Transcripts For CNBC The Profit 20240713

Its not always pretty. Ill take the shower. Jen, you take the toilet. I dont 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] ecome is an allnatural cleaning product started by Robin Kay Levine in 2006. With the partnership of her childhood friend jen mihajlov, a 12 owner, they built ecome up from a small, doityourself cleaning kit to a 17piece cleaning line, including doggrooming 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 can, and theyre nearly a half a Million Dollars in debt. Im really freaking out right now. Household cleaning is a multibilliondollar industry, and environmentally conscious products are becoming more popular with customers every day. Ecome has a great environmental product. And if they dont turn around their finances, theyre gonna have to close their doors, and all their workers will be out of jobs. With the right changes, i can make ecome profitable and turn this into a multimilliondollar business in no time. I see the potential to make a lot of money. Ecome has a small, 2,000squarefoot warehouse, and there isnt any significant machinery to be seen anywhere. What i see is a lot of work being done manually. I already see big problems. Hi. How are you . Where do i find robin and jen . Right through this door. Are you robin . Im robin. Robin, im marcus. Very nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. You guys have this place branded well. Thanks. Oh, this is jen. Oh, hey, jen. Hi. Marcus. How are you . Nice to meet you. So, is this pretty much. Well, this is the front office. Okay. This is my office, and when jen comes into towncause shes based out of the east coast oh, wow. And she works in here also. I cant imagine having a coworker, an employee 3,000 miles away from where our business is. Look, i understand phone and email, but nothing replaces human interaction. What i want to know about is, why did you start the company . So, in 2005, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were like, how did she even get cancer in the first place . I went back to be with my family and help my sister through her treatments, and there was one day where i said, mom, im not gonna go with you guys to the doctors. I need a break. And she said, you know what . Your sister doesnt get a break. And i was like, wow. Talk about, like, a waterworks moment. And she said, why dont you just clean her apartment . Make it really nice. When she comes home, it can be nice for her. And i was just opening up that cabinet under the sink, and im just staring at all the chemical stuff and the smell of it, and i said, oh, my god i cant clean with this stuff. I dont want her to continue to get sicker. And i went, and i got vinegar, baking soda, olive oil. I googled, like, how to make your own stuff, what to do, and that just really started a snowball, and i totally pulled jen in ive never done sales and marketing, but thats your background. You have to come with me. So you oversee sales . Yes. So i went. She went. And that was it. I was hooked. She was hooked. Robin, so this isnt really just about the products on the shelf for you, is it . No. No. No. Ecome is part my identity. It is part of who i am, and we work these days to obviously make money to put in our pocket and feed our families, but to do something that means more, its pretty awesome to be a part of that. You guys have a lot of your own money in the business . Yeah. How much debt in total exists . If you were just roughballing it . Well, close to 500,000. Wow. Last year was the year i was supposed to get paid, and it didnt happen, and its incredibly hard for me, feeling the responsibility, to pull any money from the company when i know that i havent paid people that are working and following my lead. When is the last time you got paid . It varies, but even if i were back to november still with you, though. Yeah. Yeah. Whats your biggest fear . That this company wont survive. If you dont raise money, is that a possibility . Yeah. Of course, yeah. Its always a possibility. Look, robin and jen have a great starting point with this company, and as you can tell, this business means a lot to them, and theyve done a good job, but its time for me to delve into the details and look at people, process, and product to see what needs to be fixed. Id like to learn a little bit more about the product. Its just vinegar water, a little solubilizer, and our essential oils. Its the most simple, clean, effective product on the market. Each of the product has a name. For instance, where they pick up a floor cleaner, it says dave, and they say, oh, my grandfathers name was dave. Phil isour toilet bowl cleaner is named after one of our distributor reps, so it really is catchy, and it sticks with the consumer. So the name of the product is emma or ecome or so the story is that there is an emma, and these are all named after our friends and family what is the actual truth . Is there an emma . There is an emma, yeah. There is an emma. A toilet bowl cleaner called phil . A laundry detergent called emma or emily ori cant even keep it straight. Ive never seen a marketing plan this bad. So, robin, im a big people, process, product guy. The product itself is good. It has good purpose, a good mission, and it works, but as a business guy, its really im struggling with this. I think its terrible. You got to have a brand, not kate, jack, emma, dave. Its just too much. Mmhmm. Make sense . We dont want to be like everybody else. This brand is very personal to me, and it was built on our friends and family, and in the marketplace, people know emma. They know bill. What matters is whats inside. What matters is what the customer sees on the shelf. Well, the customers not buying much of it, so. cause to me, pride of authorship is a very dangerous mistake that people make in business. I know you have your opinion, and i respect that, but i dont fully agree with it. Its good to be passionate about your business, but when you have a pride of authorship that clouds your judgment, youre gonna get yourself into real trouble. They need to understand their idea isnt working. Can you guys give me a tour . Yeah. Sure. The Office Next Door is joyce frenzel, and shes our director of operations. Hi. Im marcus. How are you . Im joyce. Both nice to meet you. Thanks for coming. Do you love it here . Oh, absolutely. Did you just say that cause the cameras are here . No. My boss is right there. She said that because im here. Because your boss is right there . You dont want to get fired. This is our warehouse. We basically have drums that we do all our batching in. Should i think about this like a big recipe batch. Absolutely. Adding ingredients like a Mad Scientist . Both yes. Okay. But were not mad. Were happy. [laughter] this is a big, plastic tote of castile soap, and its one of the best castile soaps you can buy. So whats Something Like this cost . What is a tote . 4 grand. 4 grand. 4,000 . Yes. Right. How much production can you get out of this . Just under 5,000 units. We dont have a ton of room here, so were buying one tote at a time, where maybe we need four totes to manufacture, you know, 5,000 to 10,000 units. But space is one confinement. Yeah. For not having more of this. Whats another confinement . We need more people. Yeah. I mean, its just a fact. Jen is our sales team. What have you been doing . Manufacturing the formula, you know, you name it. You understand that running your business that way is. Yeah. Not good for you. Its not good for the business. Its not good for anybody. If you dont have the working capital, if you dont have the human capital. Yes. You will totally crumble. Absolutely. Yes. This business is facing a slew of issues, including the production process, the lack of machinery, and the lack of manpower, but im mostly concerned about their ability to sell. Jen is a sales team of one, and she lives 3,000 miles away. Let me meet up with these folks for a minute. Sure. Okay. Hey. How are you . Im marcus. Hi, marcus. My name is raul. Nice to meet you. Raul, nice to meet you. Veronica. Both nice to meet you. Are there ever days when you come in here and you wonder, can the business make it in this tough economy . Yeah, thats been in the back of my mind. I know it can grow, but will it grow . So tell me about your process. Come get the bottles. Okay. So we got a blank bottle. Then we take it to label it. These labels are probably too big. The roll is too long, so it will not fit on that machine here. What are you, rigging the thing . Yeah, because the roll is too big. Not only do you not have the automated machine, this machine doesnt even work for what you have. Right. How long does this normally take . On a good day, we can probably get maybe 1,200 bottles. This is just a bull[bleep] process. Very long, very tedious. Now lets see over here. What happens over here . This is the filler machine. You have one. One. Wow. These machines are small and jerryrigged, and the workflow is slow and inefficient. If they can only fill 1,200 bottles on a good day, it would take them several weeks to fill a 10,000bottle order. This isnt gonna work. I want you to take me through how this works. You have to turn on the machine. [machine humming] you set it down on the floor. This is how we set the time for the fill. Its a guess, isnt it . Until we get it accurate, yes. These look full, but not really. No. Theyre a little short. Theyd be short. So what does this need to weigh . These should weigh about 35 ounces. See, thats over. So, when its over, what we would dopour it out. Now youre still over. Im over. So i pour a little bit out. Im still over. Uhhuh. This process is crazy, and its inefficient. It took over a minute to fill a single bottle, and that doesnt even include the labeling. Inefficiency will kill this business. Joyce, what is your title here . Director of operations. So i oversee all of the operations. Im basically responsible for everything that takes place on the premises. If you owned the business, what would you change if you were me . Oh. One thing. Definitely sales is what concerns me the most. Do you think jens qualified to run that sales group . Yeah . Kind of . You know, this is only the third time ive ever met her. [chuckles] so, to be honest, i have not spent a lot of time with her. How many years have you been here . Five years. And this is only the third time youve met her . Correct. This is a Sales Organization, right . Yeah. Its not anything else, and life is about selling. So, if you dont have your sales stuff in order. Yeah. Thats definitely the numberone concern. Joyce has only met jen three times in five years. How could you run a Sales Organization from 3,000 miles away . It sounds to me that sales are a much bigger problem than i originally thought. Your role in the company is the sales. Do you think it matters that youre not actually in california with the rest of the team . Youre in new york. Do you think that makes a difference . No. No problem . No. It seems odd to me that somebody would be in charge of sales and not be where the product is and not be where the team is. Do you feel like youre good at sales . Is this something that you feel like its a strong suit of yours . Yes, i do when i go to do these shows and im talking to a buyer, i could pretty much hold any product in my hand and sell it. Are you freaked out a little bit right now with where the companys at financially . Um, yeah. I mean, its just been a tremendous roller coaster. Its just been very difficult. Look, there are some flaws in this business, but i still like the product. Im gonna go in and talk to robin, who appears to be the decision maker, to see if we can cut a deal to save ecome. So heres the good news. I believe in the product. Okay. I love the people that are here, but i think your process is terrible. I think you lack efficiency and equipment. You also need to sell more. So heres what i have in mind. Number one, i want to get this company to 10 million in sales. Number two, i want to be profitable in a very short period of time. It sounds great. Im willing to offer 500,000 to help this business not only survive, but succeed. Mmhmm. Ill finance the inventory. Ill finance whatever equipment we need for the warehouse. I will pay off the debt and fund working capital, but i want 20 of the business. That is an awful deal. For who . For us. For me . No, you have a great deal thats a great deal. Youre crazy. Youre asking me to give up 20 of this company, give up everything that weve worked for . You need money. We do need money. And you need help. We do, but i would say 250,000 is easily worth 10 of the company, and that gives you enough equity in the company so you feel secure that youre part of it, but youre not taking so a company that does 500,000 a year in sales and loses 200,000 is worth 2. 5 million to you . The valuation of our company i dont care about the valuation. You need money. This is my child. This is my company. Its everything. I appreciate how personal it is, but without my money, without my help, this business that you loveit all will go away very fast. Coming up. You cannot get to 1 million, because youre not good at it. No, i am good at it. No, youre not. This is about putting people in the right place. You are not a salesperson. Shouldnt you pay less when you use less data . Now you can. Because Xfinity Mobile gives you more flexible data. You can choose to share data between lines, mix with unlimited, or switch it up at any time. All on the most reliable wireless network. Which means you can save money without compromising on coverage. Get more flexible data, the most reliable network, and more savings. Plus, get 200 off when you buy an eligible phone. Thats simple, easy, awesome. Go to xfinitymobile. Com today. Without my money, without my help, this business that you loveit all will go away very fast. Look, robin, the deal is very clear to me. I will do 250,000 in debt. Mmhmm. Which means that im essentially funding the equipment. Mmhmm. And funding your inventory. Mmhmm. And i will do 250,000 in equity for 20 . Thats a total of 500,000. Thats my deal. Thats my offer. Take it, or you leave it. Every inch of this business, every second from beginning to end, its me, and when you say, like, oh, can you give up control over something . Yeah, i can, but i dont want to. This business is in my blood. So, if it doesnt make it, its devastating. I cannot imagine a World Without ecome. I reallyi really cant. Do we have a deal . Lets do it. Okay. The purpose of me being here is to help you fix the business. Mmhmm. And for the next week. Mmhmm. Im in charge. You cant fire any of my employees. But when i tell somebody that im in control for a week. Mmhmm. And then they start backpedaling and telling me, well, but you cant do this, and you cant do that, and you cant do this. I just had one stipulation. I know, and im saying no. Yeah, but weve just met. But im just giving you 500,000, and im asking you to trust me after i told you i would trust you. But im turning over my entiremy child. For a week. My child. But for a week. But for a week. Im babysitting for a week. I know. Let me tell you the thought process behind the employees. You come in, not emotional. Its not your baby yet, and you say, you know what . Soandso might be better in a different position, and i dont know if were ready for that position cause i might want to outsource that. Its a business, robin. Of course its a business, but these are peoples livelihoods. So you either trust me or you dont, and if you cant do it for a week, i cant do the deal. Hear me out for a second, okay . Okay. For me to give you 500,000. Mmhmm. That trust has to be really earned over a course of a week. And when the week is over. Mmhmm. The keys are back to me . Yes. Okay. But at the end of the week, if you dont do what you say youre gonna do. Mmhmm. And you dont follow through, my 500,000 and me will both evaporate. Okay. Okay. So make it out to ecome . Ecome. We have a deal. Okay. Thank you. Wow. Thats crazy. Thats a real check. [laughs] its a very real check. Yeah. Its exciting, but its a little bit unnerving. Hes got some really good ideas, but he has some ideas that i know were gonna butt heads on, and i have concerns, obviously, but we do need the help. Hey, everybody, can i borrow you for a sec . Good morning. Good morning, marcus. Morning. If you could stand over there with the team, that would be greatthank you. Ive had a chance to meet all of you this morning. I wanted to tell you that robin and i have cut a deal to be in business together. Ive committed to put a half a Million Dollars in your business. What . [claps] wow. Now, i know that the process is broken and the product needs some tweaking. The packaging is bad. But its the people process im worried about. This sales teamits the biggest problem i see. All of you have a lot to lose, but if we execute on the things that im telling you we need to do, we will go from 500,000 in sales to 10 million in sales. Ecome is a great product. I love it. But its poorly, poorly marketed. The packaging is bad. The merchandising is bad. Were gonna redo all of it. I dont want to be in one store on one shelf. I want to be in every store on every shelf. The strength of any organization is about its people, and in this organization, its about its salespeople. Can jen actually handle this job . Can she do it from 3,000 miles away . Im not sure. And lastly, our supply chain is broken. We need to improve the process. We cant use a machine that has a Maximum Capacity of 1,200 bottles a day. Im gonna invest in equipment that can turn out 1,200 bottles in 20 minutes. This will increase production immediately and put us on the path to generate 10 million in sales annually. For the next week, i have complete control of the business, 100 control. Anybody can be fired. Anybody can be demoted. Anybody can be promoted. Whatever it is that i want to do, im gonna do. Does anybody have a problem with that . cause today is the day to leave if you do. No. So, if youre ready to go to work, im ready to start. Absolutely. Were ready. Thank you. Good luck. Its gonna be a bumpy ride. The first thing im gonna do is get ecomes equipment up to date. This is where we make highspeed equipment. Im taking robin and jen down to accutek, one of the premier companies that produces bottling equipment. So this is the machine. This is the same type of head right now that i think you have, right . Yep. This is a neck grabber. What it does, it ensures that the bottle neck is centered to the nozzle so you dont accidentally crash in between bottles. Right, okay. You could do 60, 70 a minute on this. Wow without even thinking about it. So where do the labels go on . After the bottles been cappedwell send one through here, and then its gonna travel down here through the labeling machine, and that willlet me catch that bottle. Oh, my god. Whoa, that was awesome oh, my god [laughter] getting this equipment will immediately improve the production by 24 times, which means that theyll be able to produce as many as 30,000 bottles in a single day. We need more business, like, yesterday. Yeah. We better sell more, and if you dont, im gonna find somebody who can, cause this 180,000 machine is gonna require us to sell about 4 million or 5 million immediately, just to make this thing make sense. Thank you very much. Great. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Than you very much. Yeah, nice meeting with you. Everything is coded and dated. Connie and kelly are my two lead buyers from camping world, and they control all the product that hits my 100plus stores. Im confident that if jen can convince kelly and connie to buy the product, shell be able to convince anybody. Boo its us. Hi. Scary. How are you . Good. How are you . This is connie and kelly. Theyre my two lead buyers. Hi. Nice to meet you. Jen. Hi. Nice to meet you. They see about 600 vendors a year, and they know that theyre talking to about 6 million customers. Mmhmm. So, jen, if you can show them some products, that would be great. Sure. Okay. Hey, robin, can i show you something inside real quick . Okay. Ill just start. So robin and i met when we were in kindergarten, and we grew up together. We came together based on a need. The need is to remove harmful chemicals from our homes that we use every single day. We wanted to group everything together as our family line of products. That was our initial intentto mix up very Natural Products for you and your family. Jen, can i interrupt you just for a moment . Sure. When i look at your product, i see ecome. Mmhmm. Allpurpose cleaner. Mmhmm. But it doesnt tell me what it cleans. Well, you know, were saying that its allpurpose. I mean, it really can clean almost everything in your home. Wood . Not wood. Okay, see . Right. Mmhmm. It kills germs and bacteria. Is that on there . Yeah. I mean, our vinegar does. It says it in the labeling. Does it smell vinegary . No. We worked very hard on that as well. I smell the vinegar. How are you gonna compete in the market . I mean, cause you really cant tell me about your product, of really what it does. Yes, we can. We just havent figured out how to do that yet. Well, when are you gonna figure it out . Were working on it now. I see dave, and i dont really understand who dave is. Mmhmm. Who is phil, dave, matt, and emma . I mean theyre our friends and family, basically, and theyre supposed to replace your friends and family in your i think were missing it a little there. Mmhmm. This is broke for our stores as far as packaging goes. It is broke. I dont feel that youre ready at all, and then when im asking you about your product, i didnt get a good clear answer as to you would have if i knew that i was meeting with you today. I mean, obviously i do my. But you know what . Research when i come prepared. Im sorry. You have to be ready, or youre not even gonna get an audience. Thats how it rolls in retail. Im not convinced that you can do it. Coming up. This would be what our model would look like. I really dont like the colors. Robin, i dont give a crap what it looks like. What i care about is it sells, and that isnt selling. And later. Im not willing to do the deal if youre in charge of sales. Thank you, ladies, for stopping by. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So i think the takeaway is, if were gonna go from 500,000 to 10 million, we better be prepared. You cannot get to 1 million, cause were not selling enough, and the reason were not selling enough is because youre not good at it. No, i am good at it. No, youre not. Yes, i am. Yes, she is. No, youre not. Yes, she is. Marcus, she has grown this company. Its disrespectful. Its totally disrespectful. Its not disrespectful. It is of course it is to just say im not good at itthats a bunch of b. S. No, its not. Thats a bunch of crap, and its rude. No, its not rude. Its rude, and if you want to be in partnership with us, we cant have that kind of relationship. Youre now disrespecting my partner who helped me build this business, and its not okay, and i will fight you back on that, cause i think she deserves an apology. Its not about a friendship. Its a business. Its a person and their job and their role, so it is disrespectful. So what did i do to her that was disrespectful . You just told me i wasnt good at something that ive been doing for six years. Really . Quarterbacks get cut all the time. This isnt that situation. Its a business. This is about putting people in the right place. You are not a salesperson. Camping world, here we come i invited the ecome team to one of my camping world stores to set up a display on the floor and sell their products. I wanted to see what kind of reaction potential customers would give them. So im gonna introduce you to johnny, who handles Business Development for me across all my businesses. All right, come on over. You can go ahead and set up. Well see how you merchandise it, and now we need to see what our customers think of it, okay . All right, excellent. Lets do this [metal clangs] this comes out. I just dont want to break my nail. Oops, sorry. This looks like something you bought at ikea. This is something we bought at ikea. Okay, im one screw short. You know, robin i didnt realize all this was gonna be getting assembled. This is kind of rough, bringing it in and set up inside store boxes out. Yeah, lets make sure we dont get in this spot again. Okay. Hi. How are you . Hi. What you buying . I need to get some toilet stuff. Hi. Hi. Hi, maam. And then what are you gonna clean that with . [laughs] this bottle right there. This one. The allpurpose cleaner. Do you have a pet . Do you have a dog . No . Okay. Hey, jen, do we haveoh so this looks like a lot of chemicals. What are you looking to clean with . Do you mind if i ask . Everything . So why dont you try this today too . You know, thisyoure spraying, you knowyeah. Jen is being way too aggressive with the customers. Instead of selling the value of her product, shes tearing down the other products, and robin is even struggling to have a conversation with anybody. Seeing the ecome team in action was one of the reasons that i brought them to camping world. The other is for them to interact with a focus group of customers. All right, everybody, thank you for coming today for our focus group. So the name ecomewhen you think of that, what comes to mind . When you say ecome, what is that . Theres no tiein to what the actual product is. Its a little confusing. If it was in a super market on the end aisle, id walk right past it. Is it because the word eco . Just by the name ecome, and theni wouldnt know what it was. What do the names mean on these . Oh, yeah. By mia . This one says by mia. So what does that tell you . It Means Nothing to me. I dont know who they are. It was made very clear during this focus group that the customers are extremely confused about this package. We cant sell a product that people are unable to identify. What im hoping is that robin and jen got that message. Well. Mmhmm. That was kind of a big deal for me. Yeah. The consumer is saying, it doesnt work, so we are going to change the name. Its just overwhelming. Its overwhelming. You seem beat up right now. I feel the overwhelming burden ofdid i make the wrong choices for the brand . The reason that i continue to move forward with this is because i believe in you, but im trying to understand, in a positive way, and im struggling, the dynamic of jen. I watch her interact with people, and instead of selling, shes defensive. Im not willing to sit here and have a conversation. Yeah. That picks apart our v. P. Of sales and marketing and my partner. Its really not okay by me. I think you have a difficult time separating your friendship from her role. You would be better off just saying, you know, i never thought about it that way. Mmhmm. Ill talk to my people, and say, thank you for the feedback. I dont agree. Robin seems resistant to change with the two biggest issues that i think are holding them back packaging and the sales process. If she wont come around, i cannot do a deal and risk a half a Million Dollars. I want to introduce you to derek. Hi, derek. Derek, say hello to everybody. Hi, everyone. Hi, derek. How are you guys . Dereks gonna unveil a couple of concepts. Today ive brought in a Graphic Designer thats come up with a new look and message for ecome. I talked to the two of you yesterday about having an identifier. Mmhmm. So, when you look at your sneakers or you look at a bottle or you look at something, its a logo for something. This is what, conceptuallywhen you see the tree, you think of ecome. You can see that theres actually elements in here of the bits and pieces of all the stuff that it would clean. This would be what our bottle would look like. Wrapped . Fully wrapped. Wrapped. And we got rid of all the names you used to use. I really dont like the colors. Its hard. Its like selling somebody elses vision. The green to yellowthey feel a little bit generic. I dont get it being ecome. We dont want to be near that muted, you know, palette. This type of product could be on the shelf next to other products that are nice and bright and green. Usually when you see bright primary colors, what comes to mind are fastfood joints or p g branding. P gthe 9 billion company . Yeah. Oh. We dont want to be so nichey that were just speaking to people who are only environmentally conscious. We want to be far more mainstream. Whether yellow is right or green is right or purpleim kind of confused. You didnt want a lot of bright colors, but you didnt seem to mind to throw up all over your bottle. Okay, so i dont take it as throwup, so, you know, i but, i mean, you just, right out of the gate, just said too many i said primary colors, but i said i dont like oh, so, if its notcause this is okay cause its pastels . I wouldnt even say those are pastels, but i feel like these primary colors scream mass markettoo extreme. Does that mean because its not your idea . Robin, i dont give a crap what it looks like. What i care about is that it sells, and that isnt selling. I want to remind you that im in charge and that, during this process, your feedback isnt any more important than anybody elses. Were a team, and were gonna function together, but we are gonna make a change. Coming up. Its kind of a violation of our agreement. You told me to work with the designer. But you didnt you ended up yeah, we did. Well, i just got off the phone with them, and they have no idea why the final product looks that way. And later. If youre not willing to fire jen from this sales position, im not willing to put my money in. Its just that simple. Ive come to new york, and ive set up a meeting with jen and the managers of the strand hotel. Landing a major hotel chain could really make a difference in this business. It could be as much as three times more than a typical retail account. Hi. How are you . Im jen. Nice to meet you. John. Pleasure. So thank you for meeting with us. We really appreciate it. Youre very welcome. Were known for our cleanliness, so this is important to us. I can read that. This is a big meeting for ecome, and im hopeful jen can rise to the occasion. So we have an amazing line of products that really get the job done with the most Natural Ingredients possible. Which of your products you would use as a disinfectant . Which our biggest concern. Our allpurpose cleaner is a disinfectant. Its made with vinegar, which kills up to 96 bacteria and germs alone. Are you getting that, in terms of an aroma . No. At all . You know, a tiny bit, but ammonium bleach, thats okay . [laughs] you know, its just funny to me. Okay, interesting. Yeah. Speak to me more a little about your dilution system. Okay, every how does that work . Yes. Everything onit depends yep, what it is that youre gonna order, as far as sizewise, our dilution, umsorry. Im worried about jens presentation so far. Shes coming across unprepared and unenthusiastic. Look, its one thing to know your product, but when youre gonna sell to a National Hotel chain, you better bring your a game. I mean, it sounds like a great product. So we have one or two other vendors that were entertaining, and. Great. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Hold on a second. I have a question. What do we need to do to earn your Business Today . I mean, thats obviously why were here. We understand that you have other products, but when jen and i talked about coming here, we came to ask for the sale, so. Well, i think, you know, in short, you know, the only question that really will make sense is testing this product out. Absolutely. Do you have a room that we can go clean right now . Yes, of course. We should do that. Well, were willing to go clean toilets for you right now, so lets lets give it a shot. Do you have a room that we can go test this in . Absolutely. Okay, great. Look, i didnt come here to make this my sales presentation, but if jen wont ask for the sale, i will. Ill do whatever it takes to make sure we land this order, including get my hands dirty. [knock at door] housekeeping. All right ill take the shower. Jen, you take the toilet. I dont do the toilet in my own house. Really . So youre really going in there, huh . Heck, yeah, because if i dont believe in the product, you wont believe in the product. Love it. Come on, jen youre like the supervisor or something. Does it leave any streaks, or is it. . Id like to have a chance to finish my job first. Okay. [laughs] okay, fair enough. Okay . This gives you a chance to be enthusiastic and excited about your product. Anytime the customer can see that, their confidence builds. What i want you to see is the cleanliness of the glass, but more importantly, take a sniff. I get the scent. Smells clean. Light. I get the scent. No residue. There is a freshness thats impressive. You dont look like you want to get in there. Come on. Im soi let me show you how to clean the toilet. All right. You got to get down because most of the residue thats where all the gross is. I shouldnt have to twist jens arm to show them how good ecome products really are. She should be actively participating in selling. Nice. If they see it, theyll believe it. Well, were looking forward to your first order. Were excited. Thank you very much. Well have the box on the way. Despite jens inability to sell the ecome product to the hotel, the strands feedback was very positive, and things are looking good in terms of getting an an order. You understand the product, and you are a great face of the company, but i still dont think that sales is your core competency. Okay. I disagree. I am the reason we have sales for this company. Theres no room for discussion here. Yeah, but then im not writing a half a Million Dollar check. The companys about to fizzle away, and i think where im at is, im not willing to do the deal if youre in charge of sales. Ive been working my ass off for six years. Nobodys doubting that. To get us on the map. Mmhmm. And someone is coming in and saying, pfft, you suck. If you want to save your business, your reaction to constructive criticism shouldnt be defensive. You dont like constructive criticism. You just dont like it. For Business Advice and extra scenes from the show, go onto cnbc. Com theprofit. Why does that upset you . Theres no room for discussion here. [line trilling] im gone. Hey, robin. Marcus. You got a minute . So i just spent an hour with jen at the strand hotel in an appointment that i got set up. We went upstairs to one of the rooms. We cleaned it, and then i gave constructive criticism. She became unglued. And i said, jen, you cant be defensive every time somebody gives feedback. It may be true that the sales thing is not for you, and as you would have imagined, she was not happy about that. How do we best move forward so that it works for everybody . Yeah. I encourage you to talk to jen about our conversation, and, you know, i think its enough about that, okay . Why are you so upset . Because this is my livelihood, marcus. But im not trying to take your livelihood away. Yes. Im trying to save it. You seem like you are. Without me in mind, you seem like you have an agenda, and thats why. Heres what my agenda is. My agenda is to save your business. I understand that. You havent gotten a paycheck in how longtwo years . Three years . Okay. Okay, you got to let me help. I want you to help. Okay, im gonna do it. But i want you to understand that i do deserve to be in the sales business. This is me. This is what i do. So are you this is what ive always done. Are you willing to be coached through that process . Yes okay. I will give you the support that you need, but you have to not get explosive with me. I and you have to trust that what im telling you isnt to hurt youits to help you. You really have to believe that. Is that a deal . Yes, absolutely. Okay, can we shake on that . Come on. [sniffles] im back in los angeles, and i was originally on my way to ecome to talk to robin about jens performance at the strand hotel in new york. Until i got a call from the Graphic Designer telling me that robin changed the labels. That was way more pressing. Robin . So i just got through finding out that you changed the labels. We just didnt like the direction it was going. Our deal was, when i left here, i told you that i was in charge. Mmhmm. And what i have to start to wonder is, do you take direction well . Can i trust you . Its kind of a violation of our agreement. You told me to work with the designer. But you didnt you ended up yeah, we did. Well, i just got off the phone with them, and they have no idea why the final product looks that way. Because we were trying to get it that way, and they couldnt. So, at a certain point, we put it into the context of what it so you just went on your own and did that . Are there other times this is gonna happen . I mean, do i have to be wondering all the time that when we agree on something, youre gonna do Something Different . No, but you have to understand that if youre trying to change the entire look of my company and of our brand oucompany. Of our company, that sometimes somebody might need to go off and do their own thing, whether thats not okay. When we state what the rules of engagement are its a big [bleep] deal, and if im gonna make decisions, let me make decisions about my company. When we make an agreement and were gonna work together, i shouldnt be changing things, and you shouldnt be changing things, cause it violates our trust. I feel like you include me when you need to. Mmhmm. And dont include me when its convenient. Yeah, i mean, i could see how we might have gone rogue, and it should have been a conversation before we yeah. I have 6,000 employees, and i want them to have their own minds and take chances, but when we have an agreement. Mmhmm. And we shake hands. Mmhmm. I dont ever want to wonder if thats gonna change. You know, as much as i might be a control freak and my team sees that and i have that feedback and i know i need to work on that, i can be humbled by this. I know when ive done something and maybe there is a better way to do it, and, yes, 100 , my apologies to derek and to you. Im a very caring person. I would never set out to do anything that would a, put my company at harm or people in harm that i work with. Right. And i do sometimes get too stuck in my head and stubborn. I know my faults. But thats what i like about you. See . If you can just let go a little but be the dynamic person that you are. Mmhmm. Then were gonna make a lot of money. Were gonna make people happy. You and i are gonna be fine. I have thick skin. Im used to entrepreneurs like you. Im gonna go out in the warehouse and see the guys, and ill catch up with you in a little bit. Okay, thank you. Yep. Coming up. When i first met you guys, i told you we were gonna go from 500,000 to 10 million. This is so painful. It was almost like cutting off a limb. Shouldnt you pay less when you use less data . Now you can. Because Xfinity Mobile gives you more flexible data. You can choose to share data between lines, mix with unlimited, or switch it up at any time. All on the most reliable wireless network. Which means you can save money without compromising on coverage. Get more flexible data, the most reliable network, and more savings. Plus, get 200 off when you buy an eligible phone. Thats simple, easy, awesome. Go to xfinitymobile. Com today. This is our machine right here, right now. Right. How many do you guys get done in a day . We can probably get 1,200. With this new machinery, youre gonna be able to get 10 times that done50 a minute. This is the actual machine. Your line speed is gonna be fast enough to where youre not gonna be able to keep up with 55gallon drums. Our labeler will hotstamp code all the labels with the datelock codes. Youre gonna have a touchscreen computer thing. Itll tell you how many bottles you filled in a day. Wow, thats great. Ive spent over 180,000 improving the equipment and the machinery here, and ive paid off nearly all of their debt. Im gonna be well over 500,000 when its all said and done. Wow. Lets get to work were ready to see this thing. It all starts. We got a loading turntable. Its gonna go in. Were gonna fill eight bottles at a time. Wow. Youre gonna handplace the caps for the sprayers. This is gonna tighten it. Were gonna label it, put a date code on it, come down the table, and pack them up in a box. Come on down what . [laughs] it was so amazing. The new logo and the date code. [laughs] to see the whole process and have it brought here and set up to work with our products is mindblowing. Whoo this used to take us forever. Its amazing. Were now set up, for sure, to be successful, and were gonna make it happen. When i first met you guys, i told you we were gonna go from 500,000 to 10 million. This machine gets us to 10 million. We now will have what i would consider a legitimate company. [applause] you know, robin, when we first met, the product was sold in more of a nichey space. It did well, 500,000 a year, but as weve redesigned this packaging, we clarified the name, we established and identified, were clear about the ingredients. Were now telling the story, especially the best one made in the u. S. A. Its a big difference. From across the room, you can see the brand. You know exactly what the product is. Theres no questioning. This package got us to here. This package gets us to 10 million. How hard was this process for you . This was so painful. It was almost like cutting off a limb. To be able to step back and realize that i had to do it for the company, and then see how great it is and how much better it is . Its amazing. I get it now. People will now know ecome instead of being, is it bill . Is it emily . I get it. And im proud of you, robin. Im glad that you see that this was really a transformation of robin as a leader, as much as it was a transformation about ecome as a company. And the fire that you have in your belly is the reason that the business has been able to survive all this time. Thank you. If you can just get that positive energy turned in the direction that takes us to the next level, im confident youll get us there. Well, thank you so much. I couldnt have done it without you. This has been a great experience at ecome. I always focus on people, process, and product, and in this case, the people have made a real turn. Jen is doing a great job at listening and following my lead as it relates to sales process and sales presentation. Shes lined up some new, big national accounts, and im very proud of her progress. Robin has become a much better leader, and shes improved not only the process, but shes improved the product. The new labels are in place, and sales are up almost 50 in a very short period of time. With the help of these two and the other employees, were well on our way to getting to 10 million. Tonight on the profit. Im going inside la dogworks, and upscale dog boarding facility that is on the brink of going out of business. Take a guess on how much you made. I have no idea. 78. [woof woof] while i like the product and i like the process, the biggest problem here is how its abusive owner Andrew Rosenthal handles his employees. Email me the [bleep] schedule just do it im gonna try to improve the owner and employee relationship before its too late. I dont have to ask him time and time and time and time again he doesnt care my name is marcus lemonis, and i fix failing businesses. I make tough decisions