I know you have it in you. Aimee i do. Lemonis . Jd Custom Designs could just disappear. My name is marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. Were not gonna wake up every morning, wondering if we have a job. Were gonna wake up every morning, wondering how many jobs we have to do. Its not always pretty. Everythings gonna change. Everything. But i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. This. Lets go to work. Is the profit. Jeff jd customs. Lemonis in 2009, jeff and Aimee Dougherty started jd Custom Designs, a display Manufacturing Company that handles everything from design. Jeff 26 and 7 8s. Lemonis . To fabrication. The Company Started out strong. Aimee where do you want me to put this on the work order board . Lemonis reaching 2. 4 million of revenue in 2010 by focusing on displays primarily for the cosmetic industry. But a lack of working capital has left them in a constant catchup mode. Jeff we need to develop something right away, cause it needs to be going, like, right now. Lemonis now machines are breaking down. Jeff the whole [bleep] drive that actually drives the terminals. Man the controller . Jeff fried. Lemonis delays are piling up. And the sales are down to nearly half of what they were at the peak. Jeff and aimee are fearing the worst. Aimee we gotta take care of this. Ay, yi, yi. Lemonis every Retail Business needs displays to show off their product and improve their sales, so turning this company around and having it inside of my portfolio could be a huge win for all of my businesses. Jeff hey. Lemonis jeff. Jeff how are you . Very nice to meet you. Lemonis im marcus. Jeff yes, i know exactly who you are. Lemonis nice to meet you. Im a little confused. On the front door, theres 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 theyre 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 didnt 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 halfinch thick gauge acrylic. These are actually removable. Lemonis uhhuh. Jeff because most of my customers want to update their plates. Same thing here. These all these plates are removable. Lemonis and you designed this, as well . Jeff yes. Lemonis everything seems very much the same. While looking at most of the displays with jeff, you can tell that theres a little bit of a problem. Theyre all makeup related except for this one display that has pipes and water. Jeff they said their shoes are the industrial look. Lemonis this is a shoe display . Jeff yeah, for converse. They wanted that industrial look. Lemonis yeah, they got it. When companies are making a product for one specific industry, when you get outside of that, its difficult, because you have to think differently, youre working with a different product. Its probably outside their comfort zone. And when did you start this business . Jeff in 09 09. Lemonis 2009 . Jeff yeah, i believe it was. I have to check with my wife, but im lemonis is your wife in the business as well . Jeff yeah, thats my wife. Thats aimee. Aimee hi, marcus. Lemonis how are you . Aimee nice to meet you. Lemonis really nice to meet you. Now, are you an owner in the business, as well . Aimee yes, sir. Lemonis what is your percentage . Aimee 50 . Lemonis so 5050 . Aimee yes. Lemonis whos in charge . Jeff i am. Lemonis you are. Jeff i pretty much run everything other than paperwork. Shell tell you, you know, he needs to stay out of the paperwork part of it. Lemonis why is that . Why would she tell me that . Aimee hes very creative. He works well with his hands, he needs to stay over here and out there. Lemonis do you ever tell him that . Aimee oh, all the time. Lemonis does he listen . Aimee no. Ive known jeff for. Jeff she used to be one of my customers. Aimee i was one of his customers. He was a single dad raising his three kids, and lemonis wow, thats honorable. And your kids in the business . Aimee yes. Jeff my oldest son. Lemonis is here . Jeff yes. Lemonis can you take me to the shop, id like to jeff absolutely. Lemonis meet him, see the shop. Jeff come on out. We have about 4,200 square feet. Lemonis its not exactly an organized place. Jeff no. I will give you that, no. Lemonis and the place looks like total chaos. Theres crap everywhere. Am i the only one that sees the irony that a display company should actually display their own things and have them look right . Jeff back here, we have a threehead machine that we use for prototyping or use it for production, also. This is my machine thats down. Lemonis and are there jobs backed up because of it . Jeff im starting to get backed up. Lemonis how much money do you feel like you need to spend on new equipment . Jeff laser is about 30,000. Large format cnc router, probably right in the area of about 40,000. Lemonis and then you got to fix some stuff you have broken. So how much is that gonna cost . Jeff 15, 20 grand. Lemonis 85,000 and youre up and running. Jeff approximately, yeah. Lemonis how are you, sir . Jeff this is rogelio. This is marcus. Lemonis marcus. Rogelio hi, nice to meet you. Lemonis nice to meet you. And you have a lot of training on the cnc machine . Jeff he actually went to college for it. Lemonis oh, wow. Jeff yeah. Lemonis where are all your Raw Materials . Jeff cant afford to stock them. Lemonis and how much are are your lead times delayed today . Aimee we say four to six weeks. Lemonis so if your machines both worked and you had the Raw Materials, what would your time quote be instead of four to six weeks . Aimee three to five weeks. Lemonis and over the course of a year, how much more business could you do . Aimee [ chuckles ] a lot. Lemonis who does the estimating here on the jobs . Aimee he does. I have no accounting experience. My background is sales. That was my realm. I love sales. Lemonis are you good at it . Aimee im very good at it. Lemonis aimee, who has a background in sales, is actually not involved in the sales process. And jeff, whos more quiet, more shy, hes the one handling sales . It seems like a role reversal. So what is all this . Aimee these are all samples and prototypes. Jeff well, actually, no, marcus, these are displays that actually get reran. Lemonis why does it look like this . Jeff if she could find me the time to do it, id do it in a heartbeat. Lemonis are you the only person that can do it . Aimee he has to touch everything, and he just he wont stop. Jeff i know, i know. Aimee maybe he could not be down here all hours of the night and be home with his family and have dinner together. Thats all the kids ask. Jeff but i dont have a choice, marcus. Sometimes were at a deadline, and a machine breaks down, and i cant miss that deadline. My family is everything to me. Thats why i do this, thats why i stay all night. Lemonis business is one thing. Your family, your health, thats more important. Business owners, in one breath, theyll talk to you about the fact that everything theyre doing, all these sacrifices that theyre making are for their family, and i believe that. In another breath, theyre absent from their family, and theres really blurry lines between home life and work life. And in the case of jeff, sounds like theres no difference. How you doing . Wes good, how are you . Lemonis im marcus. Wes im wesley, nice to meet you. Lemonis nice to meet you. Youre just cranking out stuff, huh . Wes uh, yes, sir. Lemonis you like it . Wes oh, i love it. Ever since i could remember, i would come in and watch my dad do it. You know, just take one of those sheets of plastic and turn it into something, like, amazing. Lemonis right. You like working with your dad . Wes yeah, i love it. Being able to spend time with him, cause you dont see him two or three days cause hes down here. Lemonis do you want to be in this business in the future . Wes oh, of course, yeah. Lemonis is that what you see for your future . Wes yes, sir. Lemonis what would you like to do here . Wes i mean, i know i wouldnt be able to do half the stuff my dad does, cause he runs the front, back. Hes all over the place, you know. Lemonis he is all over the place, isnt he . Wes stresses me out. Hes gonna put himself in the ground the way hes going right now, trying to do everything by himself. Scares the hell out of me. Lemonis i think that youre here helping out your dad says a lot about yourself. Wes thank you, sir. Lemonis okay, my man. Wes nice meet you. Lemonis good talking to you. And ill be here, so if you want to talk about anything. Wes thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Jeff okay. Lemonis howd you learn how to do autocad . Jeff by myself. Lemonis youre selftaught. Jeff i got the program and just started doing it. Lemonis you loved it, too, though, didnt you . Jeff yeah, i did. Lemonis do you are you as precise as you are because you spent years not being precise and youve learned . Jeff ive always been precise. When i was a kid, when you come home and my stepdad was drunk, you say one thing thats wrong, phew. So ive always tried to maintain so much control over what im doing, and when i feel out of control, it bothers me. A lot of people tell me youve gotta put more faith in your people. But its my name thats going out on that product. Lemonis what happens is the time that you spend doing that takes away from something else. The companys so onedimensional because jeff pours all of his time into doing everybody elses job, as opposed to allowing people do to their job, which gives him the free time to develop new ideas, develop new products something that isnt makeup. Ill see you in a little bit. Jeff all right, buddy. Lemonis so lets dig into the financials. 2015, 1. 045 million in business. 2016, 1. 471 million. And it says the company made 242,000 last year. 433,000 owed in payables. Jeff i didnt think it was that much. Lemonis 40,000 in credit cards. 43,000 in business loans. Plus the car loan of 52,000. You have assets of 175,000 and obligations, liabilities of 568,000. 393,000 is the delta of the two. You owe more than you have. Jeff correct. Lemonis okay. Youre, unfortunately, on paper out of business. So for that alone jeff can i just have a second . Lemonis yeah. Jeff is that cool . Lemonis yeah. Jeff thanks, man. Aimee its a very sensitive subject. Lemonis the pressure of keeping this business up and running is overwhelming him, and he doesnt want to show me or aimee how hes really feeling. But, frankly, he should be very proud of himself, because hes sacrificing his own self for everybody elses benefit. Hey. Jeff there you are. Sorry. Lemonis listen jeff im sorry to cut you off, i just lemonis listen, listen to me. Jeff okay. Lemonis you have nothing to apologize for. Jeff i just feel like im failing, and it just takes away my soul, man. And im trying im trying my ass off, but i just hitting a [bleep] wall. Every time i turn around, theres something else. Lemonis you have to decide if you want to bust through that wall or not. Jeff oh, i do. And i will. Lemonis okay, now you gotta figure out can we do business together, can we outmaneuver the wall together . Jeff exactly. Exactly. Lemonis okay . Lemonis lets get in there. Jeff all right. Lemonis im a people, process, product guy. I know i need the product for my current businesses. I know that i can fix the process. And any time somebody is as humble and heartfelt as jeff is, i know i dont have a people problem. The fact that the business is just in a working capital death spiral, youll see that when you put money in, it will start to solve things really quickly. So i want to make an offer for 300,000. Pay off the credit cards, get all the equipment working, buy Raw Materials, pay the vender down in a very big way, and put some cash in the bank. I feel like i have enough products in my portfolio plus businesses. Jeff mmhmm. Lemonis . That can benefit from what you do. Jeff i agree. Lemonis im still not convinced that you guys are creative enough to solve all of those problems, but i think you can solve a lot of them. And i know that you built this business with your blood, sweat, and tears. But i couldnt it for any less than 50 of the business. Aimee oh, where do we go . You know, what do we do if this doesnt pan out . Would you be willing to do 6040 . Jeff i definitely wouldnt have more than one of these. Aimee but youll put a big dress on there . Jeff no, this is what were doing. This is how its gotta be done. Lemonis jeff, youve totally taken the fun out of this. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. And at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. Today were bringing you americas number one shave at lower prices every day. Putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. 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And with just a single word, find all the answers youre looking for because getting what you need should be simple, fast, and easy. Download the xfinity my account app or go online today. Aimee what do we do if this doesnt pan out . Would you be willing to do 6040 . Lemonis no. Only because i feel like theres a lot of heavy lifting here. And if i end up bringing 50 of the business to the table from all the companies, i want to be able to enjoy 50 of the profit. Do we have a deal . Aimee lets do it. Lemonis okay. Aimee lets do it. Lemonis okay. Jeff thank you, buddy. Aimee can i hug you . Lemonis yes, you can. I want to remind you both, when you take my money jeff i know, youre 100 in charge. Lemonis no, no, no, with you, im 150. Jeff okay. Lemonis this is a fresh start. Jeff okay. Lemonis all right, lets get to work. See you tomorrow. Jeff thank you, buddy. [ exhales sharply ] lemonis good morning. Man good morning. Lemonis my name is marcus lemonis. And last night, we made a deal for me to invest 300,000 into the business. The goal behind the money is to improve the work environment. This warehouse needs to be cleaned up. Its a mess. And to improve the equipment and develop new products. We want to be able to do anything that any company wants. But we ultimately have to change the culture. Jeff correct. Lemonis and that starts with you. Jeff correct. Lemonis letting go and trusting your team. Jeff right. Okay. I got it. Lemonis all right . Lets go to work. Thank you, guys. One of the big concerns that i have is whether jd customs can be creative and they can be nimble. I want them to start thinking outside the box, thinking away from makeup. And i also want to see jeffs process. So im taking them to a local toy store, and im gonna challenge them with something theyve never done before. What i want the two of you to do is to each pick 10 products. Were gonna make one Large Display that can be used at a Retail Business. If you can prove to me that you can make something that has proper branding, proper coloring, proper signage, and can carry lots of different products, then well move on to something really big. Aimee lets do it. Lemonis okay, lets go. Jeff im confident. Aimee are you sticking to, like, an age group . Jeff you pick yours, ill pick mine. Aimee okay. Girl anything crystals. Aimee what kind of science experiments would you say are fun . Lemonis jeff, why do you look so intense . Jeff im just trying just. Lemonis is this your fun face . Jeff no. Lemonis okay, whats your fun face look like . Jeff this is my fun face. Lemonis did anybody tell jeff that we were at a toy store . I think you have to take on the personality of the product that youre building the display for. If you were building a medical device, then i get it, be serious and technical. If youre building a toy display, let loose, have some fun. Youve now picked 10 each. Jeff mmhmm. Lemonis and you need to get to 10 total. So how do you narrow it down . Aimee i think we need a book, though. Jeff dont think we should do anything with books. That would be a totally separate display. I definitely wouldnt have more than one of these. Aimee but youll put a big dress on there . Thats not taking up room. Like, these could take up less room than the dress. Jeff i understand that, aimee, but these are basically two of the same products. Why would you want to showcase two of the exact same things . Aimee because were trying to do a full age group, from infant to adolescent. So i think its gotta be a couple in each category. Jeff no, this is what were doing. This is how its gotta be done. Lemonis jeff. I gotta be honest with you. Youve totally taken the fun out of this. Jeff i know. Im trying to get my mind on visualizing it. Im so sorry. Aimee see, hes doing the construction in his mind. Lemonis no, hes not, actually, cause he was arguing not about shape or size. He was arguing about a unicorn. Aimee true. Lemonis what he cares about is controlling the process from the beginning to end, including picking the toys, because he knows better. And everybody elses opinion almost doesnt matter. I picked a toy store because i felt you would actually lean on her to make the product display, because who buys the toys for the kids . Jeff yeah. Lemonis and youre arguing with her like, no, no, no, you dont know what youre doing. Jeff i get the point. Would i like to be able to lean on more people and get yeah, i would. Its hard. Its really hard for me because its a comfort for me. Lemonis it, singlehandedly, could kill the business. Jeff got it. Lemonis were ready to ring out when you are. Lemonis in five days, i want to see the final fixture, finished with all the toys on it, as if its gonna move into a retail space. Jeff okay. Lemonis thank you so much. I own another business in the area called bodhi leaf. And aimee has told me she wants to oversee sales. But im not sure if she understands what that entails or what my expectations are. So ive asked her to meet me there so we can really talk about that. Whats the sales process gonna look like, and how is the revenue gonna get generated . Whos gonna lead the sales charge . How am i gonna get a return on the money for myself, for you, for your family . Like. Aimee i could go out and sell. Its natural for me. Im a people person. Lemonis you feel like you could sell anything to anybody . Aimee for the most part, yes. Like there i noticed the tshirts. Lemonis lets walk and look. Aimee okay. Lemonis so what would be your pitch . Aimee i think you need to display your product better. Lemonis i think my product sells fine here. Aimee i dont see anyone looking at the coffee when theyre waiting to purchase their coffee. Lemonis okay. Aimee if you had a fixture of some sort to display your coffee. Lemonis what am i gonna get . Aimee my commitment. Lemonis money. Aimee darn it. Okay. Lemonis do you believe in your company . Aimee yes. Lemonis prove it to me. Aimee its hard. Lemonis that doesnt make me feel confident about the investment. Aimee i understand. I just dont like feeling like im not good at something. I want to strive, and when i get put on the spot like that, i get a little nervous when i dont know the answers. Lemonis aimee. Talk to me. I want this place clean, and i dont want your dad involved. Jeff heres our disaster right here, though. Lemonis hey, jeff why did you leave wes behind . Jeff oh, im sorry. Lemonis i dont want you taking over. Lemonis aimee. I no wondering, what if . Uncertainties of hep c. I let go of all those feelings. Because i am cured with harvoni. Harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. Its been prescribed to more than a quarter million people. And is proven to cure up to 99 of patients whove have had no prior treatment with 12 weeks. 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Now, you know that i didnt do this to make you feel bad. Aimee no, no, no i know. When i get put on the spot like that, i get a little nervous when i dont know the answers. Lemonis when you say you can sell, youve done that all your life, you have to be able to do it on the fly when youre not prepared. Aimee right. Lemonis listen, i love the fact that you would be the face of sales. I know you have it in you. Aimee i do. Lemonis so what you want to do in sales is get an objection, and solve the objection. So i say, what if it doesnt work . And you say you should say, listen, i expected you to say that, right, cause, obviously, its a lot of money. Aimee right. Lemonis but im in the fixture business, and my job and our companys job is to bring products to life. Aimee see, thats so good. Lemonis thats how i really want you to think about it. Aimee okay, my wheels are turning now. Lemonis but that is how you sell. So how confident are you that you could sell anybody on anything . Aimee i can do it. Lemonis and you could kick ass . Aimee absolutely. Lemonis okay. Aimee okay. Lemonis hey, wesley. Wes yes, sir . Lemonis this is stevie grafton. Stevie how you doing . Lemonis i have another business where theres a fatherson relationship, and i wanted to bring in stevie grafton. Hes the son of Steve Grafton of grafton furniture. And i thought that wes would take better direction from somebody from the outside who he could somehow relate to. Him and his dad own a furniture manufacturer in miami. Their shop was not organized a couple years ago. Stevie sure, yeah. Lemonis and its now. Stevie very organized, yeah. Lemonis very organized. I want this place clean. If its garbage, throw it out. And i dont want your dad involved. All right. Stevie come on back. Jeff heres our disaster right here, though. Lemonis hey, jeff . Why did you leave wes behind . Jeff oh, im sorry. I thought you were talking to him. I apologize. Lemonis and i dont want you taking over. This is his project. Jeff okay. Lemonis okay . Jeff all right. Wes yes, sir. Lemonis okay . Jeff all right, you guys. Wes and over this way, more pieces that definitely need to be organized. Jeff these are for jobs actually. Stevie oh, these are jobs, active jobs . Jeff yeah, these are actual jobs. Stevie okay. Lemonis jeffs so used to being involved in every single thing that he now feels like he has to provide the tour . Jeff . Jeff oh. Lemonis i want them to just do their thing. Jeff thats fine. Lemonis and i know thats hard for you. Jeff yeah. Lemonis if they make mistakes, they make mistakes. Lemonis let em learn how to ask, and then you have to not be in their business all the time. Jeff okay. Lemonis steve and wes are hard at work, and once the shop is totally organized, im gonna replace some of his broken equipment with brand new, stateoftheart equipment. Hello. Im marcus. Rick marcus, im rick. Lemonis rick, how are you . Today, jeff and i are gonna go shopping for new machinery. Its gonna allow them to improve the output, and theyll be able to work with new materials, like wood and metal. I am looking to see more dimension. Like, look at this thing, i mean this is. Jeff thats amazing. Lemonis most importantly, it will take the pressure off of jeff because the staff will be able to utilize the machinery that they know is gonna work. Hell be able to focus on new ideas and new customers. Jeff i got to get it under 65,000. Rick this is a sale. Lemonis back at the shop, everybody is working hard on this new toy display. Aimee okay, well jeff i just we dont have the room for a 60inch diameter tree. Aimee okay, well, i have another idea. Lemonis i think the real test for jeff is if hes able to collaborate with everybody. Is he able to get their input and not drive the process all by himself. Hey, stranger. I came back to see the. Toy thing. Aimee the unit . Would you like to see it . Lemonis yeah. Aimee okay, lets do it. Jeff we just have everything facing onesided, but it is twosided. Lemonis what is the purpose of these slats . Jeff to make it more structurally sound. And we just did little accessory pieces, obviously, to hold the smaller stuff. Aimee we started out with a perfect square. Jeff it was just too sharp for kids. Lemonis whose idea was it to round it . Jeff me. Aimee jeff. Lemonis well, i like the fact that you were thinking about kids that could be near it. Who designed it . Jeff well, you told me to get everybodys input, i got every single persons input. The employees everybody. Lemonis is that true . Cole thats true. Lemonis what were some of the ideas that people had that you did not implement . Aimee what i wanted to do was. Jeff she wanted it to be a knockdown unit. Lemonis okay, yeah, collapsible. Aimee yes. Lemonis and so is this collapsible . Aimee no. Lemonis this could never go into a retail store, because it doesnt provide for the depth of skews. It could never go with a lot of inventory. Aimee i beg to differ just a little bit in a retail environment. Lemonis yeah. Aimee not everybody can afford a 3,000 square foot retail space. This, it looks like the things are floating so it makes the room look a lot bigger. If it was wood, it would be very heavy, it would take your away from going through, making the space look larger. Jeff i dont see the lemonis well, i like the fact that youre trying to sell me something that i dont like, and at least trying to say, okay, i hear what youre saying. Aimee yes. Lemonis let me tell you why i think it would work. And that, to me, is a sign of a good salesperson. Aimee started selling me on the positives, the benefits, the features. And it showed me that she deserved a chance to do the job that she wants, which is to be in charge of sales. How are you . Aimee good, how are you . Lemonis good to see you. How you guys doing . Jeff good. Lemonis i want to have you meet a couple people. Now that jeff and aimee have shown me that they can step somewhat out of the makeup display box, i want to start to introduce them to some of the businesses that i have who have specific needs for displays. So im taking them to a project where inkkas and flex watches are working together to actually go to retail. I want to see if these guys can help them. Juli runs the incas and flex business as part of this process. Brad, who deals with a lot of fulfillment at retail, and i wanted him to talk to you about some products. Now, i have a couple of goals here. Number one, i want to see aimees sales presentation. Number two, i want to see if jeff will actually let her do it. Aimee ive put together a little presentation. Juli awesome. Aimee of who we are. We can do anything from small countertop units to large floor displays, depending on the space that is needed for your product. Brad awesome. So for our watches, we would love to have a retail display that really tells our message, that we have multiple different patterns, multiple different watches, and multiple different costs. And how we can show them as a collaboration living with our inkka shoes. Aimee depending on the retail environment, you can always do it as far as, like, a vitrine, or. Jeff question. Will the watches themselves, the base color of the watches, always be a solid color . Juli no. Brad no. Jeff okay, we have a laminating process that we do that can really liven up a display. Juli i think for the main focus that wed want for display is really combining and highlighting this new collaboration of the two brands, while also telling that 10 goes back to charity, and inkkas, by the way, built the trees. Aimee absolutely. Jeff yeah. Aimee i jeff sorry. Now, the message that youre doing on the shoe and the watch itself, obviously, in my opinion should be displayed with the actual product. Brad i mean, it it would just take the right design. Did you bring any ideas of how we could potentially merchandise shoes or watches . Aimee i did not. I wanted to bring a couple displays, but um. Um. Lemonis if your business is in trouble and you need my help, log on to. Your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance. Tbut wed argue, mores, than 7 wonders. For a limited time, enjoy two free perks like complimentary wifi, and drinks, when you book now during the Celebrity Cruises sail beyond event. Tbut wed argue, mores, than 7 wonders. For a limited time, enjoy two free perks like complimentary wifi, and drinks, when you book now during the Celebrity Cruises sail beyond event. Merchandise shoes or watches . Aimee i did not. I wanted to bring a couple displays, but um. Oh, damn it, im all. Um. Lemonis this exercise was meant to give aimee more practice. This is a moment where i have to really convince her that shes got what it takes. She just needs to relax, gather her thoughts, keep jeff quiet, and be herself. Listen to me. Aimee its embarrassing. Lemonis no, its not. Aimee it is. Lemonis no, its not. Do me one favor, dont Pay Attention to him, connect with them. And you may want to ask questions to get people to say yes. How important is it to you that you grow your business . Well, what are they gonna say . Aimee yeah. Lemonis and get them shaking their head, of course, yes. They forget that no even exists. Are you ready . Lets go kick ass. Aimee [ laughs ] lemonis you got this. Come on. Aimee im with jd Custom Designs. Were a custom display manufacturer. You want to sell more watches, you want to sell more shoes . Juli yes. Brad yes, please. Aimee i think we can partner together and make that happen. Brad okay. Aimee are you happy with your displays . Juli yes and no. Brad for instance, our watches come in these. [ chuckles ] aimee so theres one problem. Juli so theres one thing. [ laughter ] aimee first problem. Brad i like the fact that the watches are visible. We would like to have an option that can live on a table or a potential countertop. Aimee right. Now we could do that. I have some ideas. I think that you can remove this and have it as a counter display. Brad yeah. Juli were also including inkkas in that, so we need one that kind of combines the two. Because this is what were gonna highlight is the collaboration between the two brands. cause this is called the flexaire. Aimee okay. Do you have a budget in mind . Juli i honestly think it would be better if you could come back to us with varying options at varying price points. Aimee absolutely. I think i could come up with something thats roughly in the 500 range that would blow your socks off. Brad amazing. Jeff i do not see that display being in the 500 range. Aimee lets design something that is 500, and lets also design a few other things that are a little higher end. Jeff okay. Aimee because 9 out of 10 times, they see, okay, this if 500, but they will find the extra few hundred dollars to get a better looking display. You build it and i can sell it. Jeff i got it. Aimee so we each have our own job, so. Jeff no, i got it. Aimee let me do my job. Aimee would you like to give us a shot . Brad yes, we would. Juli yes, i would love that. Aimee lets do it. Thank you very much. Brad thank you. Aimee thank you very much. Lemonis all right, great. Wes, you want to give me a tour of everything you did in here . Wes yes, sir. Lemonis ive gotten word that all of the improvements and changes have been made to the warehouse, and so im excited to see whats been done. Look at this place wes me and steven just kind of talked it out and said, if we had it like this, it would flow a lot better. Lemonis what looked like a giant junk room now looks like an organized manufacturing facility. Labeling all your Raw Materials. Wes yes, sir. Lemonis what do you think of all the new machinery . Wes this thing is amazing. Lemonis its awesome, isnt it . Wes its awesome. Lemonis my original investment was 300,000, but i needed to spend a little extra to put the type of machinery in there thats going to create volume. Jeff it increased productivity immensely. Lemonis how . Jeff its so much faster. By the way, cheaper on the material. Lemonis because youre buying it in bulk . Jeff because i bought in pallet form. Lemonis previously, jd custom would buy all of their materials job by job. Now that we buy all of our material in bulk, were able to lower the cost of the materials by 22 . When you take the amount of materials that jd customs bought just last year, which is a half a million dollars, and you apply that 22 savings to it, well, their gross profits gonna go up by 110,000. Wes thank you. Lemonis really good job. Jeff let me just set it up. Lemonis jeff . Why dont you let her go through her sales presentation. Why dont you not hijack the presentation. Jeff okay, not a problem. Lemonis were back to meet with brad and juli, and im looking for aimee to really show that she has confidence, that she knows her numbers, that she can make the consumer want to buy in. Aimee this is the first idea that we came up with, which incorporates wood, metal, and acrylic. What we did is we made a pedestal so you could see that watch with the shoe. And what it would look like on the colored disc for this one. Brad it looks expensive. It looks like it was well made. Aimee this one is roughly 500. Brad okay. Aimee now the second concept we came up with, this is the cream of the crop here. This is actually the top of the pedestal. Brad okay. Aimee and its also twosided. Brad so this is like front and back . Aimee exactly. Brad okay. Aimee inside of these is storage for the watches or the shoes. You could take this piece off and go put it in the watch department. This is about 750. Brad i like it. I do. Lemonis i was pleasantly surprised by not only her presentation, but i was also impressed with the actual design. I think theyve proven that they can evolve from makeup displays. I acquired a business in minnesota called gander outdoors. And there are no displays inside the company. I think theyre gonna want to see something that you do. So i think we go ahead and make both of these units. Jeff got it. Lemonis i want to show them your capabilities. Jeff okay. Lemonis the inkkas flex display jeff and aimee made was fantastic. So i want to use that display as an example of their capabilities. And so im asking them to go to gander outdoors and really prove to that team that theyre capable of making anything. If the people like it, this could be a multimillion dollar account. I will tell you that while its my business, they make their own decisions just like they do. Jeff of course. Lemonis and theyre gonna be tough on price and tough on quality. Jeff all right. Aimee okay. Lemonis all right. Aimee thank you. Lemonis good job. Good job. Jeff thank you, buddy. Lemonis we have two weeks to bring the prototypes to life for our presentation at gander. Everybody is working their butts off getting these displays ready. Jeff get those pallets out of there, line those up. Lemonis but im already noticing a problem. Jeff no. Just make sure all the spaces are perfect. Man oh, yeah, the space is fine. Lemonis i understand that this is a big job and jeff feels the pressure, but he still is in everybodys business. Jeff why is that coming up . That shouldnt be coming up. Lemonis his employees are really unable to complete even one task without jeff sticking his nose in it. Jeff no, no, no. This is gonna go over and grab t1. Man yeah, i know. Lemonis the more time hes spending doing everybody elses jog, the less time hes spending creating new products. I dont want him to have distractions. Or be meddling in anybodys work. Jeff thanks, buddy. Lemonis hey, jeff . How come hes not programming the machine . Jeff its not that its hard, its just theres a few different codes and stuff that we have to use. Lemonis i cant have this conversation again with jeff. This situation, honestly, for this business to work, has to stop. Lets you and i take a walk, okay, bud . Byron right now, it seems very generic. Im a little torn that every time i want to think about the story, i have to look down there. I think that you guys can do a better job. Coming at you with my brandnew vlog. Just making some ice in my freezer here. So check back for that followup vid. This is my cashew guy bruno. Holler at em, brun. Kicking it live and direct here at the fountain. Should i go habanero or maui onion . Should i buy a chinchilla . Comment below. Did i mention i save people 620 for switching . Chinchilla update got that chinchilla after all. Say what up, rocco. Like you do sometimes, grandpa . And puffed. Well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. It can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. So i talked to my doctor. She said. Symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. Symbicort doesnt replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. Symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. Symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It should not be taken more than twice a day. Symbicort contains formoterol. Medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. Symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. You should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Symbicort could mean a day with better breathing. Watch out, piggies get symbicort free for up to one year. Visit saveonsymbicort. Com today to learn more. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. If you cant unlock your ability to trust their work, the business will never grow. Jeff i 1,000 agree with you, but one thing that i just want you to realize, you say why do you feel that you have to be in control all the time, you know . If i lose that control. It scares me because of what my family stands to lose. My family is everything to me. And i have a control issue, yeah, i do. cause if i didnt, i cant take care of them. You understand that im saying . Lemonis i do. Jeff and i know why. My stepfather, i told you about. Violent alcoholic. Well, youd get the [bleep] beat out of you, obviously. Lemonis did you get the [bleep] beat out of you . Jeff oh, god, yeah. More times than i even want to talk about. But this is the thing that i knew that i couldnt control. This is part of my [bleep] problem. Its part of my problem of why i feel i need to control [bleep] around me, cause i couldnt do it back there. I couldnt control my mom getting hurt. And i take it to a level that it shouldnt be. And i realize that, and im really gonna work on it. Not only for me, but for my kids. Its gonna be better for my wife, and its gonna be better for our business. Lemonis i think that fact that jeff was vulnerable and disclosed why he is the way he is, its a testament to the character of this man. You have to be the chief. That doesnt mean that you dont get out in the shop and get your hands dirty. That doesnt mean that you dont lead by example. But the way that you lead by example is also empowering these people. Jeff marcus, i should have known this years ago. Lemonis now that i understand jeffs background a little better, i understand why he wants to have control. And we have to work on it. With jeff doing his best to allow the employees to do their job, the company is moving full steam ahead to get these prototypes ready for the gander presentation. Hi, guys. Todays the day that aimee and jeff are gonna try to earn the gander outdoors account. And while that would be great for business, for me, its more about them gaining confidence in their ability to sell any product to anybody. Aimee hi. My name is Aimee Dougherty. Melissa melissa mans, nice to meet you. Show us what you guys got. Aimee i am coowner with my husband, jeff dougherty, of jd Custom Designs. We are a display manufacturer located in fullerton, california. So all of our products are manufactured and fabricated in the u. S. A. We were approached by marcus. He came to us and said, could you please make a display incorporating a shoe and a watch. They wanted to incorporate them together, something simple, something that ships flat, and that is easy to assemble. Bryon i like the bright and cheerfulness of it. Woman the flexibility is very appealing. Byron i like the height variations. I think thats really fun. Right now, it seems very generic. Im a little torn that every time i want to think about the story, i have to look down there. And its almost like you have to doubletake at two Different Things to figure out what exactly that means. I think that you guys can do a better job. Lemonis for exclusives, extras, and business advice, visit. [girl 1] perfect you can send a that evdigital payment. To think [man] uhh, i dont have one of those payment apps. [girl 2] perfect you have a usbased bank account, right . [man] i have wells fargo. [girl 3] perfect then you should have zelle [man] perfect. [girls] perfect [vo] the number one mobile banking app just got better. [man] does your coach use zelle, too . [boy] of course [vo] another way were building better every day. There are 7 continents. 7 seas. But at Celebrity Cruises wed argue, more than 7 wonders. For a limited time, enjoy two free perks like complimentary wifi and drinks, plus savings for everyone in your stateroom, when you book now. During the Celebrity Cruises sail beyond event. About the story, i have to look down there. And im wondering if theres a way to incorporate that into the platform, so that way, when a customers looking at this shoe, theyre seeing the story behind and what the shoe is trying to do, as opposed to down there. Woman most of the product that we carry, a lot of our fixtures are very, very custom. Aimee to your corrective criticism, say you had a promotion for a product that was only gonna be displayed for a certain amount of time, Say Something for the holidays. Once the holiday is over, you could remove everything and change it out for a different product. Youre getting a universal custom display. Doesnt have to be for shoes, it could for anything. Its an entrylevel display. At the price point, youre getting a lot for your money. So now on to the creme de la crme. I wanted to come up with Something Different and unique, something with as much advertising space as possible so people could understand the foundations and what its all about. This one tells the whole story. This is an investment, and instead of having it for just one item, you could take this off and this off, and you could change it to whatever product you want. Woman thats quite impressive. Aimee and each cabinet, theres storage for back stock. And also, the vitrine is removable, so you could remove the whole thing. Bryon i really love how versatile this is. Woman the branding is executed rally nicely and much better. Lemonis what would you guess this display costs . Woman somewhere between three and five grand. Aimee my price points are about 1,500 as you see it here. Woman you guys did a very nice job. This is a really nice piece. Aimee thank you. Woman its exciting. Aimee thank you. And thats what we offer. We offer a partnership with you, we work together. Jeff we dedicate ourselves to our customers. Were there for you, well work with you, well help you any way possible that we can. Aimee you can always settle for ordinary. Why dont you choose jd custom and choose extraordinary . So are you ready . Woman 1 lets do it. Woman 2 lets do it. Aimee all right. Woman you did a great job. Aimee thank you. Lemonis aimee did a great job presenting the capabilities of the company, but more importantly, jeff allowed her to do it. And thats a big movement for him. Is it hard for you to let her do her thing . Jeff it was in places. Not and it wasnt that it was hard. I knew she was gonna nail it. I did. I really did. I believe in her. And i think she did great. Lemonis and you picked up a definitely a big customer. Last year, jd custom did about 1. 4 million worth of business. And now that they have the right equipment, they have Raw Materials, and most importantly, they have their confidence, they could take any product i have and bring it to life. Theyll do at least 5 million next year. All the success that youve had in the last couple of weeks, particularly today, and going forward, is really a testament to the work that you guys put in. Im very proud of you guys. Jeff thank you so much, buddy. Lemonis i love working with them. Because they do what they say theyre gonna do, they work their butts off, and those are the kind of people i like being partners with, people that truly want to earn it. Ill see you back in california . Jeff yes. Aimee yes. Lemonis well get to work. Jeff yeah, well, im ready. Lemonis tonight on whats the f stand for . Farmington . Fun. Lemonis at a denim apparel business based in detroit, the jeans are stiff. Yeah. Youve got to do the walk. And so are the owners. No. No. No. One of them stamps out any idea that isnt his own. Im fearful of just letting anyone do anything. While another obsesses about the smallest of details. Ive spent hours researching about exactly how to account for every half second. And the third cares only about his own payout. Doing the books is not of interest to me. Even though your a cpa . Even though im a cpa. Yeah. If i cant get them to embrace new ideas. This company will not survive as a mens jean company