Here’s Why Marcus Lemonis is One of Today’s Most Inspirational Entrepreneurs
Recently a cable-TV station launched a new reality series which follows a group of first-time entrepreneurs as they launch their startups. Naturally, it caught my attention. However, I only managed to endure about fifteen minutes as it quickly became evident that all of the entrepreneurial wannabes were recent grads building apps.
This experience set me to thinking about the current state of entrepreneurship in the USA. That’s when I realized what a breath of fresh air Marcus Lemonis truly is these days. Let’s take a look at two types of businesses to understand why he should be a role model for more entrepreneurs.
Marcus proposes a growth strategy for KOTA Longboards.
The company was launched three years ago by Mike a former navy fighter pilot. His wife Nikki is a partner in the company. It designs, builds, and retails long skateboards known as longboards. It’s located in Denver, Co. KOTA stands for Knights of the Air.
Product
Anytime I can find a product that gets people outdoors that’s a product I’m interested in. – Marcus
The company offers only one model which is very highly priced for the market. Each unit costs $116 to finish and is then retailed for $329. The price will be going up to $349 shortly.
Marcus develops a growth strategy for Goth candle-maker Wick’ed.
Background
The Burbank-based company was launched five years ago by spouses Mark and Sam(antha) Biren who own it 50/50. The company has never made a profit.
Financials
Marcus is met with resistance when he informs Mark and Sam that despite the company being five years old it’s still a startup due to its weak financial position. Sales have been declining, it’s losing money, it owes money to a credit card company and an investor, and there’s no working capital. Sam’s day job is the only thing keeping them afloat.
In this latest episode Marcus revisits Standard Burgers from the second season. As you may recall, it’s the Staten Island burger joint owned and operated by a dozen or so very hot-tempered guys. The company won first prize at the Best Burger in New York event.
You can read my original write up about Standard Burger here.
This week Marcus gave us a two-fer. In the episode he opened with Chicago’s Da Lobsta and then moved onto Betty’s Pie Whole. The result was a rather amusing episode but with next to nothing in terms of business lessons.
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