S08.E01: Mo Honey, Mo Problems

[Whimsy]

Quote

Marcus faces his biggest challenge to date when he visits a family business in Utah with a buzz-worthy product that is drowning in debt. With his help, the family will need to become a hive of activity, or risk losing everything  

Original air date 8/10/21

[CrazyInAlabama]

So, the wife's parents, wife, and her husband own the business, and managed to be $7 million in debt?     Marcus must be continuing to deal with them for the show's filming, because this business is going down even more with the current leadership.    The daughter/wife being in charge when she didn't want to do anything, and had to be prodded by Marcus shows me that the business will never succeed.   

[I Want My MBTV]

Everyone in the family seemed a bit passive and no one really wanted to take any leadership. It's a shame because it sounded like a really great business and the demand is there.  What I didn't understand was Marcus kept saying to trade debt for equity with the people they owed money to but he never said how much equity so I'm wondering what if any percentage of the company they had left after all that?  

[CrazyInAlabama]

On 8/12/2021 at 3:15 PM, I Want My MBTV said:

Everyone in the family seemed a bit passive and no one really wanted to take any leadership. It's a shame because it sounded like a really great business and the demand is there.  What I didn't understand was Marcus kept saying to trade debt for equity with the people they owed money to but he never said how much equity so I'm wondering what if any percentage of the company they had left after all that?  

Great points.    I really wondered who the creditors were, and how much of the company they own.     The passivity of the family was bizarre.    The daughter who was supposed to be the boss obviously had zero interest in the business, and was only in charge because everyone else refused to manage the business.   They had a super product, great sales, and should have been making a great profit.      I really don't see this company succeeding long term without a lot more money from Marcus.      

Also, on a tacky shallow note, the daughter's eyebrows and fake lashes, plus heavy eye makeup is horrible. 

Edited August 15, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[seacliffsal]

I had to tear myself away from just staring at the daughters false eye lashes and heavy brows (yes, I am superficial).  After I was able to do so, I had a lot of questions-most of which centered on how much they were paying themselves in light of the debt load and lack of real passion about the business.  There also seemed to be a real lack of initiative.  I couldn't believe they weren't already making boxes for other animals (and could expand into chicken coops).  I think they were making enough to pay themselves and weren't really worried about paying back their investors (which held balloon loans which are really difficult to actually pay off).  It seemed like a great idea and product but that there was a real lack of building the company.

Wasn't there a similar product on Shark Tank a few years back in which Daymond either invested or just bought a hive?  

[Moose135]

31 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

Wasn't there a similar product on Shark Tank a few years back in which Daymond either invested or just bought a hive? 

I don't remember a bee thing, but I think there was someone with a pitch for rabbit hutch that Daymond was interested in because he had pet rabbits, something I would have never guessed. I don't remember if he made an investment or bought the product or not, and I can't find it anywhere.

[seacliffsal]

I found it-it was Bee Thinking and it was season 6 episode 24 of Shark Tank.  No investor but it was eventually bought by another business.  Daymond did invite the entrepreneur to his home and has since started keeping bees.

I often wonder why Marcus doesn't guest on Shark Tank-it would interesting to see him on an episode of that show (at least to me).

[LuvMyShows]

Overall I really liked this episode cause it delved into a different aspect than we usually see.  And yes, everyone seemed passive, but I think it was more "a body in motion, stays in motion; a body at rest, stays at rest" and they were in the 'at rest' portion, but that Marcus may have pushed them into the 'in motion' portion.

On 8/12/2021 at 4:15 PM, I Want My MBTV said:

What I didn't understand was Marcus kept saying to trade debt for equity with the people they owed money to but he never said how much equity so I'm wondering what if any percentage of the company they had left after all that?  

Yes, I was wondering the same thing.

On 8/13/2021 at 1:46 PM, seacliffsal said:

I had to tear myself away from just staring at the daughters false eye lashes and heavy brows (yes, I am superficial). 

OMG it was so hard to look away!  Why on earth hasn't someone told her that they look awful on her?

On 8/14/2021 at 11:29 AM, seacliffsal said:

I often wonder why Marcus doesn't guest on Shark Tank-it would interesting to see him on an episode of that show (at least to me).

I would love to see that!

[Gregg247]

I liked this episode.  The family were very nice but they seemed paralyzed by the terrible financial situation they'd gotten themselves into.  It really was a tough problem to work out.  Marcus' plan was probably the best way to extricate the family from this without going bankrupt.

If the business had an enterprise value of $8-$10 million, then they were probably able to swap that $2.8 million debt into 28%-30% equity if they were lucky (35%-40% if they weren't so lucky).  Marcus got 25%, so the family probably retained 35%-49% equity for themselves.  Plus, they now have the working capital to expand the business and move into other items like the chicken coops and rabbit hutches.

The summary at the end said the business had already grown 90% since the episode was filmed, so that should make everyone happy.

Nice people, a complicated problem, everyone worked together to solve the issue with minimal drama.  What a great way to start the season!

Edited September 7, 2021 by Gregg247