager role four weeks ago. lemonis: and so who do you report to now? cate: i answer to tasha. lemonis: how often does she come? cate: i have not seen tasha for over four years. lemonis: and how about lady? cate: i haven't seen lady in six years. i know she has been to the store in the last 12 months, -but i have not seen her. -lemonis: happened to be -a day you were off. -cate: yeah. katelyn: i've never met lady. and the roles of everyone is very confusing. lemonis: i'm definitely frustrated with the fact that tasha hasn't been in these stores managing these people. but if i was gonna hold one person accountable, it would be lady, the woman who owns this business. she should be setting the direction. -nice meeting you. -katelyn: you, too. lemonis: it was really nice meeting you. morning, guys. -c

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: com

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

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. 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. they don't have water. they don't have jobs. this would never happen on the mainland. you'd see trucks everywhere. you'd see military deployment. thousands making the wrenching decision. i feel like a c

my name is marcus lemonis. and i fix failing businesses. this business 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, w

lemonis. it is a pleasure to have you -- marcus. but in order for these businesses to be successful or not in the long term, real business has to happen like, after the cameras go away. that brings us to rule 8, it's all about follow-through. i think people have this -- this misconception that i'm going to come in and run their business for them. i'm not there to run your business, i'm there to push you along and point out things to you so that you could do it when i'm gone. and there has to be consistency and a following of that process, not the day after or the month after, but years after. seems pretty straightforward to me. and yet, i have to grapple with this lack of consistency and follow-through again and again and again. -i can't be here every day. -i know. and these people want a leader and i don't know if you have what it takes. lemonis: the business has a ton of potential. i think the worry i have and i didn't tell this to anybody else, is that i don't think you want to do it. i want to see them get their systems in order

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 br

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,