And fix the foundation of his company. Feedback to final product. Tracy these people are here because they care. Tracy the bathroom, ladies. Lemonis . The entire tumbleweed business annie yeah, this is huge. Pat wow, nice will collapse. Oh, this is great. Do you know what fercockt means . Tracy it was really just about making sure that my name is marcus lemonis, we were really maximizing. Pat every inch counts with a tiny house, right . And i risk my own money to save struggling businesses. Annie absolutely. Pat that is great. Were not gonna wake up every morning yeah. Very nice, tracy. Austin and this room right here is our utility closet. Wondering if we have a job. Were gonna wake up every morning its all located in one area for your maintenance man. Wondering how many jobs we have to do. Its not always pretty. Pat yeah, this is great. Everythings gonna change. Everything. And then, i know we have a similar unit and the pitch of the roof was a little bit higher. But i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. Austin yeah, you raised it a little bit . Pat yeah. It makes a big difference when youre in the loft. This. Lets go to work. Is the profit. Lemonis to make the roof higher . Pat yeah. Would you have that flexibility . Lemonis what im wondering is. What steves response is going to be . In 2012, Steve Weissmann took over if he starts agreeing to tumbleweed tiny house company. Well well change this by an inch and that by an inch steve how are sales going . Lemonis . Now americas top manufacturer and move the roof up and well do all these things of mobile tiny homes. I just wasted a bunch of time were not doing that tracy this is our roanoke model. Lemonis he had little experience building homes. For exclusives, extras, and business advice, still, he managed to grow the company from five people visit theprofit. Cnbc. Com. Working out of a garage to 70 people working out of a 20,000squarefoot facility. Tracy we have hundreds and hundreds of floor plans. Lemonis and today, sales exceed 6 million per year. However, as the company has grown, so have the operating costs. Tracy if i do not get my windows ordered, it is gonna really kill us. Lemonis desperate to keep the lights on and expand, brad, ive got an idea for a song. Nationwide has this app. You can pay your bills, even start an auto claim. Steve turned to unconventional loans and credit cards. So what i was thinking. Let me guess. Start a claim right from your app. Now, with over 1 million of debt, have you been looking in my notes . Tumbleweed is on the verge of bankruptcy. Steve the company is in jeopardy. Hi, its real milk, just00 farmwithout the lactose, id. Lemonis with my ownership in camping world, so you can enjoy it even if youre sensitive. Ive been in the rv space for over a decade, and i feel that investing in tumbleweed would allow me delicious. Now, ive heard people say lactaid isnt real milk. To make a huge splash in the tinyhome market. Ok, well, if it isnt real then, i guess those things over there cant actually be cows. Pat yes, sir. How may i assist you today . Must be some kind of really big dogs, then. Lemonis hi, there. Pat welcome to tumbleweed. Lemonis how are you . Im marcus. Sit pat oh, marcus. So wonderful to meet you. Lemonis nice to meet you. Bad dog. Steve hey. Lemonis im marcus. Steve im steve. Lemonis steve, nice to meet you. Steve nice to meet you. Its so surreal, actually, meeting you facetoface. Lemonis were here. Lets do it. [ text notification now that you have] so, this is your business. Steve this is it. New dr. Scholls massaging gel advanced insoles lemonis what prompted you to get into this . With softer, bouncier gel waves, steve im a minimalist by trade. Youll move over 10 more than before. Lemonis do you live in a tiny home . Steve no. I live in a regular house now. Ive got a family and kids. I actually live in sonoma and in colorado. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. Lemonis what happened to, i want to be a minimalist . So that early retirement we planned. Steve i still am a minimalist. Its going ok . Great. Lemonis yeah. What did you do before this . Now im spending more time with the kids. Steve i was a restaurateur. Im introducing them to crab. I really dont have much experience in manufacturing. Crab . I can manufacture a burger. They love it. Lemonis okay. So, you mentioned that that money we set aside. Can you show me a few models . Steve so, we have cypress, the farallon alta, yeah. The kids and i want to build our own crab shack. The elm 26 equator, and the roanoke. Ahhh, youre finally building that outdoor kitchen. Lemonis i mean, its like a log cabin. Steve yeah. Lemonis but its movable. Yup with room for the whole gang. Steve yes. They can pick their floor finish, see how investing with a j. P. Morgan advisor can help you. They can pick their roof and window colors. People really want to get into these and customize them. Visit your local chase branch. Lemonis so, what is your typical price for an average unit sold here . Steve right now, 80,000. Lemonis and whats the Maximum Capacity that the factory can actually produce . tires squealing steve were currently producing three out of four people think this much horsepower anywhere from eight to ten a month. And we have about three to four to five month backlog is excessive. At any given time. Three out of four people are wrong. Lemonis three to five months . Steve yes. In the beginning, when we started off, we were building about two to three a month, if we were for everyone, and we started selling more, and so our backlog grew wed be for no one. And grew and grew and grew. Lemonis uhhuh. Introducing dodge power dollars. Steve well, were gonna go out in the shop and take a look. Lemonis well, show me the shop. Purchase and get 10 per horsepower steve yeah, all right. Thats 7970 on the srt challenger hellcat redeye. Lemonis whats fun about tiny homes is that, although theyre mobile, they typically stay more stationary, and the craftsmanship really matters. When i look at this particular product and i look at the materials that they use and the work thats going into them, the work is unparalleled. I have never seen anything with this high of quality. Start to finish, how long will it take . Steve it should take 16 days. This ones probably gonna take us 21, maybe 22. Lemonis well, how do you not know . Steve were gonna know when its done. Lemonis no, no, no, no. How are you pricing the unit before you know how long its gonna take . Steve we have a lot of estimates on our pricing. Here, hello starts with hi mple. People really want to customize these a lot, how can i help . A data plan for everyone. So we get curveballs all the time everyone . Everyone. For things that weve never done before. Lets send to everyone [ camera clicking ] lemonis like . Steve like folding porches. Wifi up there . Ahhh. We had no idea what that was gonna entail. Sure, why not . Lemonis what did it cost you to make . Dont say you dont know. Howd he get out . a camera might figure it out. Steve our costs of labor and materials on one of these units that was easy is around 60 . Glad i could help. Lemonis so, your margins are 40 . At xfinity, were here to make life simple. Easy. Awesome. Steve well, okay, so, besides the cost of goods, so come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. Theres probably about 10 additional costs in design, servicing, labor, sales. Lemonis so, your margins are 30 . Steve 30 . Lemonis do you think those are good . Steve i dont know if theyre good or bad. Lemonis the more i dig, the less i think he knows. Kes a big difference when youre in the loft. I think any Business Owners lack of research lemonis to make the roof higher . Pat yeah. Would you have that flexibility . Will ultimately lead to bad decisionmaking. Steve so, just keep in mind, as long as you cant run a business that way. We can make them standard, then were gonna be great. Whats up, guys . Brian hello. Lemonis how are you . Brian good. We cant be doing the custom game. Lemonis im marcus. Brian im brian. Lemonis i got to be honest im really impressed lemonis nice to meet you, brian. Mason mason. Lemonis mason, nice to meet you. Where did you learn how to do this . That steve isnt falling back to his bad habits brian military. Lemonis you were in the military . Where he would let a buyer of a product just drive the process. Brian yeah. Lemonis thank you for your service. Brian thanks for your support. Lemonis im gonna put everybody on the spot right now. [ chatter ] if all the models that you guys made were Standard Units, were all in the back room this is the product we make. How much quicker would the production process be . We know its awesome. We hope you buy it. Mason significantly. Brian yeah. Lemonis double the output . Thank you. Mason i would say so. Pat well, it looks good. You guys did a great job. Lemonis how are you doing, sir . Austin im austin baker. Steve thanks. Lemonis hey, austin. Austin production manager out here. So, what, would you say 5 units, 10 units, 15 . Lemonis how are you, sir . Austin great. Lemonis nice to meet you. So, are you in charge of the floor . Pat whats the price point on this unit today . Austin yes, sir. Lemonis you want to give me a little tour, just you and i . Steve all right. So, the price on this one is 79,000. Austin please. It does have a couple upgrades. So, im gonna show you the two types of trailers we build on. Pat youre ordering multiple units, then what does that do to the discount . We are fabricating our frames right here. Steve when youre buying half a Million Dollars, were building them. Lemonis youre not even buying them . Austin were building them. Youve got your discount. Everything we can do, we do inhouse. When we get over 750,000, if we get an order past that, we are so jammed, and its unnecessary. The word custom is sexy, and it sells. We will increase the discount. And then, if we get past 1. 5 million, well increase the discount even a little bit more. Lemonis it also does one other s. Austin ruins us. Lemonis slows things down. Lemonis retroactive. Steve retroactive, right. The real problem in this production process lemonis and so, does that seem like an arrangement that we can move forward on . Is that the customization slows things down. Pat absolutely. Lemonis awesome. Pat yeah. The relationship has evolved. Lemonis thank you very much. Jeff thank you very much. In tumbleweeds current manufacturing process, lemonis impressing an Industry Leader like els there are two distinct lines, is no small task, and the fact that meaning that only two homes can be built at one time. Theres a real potential for big orders is a big accomplishment. And while theyre being built, theyre done in four distinct stages. Whats changed with steve, guys . In stage 1, the trailer comes in and the floor goes in. Tracy i feel like hes actually reaching out to a lot of our employees, in stage 2, the walls and the roof go in. And theyre recognizing it and theyre seeing it. Austin ive heard from the floor they use your name now. In stage 3, the interior starts to get put in. And in stage 4, thats where they do the finishing touches. You helped involve people in the business. So much so, this guy is in my business too much now. If theres one thing that needs to change in the unit, it slows down the entire line. [ laughter ] he knows things i know, and i dont like that. When youve taken those ideas to steve, what does he say to you . So, i mean lemonis but you respect it. Austin i respect the crap out of it. Austin my ideas were shut down. That means cause hes actually out there on the floor, he doesnt understand what we do out here, yet. And its a hard job. Steve thanks. Hes a restaurant guy. Lemonis steve and i weve made the decision lemonis has he ever worked in the shop . Austin no, and thats okay. To have you guys become partners in the business. Thats not his job. Thats what he pays me to do. Tracy wow. Lemonis im surprised that steve isnt immersing himself lemonis we want to distribute some equity to you, and we want you to feel like youre connected on the floor with the guys, stepbystep, learning. To the business as more than just a team member how do i improve it by a day . With a paycheck. Tracy i dont even know what to think about that. Not just to make more money, i mean, thats amazing. Austin i dont even know what to think. But to help your people be more successful. I feel like im dreaming or something right now. Ii dont know why thats missing for him. Tracy its just, hard work pays off. Lemonis thats right. Austin marcus, i wanted to introduce you to lee. Youre building something for your family together. Lee hi, marcus. Lemonis hi, lee. How are you . Lee very nice to meet you. Lemonis nice to meet you. Okay . What do you do here, lee . Austin well. Steve congratulations. Lee c. O. O. Lemonis okay. Lemonis when i think about my investment into tumbleweed, steve lee is brandnew. Hes been with us a week and a half. Lemonis and so, how does the reporting structure work here . I probably couldnt be more excited austin so, we have employee. Lemonis yep, one. Austin . We have leads. Because with the new standard models lemonis two. Austin . We have the foremen. And the new manufacturing process and an Unbelievable Team on the floor lemonis three. Austin . We have the production manager. Lemonis four. And a new revived leader, as far as im concerned, austin . Then, i have stephen schlosser, whos the gm. Lemonis five. Tumbleweed has a very bright future. Austin . Then, thats his boss. Lemonis six. Austin . Whos his boss. Lemonis okay. Im gonna run, guys. Lemonis seven. Austin yeah. Ill leave you here. Steve okay. Al right. Lemonis so, seven layers between you and the people lemonis ill see you soon. Ill see you soon. Tracy bye, marcus. That make the magic happen. Steve correct. Lemonis thank you for everything. Lemonis does that seem like a lot to you . Im very proud of you. Steve yes, it does. Tracy thank you. Lemonis im very proud of you. Lemonis how about to you . Lee no, it doesnt. The only redundancy that we might have is austin, because you have general manager, foreman the foremans over the two leads. Lemonis i was with you up until shop foreman. The further we get away from the work that, i get nervous. Steve lees like flight control. Do we have the parts we need . Which house is coming into the line next . Are the plans complete . Lemonis which is, normally, in a small business, what the owner would be doing. Steve so, i dont personally think that ive got the time to do all that. Lemonis so, what are you spending your time doing . Steve i do a lot of the website, backend work, as well. Its not a small job. Lemonis okay. It was kind of interesting meeting lee, female announcer americas number one antiaging body treatment system because the things that he is doing, i would expect steve to do. For crepey skin just got even better. Steve is too separated from what happens on the front lines. male announcer new crepe erase advanced gives you even faster results and is clinically shown to give you how are you . Tracy im tracy. Lemonis tracy, nice to meet you. Smoother, firmer, younger looking skin. I just spent a little bit of time with austin. female announcer on your neck. Tracy my husbands name is austin, yes. male announcer chest. Lemonis oh, its your husband. Tracy uhhuh. female announcer arms. Lemonis okay. Tracy weve been married almost 13 years . Something like that. Lemonis i like him, by the way. male announcer legs. female announcer and hands. Tracy hes very passionate about what he does. Sponsored by body firm and featuring jane seymour, lemonis yeah. Tracy and his people out there. Lemonis so, could could you take me through courtney thornesmith. The sales process . Like, if i want to order a certain type of floor. male announcer and dorothy hamill. Tracy so, youre basically asking for a customization on this . Lemonis yes, can that be done . Tracy if the Production Team says we can do it, im not walking away from the sale. Lemonis why . Tracy so, we get 20 of the cash upfront. Lemonis uhhuh. Tracy if i dont have a lot of cash customers for the month, those guys are struggling for materials. Lemonis so, better said you say yes to anything, especially if theyre a cash buyer. Tracy yes. Lemonis okay. Its become clear to me that every single unit that is bought from this company has some nuance to it that is slowing down the process. Tracy this house, right here, is a custom one. Lemonis i dont understand how youre getting upstairs. Austin youll never see this in any other house. This was this lady. Lemonis how do you get up there . Austin shes gonna get her little stepstool right here. Lemonis so, is there a disconnect between sales, design, and whats happening in the shop . Austin i cant blame sales, because they have to make money. Lemonis i want to ask you a question. Does steve know what hes doing . Austin no. Lemonis does he know how to manage people . Austin no. Lemonis does he know how to design things . Austin no. Lemonis whos really running this company . Tracy hes running the outside, and im running the inside. Lemonis doesnt something have to change . Tracy yeah. Austin if something doesnt change, it wont happen. Lemonis okay. Whats wrong . Austin so. Whats wrong . Lemonis talk to us. Tracy just that we love this place so much, and we love those people. We do it for these people. These people are here because they care. Theyre not because of the paycheck, i can promise you that. Lemonis the idea of being in the tinyhome business excites me. And after talking to tracy and austin and seeing the folks on the factory floor, i mean, theres a good recipe there. It just needs some major tweaking. Steve hi, marcus. I want to introduce you to my wife, bernadette. Lemonis bernadette, how are you . Bernadette nice to meet you, marcus. Lemonis nice to meet you. Bernadette thank you for being here. Lemonis i thought it may be a good idea for the three of us to go outside and talk, just, away from everybody. Bernadette yeah. Lemonis is that okay . Lets head out. You have kids . Bernadette two. Theyre in there. Lemonis oh, they are . Bernadette yeah, stocked up with snacks and games. Lemonis how old are they . Bernadette 5 and 7. Lemonis whats the year been like for you . Bernadette weve worked really hard, and id hate to see what weve worked for, um, disappear. Lemonis he smiles a lot. Bernadette he does. Lemonis is that a real smile, or is that just for show . Bernadette its a real smile. Steve i smile when im stressed, i smile when im nervous, and i smile when im happy. Lemonis well, thats good. Steve its my default position. [ laughs ] lemonis how hard has this been on him . Bernadette incredibly difficult. A lot of questioning himself. Steve i have taken a huge risk just to get here today, and ive pushed myself to the limit. Lemonis do the people that work here know how bad it is . Steve the top managers do. The rest dont. Lemonis you know that it makes me crazy that you have all these layers of people, right . Steve i know. Lemonis and so, if the business closes, what happens . Bernadette we start over. We start over from scratch, yeah. Lemonis what does that mean . You have to file bankruptcy . Bernadette mmhmm. About, like, a week away from that. It puts a lot of pressure. You can hear it in his voice, and then i know it, and then i cant sleep, and thats all you can think ab