S03.E01: SJC Drums

[Tara Ariano]

The third season begins with a drum company that was formed by two brothers in Massachusetts in 2000 but is plagued by a clash of egos and family feuds.

[caligirl50]

I cannot wait!!!!  I love this show SO MUCH!!!!

[Primetimer]

Custom drum kits and a fractured fraternal relationship kick off The Profit's third season.

Read the story

[KHenry14]

This one is a solid win for Marcus. It was blatantly obvious that the process was completely screwed up, so fixing that was the main thing to do on this project. More than doubling their output will keep them in business for a while and bring them to profitability. At that point they can look at expanding their reach. 

 

I see this one of Marcus' better decisions. While maybe not being his biggest success, it will be right up there IMO. 

[camom]

Pretty good episode.  I think the good-better-best idea was a good one.  The brother drama was weird, though.  They acted like adolescents.

[selhars]

Liked this episode.

Glad Marcus is back. So I can get the fix needed to keep my crush going.

[attica]

First of all, I completely dug all the little girl drummers slamming out like nobody's business. Second, it's just cool to see musical instruments get made, and these guys all looked delighted when another drum was finished so they could bang on it. And their delight when the finished drum sounded good was delicious, too.

 

To Sarah's point in the recap, I'm pretty sure Sam Ash would stock the SJC drums (at least in a pilot deal) without the cameras. Musicians like to know what other musicians use (like athletes like to know what brands their idols use/wear). Even unknown-to-the-public session guys get endorsement deals for instruments, so the fact that SJC can point to actual famous people who use their kits will be a selling point in a retail setting, whether or not the dude from Green Day does an in-store promo. And if Mike is the salesman he should be, he'll be getting ads up for the good/better kits in the trades, as well as humping them at the trade shows. (I used to date a musician, and I kinda miss hanging out in SA. Very few retail stores get you mini-concerts from your fellow browsers!)

[sugarbaker design]

Why hire a friend with an MBA and ideas, and then never listen to him?  I've never seen an owner lose 2/3 of his equity with such amity.  That dude Mike is lucky to have his brother, his friend and Marcus.

[Amarsir]

Great first episode. It had a clear line for improvement, people who were willing to change, and that personal development issue that Marcus seems to love.  

 

I have a little trouble believing that prima donna brother is the only one on Earth who can figure out that it's cheaper not to paint stuff. But he certainly seemed competent enough and if it helped patch that relationship that's a good thing.

[mojito]

Scott was clearly deeply hurt by what went down with his brother, and I think that Mike was feeling a good bit of guilt for losing his brother as a partner. I think there were problems between him and Scott and Mike took the cowardly way out of it by allowing the employees to put down Scott and edge him out of the business.  I would bet money that in retrospect, he would have handled the situation differently. Of course there's plenty I don't know.

 

By the time Marcus stepped in, Mike clearly realized that he'd not been handling business very well (both his brother and his partner were giving him some good advice), and that he had to do something drastic to save the company. I liked how passionate all three guys were about the business (Marcus doesn't usually get two guys crying early on) and I admire Mike for not pushing back at Marcus. He understood right away that 1) Marcus knows what he's talking about and 2) 1/3 of something is better than 100 percent of nothing. 

 

I liked seeing that Scott was really the the heart and soul of the business and Mike's talents were in the business end of things. I'm guessing that Scott can't go back into the company because of how it was divided into three (I don't see the brothers being 1/6 of the company they both started while the friend has 1/3), but he can be a paid consultant and still enjoy Mike's monthly payments to him. I'd like to see them re-visited later to see how well they were doing.

[Christina]

I didn't really care for this episode. It reminded me of the hair salon episode, where Marcus insisted the owner meet with her former partner, who she felt wronged her, or he wouldn't continue. In that episode, it seemed to be set up by production. This episode was just constant drama, crying, anger, etc., which seems to happen whenever a show gets in it's third year and needs to be "freshened up."

 

I'll catch it on a rerun to see if it plays better the second time, but on first viewing, it was just constant drama. The brothers' fight was clearly an issue that needed addressed, just not for the entire episode.

 

Edit: in summary, I agree with the PreviouslyTV story. It would have been faster to read it first : ) Also, the drama in the other episodes always seemed to be worked in around the actual business help. Marcus would review paperwork, walk through the business operations, etc. It felt missing in this episode.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Christina

[caligirl50]

Christina - I agree with you about the hair salon.  I thought it was unnecessary and a bit unfeeling that Marcus insisted the female owner suss out if she could do business with the man who almost ruined her.  It's a big country. I didn't feel it was necessary for her to business with a creep in order for her to put her business in the black.  But in the case of last night's episode, the pushed out brother seemed to be the one person who understood what was necessary to get the result Marcus wanted. 

I did feel this episode was a little rushed. Maybe because of the type of business it is it needed more explaining.  I don't know.  But it just didn't feel as complete as the earlier episodes.

[Jesse]

From the recap:

These dudes look young enough that I could chalk it up to youthful immaturity and poor/wimpy handling of an inefficent production process

 

Except, didn't they say they started the business in 2000? Even if they were in high school, that makes them 30+, with 15 years of trying to do this behind them.

[PepperMonkey]

So I realize Mike's friend and right hand man cared about and loved the business, but I'm still trying to figure out why he was entited to be an equal owner with Mike and Marcus.

 

I really liked the guy and all, and you could tell he's passionate, but I still don't get it.

Edited May 16, 2015 by PepperMonkey

[Lola16]

I don't know that MBA guy should have 1/3 of the company but he definitely should have 1/3 of the voice.  Mike wasn't listening and by giving this guy an equal stake, he sorta kinda has to listen.  Maybe MBA has been going without pay?  I thought I heard something about leaving a lucrative career to help a friend out.  Shares in lieu of pay makes sense.  Who knows?  1 hour doesn't feel long enough sometimes to cover all these things.

 

The brothers seemed like they were 17 and 13.  Butt hurt.  Just glad they didn't drag the parents in.  And Marcus, you're not Oprah but you do play Dr. Phil on your show.  Just like that tool on Restaurant Impossible.

[citychic]

So I realize Mike's friend and right hand man cared about and loved the business, but I'm still trying to figure out why he was entited to be an equal owner with Mike and Marcus.

 

I really liked the guy and all, and you could tell he's passionate, but I still don't get it.

I think Marcus being the cut and dried kind of guy he is just saw it as a good investment in the business. He could answer any numbers question Marcus threw at him which shows he knows his stuff and is invested in the business, that's priceless so Marcus immediately made sure he snatched him up with the partnership so that when Marcus moved on to the next business venture he was comfortable leaving this guy managing the business. He had his crew easily in place, the numbers guy, the owner and bringing back the brother with his obvious talent for building the drums was also a smart move and keeping him as a contractor keeps costs lower plus the brother is still receiving payments from Mike buying him out so he's got other income coming in.

[citychic]

 

The brothers seemed like they were 17 and 13.  Butt hurt.  Just glad they didn't drag the parents in.  And Marcus, you're not Oprah but you do play Dr. Phil on your show.  Just like that tool on Restaurant Impossible.

 

That part is starting to get annoying, I get that owners don't get along but your grown people, work it out and be professional and get the job done. I like it when they focus more on how the numbers work.

 

I do have one question with this episode though. I realize Marcus made in investment into the business so he essentially bought 1/3 of it meaning that Mike the owner brought in 2/3 of the business. How does Marcus get to be 100% in charge forever for a 1/3 investment?

[caligirl50]

CityChic - When Marcus says he's 100% in charge, it is when he is entering the business and making changes.

[rehoboth]

For me this had the right amount of emotion and business dereliction.  It was smart for Marcus to split the ownership by thirds because by all accounts they sales guy was running things.  When the sales guys run things, it is never good for the business.  They get too invested in sales and push the other parts of the business to accommodate them.  Sales guys needs rules and push back.  And they need encouragement because sales is the hardest job there.  One brother may not have appreciated the others genius but other did not appreciate his brothers needs as a salesman.

 

It's satisfying when people are ready to listen to good advice.

[camom]

 

So I realize Mike's friend and right hand man cared about and loved the business, but I'm still trying to figure out why he was entited to be an equal owner with Mike and Marcus.

 

He seemed to be the only one with any business sense or knowledge (except of course for Marcus, but his time there was limited).  One Marcus is gone, there needs to be someone who can run a business while the others are building and selling the drums.  I think giving him 1/3 share keeps him there instead of out looking for another job.

[attica]

I think giving him 1/3 share keeps him there instead of out looking for another job.

 

Agreed, and also compensates him for working without pay for as long as he did.

[clod]

iirc, he was being paid, just not as much as when he worked a corporate job.

 

 

 

I doubt the outside brother will return to work there.    

 

He could probably do well, making/selling drum sets on his own.   why deal with the baggage and hassle of that old company?   ...... that he owns no part of.  

[Amarsir]

I do have one question with this episode though. I realize Marcus made in investment into the business so he essentially bought 1/3 of it meaning that Mike the owner brought in 2/3 of the business. How does Marcus get to be 100% in charge forever for a 1/3 investment?

Well you can structure a deal however you want (within boundaries). For example, in the Skullduggery fiasco Marcus accepted minority stake but insisted on control over finances. This turned out to be the sticking point for the family. (Which in turn saved Marcus from what would have been a terrible experience.) That just would have been what they put in writing. Ownership % controls how you split the profits, but doesn't preclude other rules being contractually spelled out.

 

That said, Marcus usually says he's "100% in charge" just for the week or month of transition. Clearly he likes to be consulted on major changes, but he wants owners to be active managers too.

 

I doubt the outside brother will return to work there.    

 

He could probably do well, making/selling drum sets on his own.   why deal with the baggage and hassle of that old company?   ...... that he owns no part of.  

Maybe. I could believe he has the expertise to build really customized high-end drum kits that might sell at a premium. But he doesn't have workflow or sales, and probably not material inventory or machinery. If it was that easy to turn a profit selling sets on his own then I doubt the company would have had problems in the first place.