Lemonis knows success, failures of business world

Marcus Lemonis learned a great deal about business from selling candy as a kid, taking a lousy job from Lee Iacocca, leading as CEO of Camping World in Lincolnshire, and investing in several companies.

This has helped Lemonis boost his net worth to reportedly about $300 million while he maintains a dogged work ethic. He often works around the clock, often sending emails at 2 a.m.

But some of his own profit has come from investing in struggling businesses, turning them around, and then using that experience on his CNBC series, "The Profit." He loves business and he loves to teach about it.

"I've enjoyed being like a professor," said Lemonis, 43. "Each episode I have done is like a lesson plan."

Besides "The Profit," Lemonis is also working on another series called "The Partner," which focuses on how people apply for a job with him set to debut later this year on CNBC. They are all part of the many lessons he said he learned along the way, starting with his upbringing in Florida.

Lemonis was born in 1973 in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon, and adopted as a baby by a Greek couple in their 40s, Leo and Sophia Lemonis, who lived in Miami.

The lessons begin

Growing up, Lemonis had a lawn-cutting business and developed an idea to sell candy at school, which proved to be one of his most valuable business lessons, he said.

He took a jar of coins he found on a closet shelf at his home. He carried it on his bike to the bank to have counted. With that $100, he went to a local minimart store and bought candy to sell at school. He doubled the price of the candy.

"I was like a candy pusher and sold it all," Lemonis said.

A few days later, he had enough coins to refill the jar and return it to the shelf. "In my mind, the jar looked the same, it had some brown and some silver," he said.

His mother questioned him when she noticed the jar had been missing. He denied knowing anything about it.

"But when she said the school had called her and told her that I had been selling candy, I knew it was time to fess up," he said. He told his mother he replaced all the coins, therefore nothing to worry about. But there was. She had been collecting those coins for 25 years, and many had been pure silver. He actually owed about $1,000 to replace the original coins, she told him.

What did he learn? He knew he wanted to be a businessman.

"And no matter how slick you think you are, you can't trick your mother, and mothers know more than you do," he said.

Growing up, Lemonis didn't have a lot of friends. He also had a difficult time focusing at school and says his grades "stunk."

"But I had a lot of good enthusiasm," adding that he could write and speak well and earned good grades in math.

He was accepted to Marquette University in Wisconsin and his mother brought him to the campus in January when he sported only a windbreaker.

The winter season was a wake-up call. He was looking for a fresh start and wanted to be far from Miami and on his own. After he graduated in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in political science, he returned to Miami.

He first dabbled in politics by unsuccessfully running as a Democrat for the Florida house of representatives. He also worked at AutoNation Inc. and climbed his way up the corporate ladder.

In 2000, Lee Iacocca, a family friend and the CEO who helped to turn around Chrysler Corp., called Lemonis and offered him a job with an RV company in California.

"When Lee Iacocca calls, you take that call and I said, yes sir," Lemonis said.

While Lemonis had experience in the auto industry, he didn't know much about RVs. He was 27 and was eager to learn.

But this RV business was in trouble. The banks had already called in loans and Lemonis was desperate to get it back on track.

The trial by fire accomplished one thing. Lemonis developed relationships with the banks.

The banks were happy to be paid back, and a contact led him to leave that job and co-found a company called FreedomRoads, where he acquired RV dealerships and began building a business.

By 2006, FreedomRoads merged with Camping World and later Good Sam Enterprises, based in Lincolnshire. He was running what turned into a major RV company with about 100 stores nationwide and $3.5 billion in annual revenue.

While he became successful with the RV business, the recession threw him another curve ball.

"Anyone who tells you they weren't scared during the recession isn't telling the truth," Lemonis said.

The real estate and auto industries were hit hard during the recession in 2008 and Lemonis, for the first time, was worried everything would close.

He started to dabble in investing in other companies. He even appeared in the ABC-TV show, "Secret Millionaire" and a couple of episodes of NBC-TV show, "The Apprentice."

He liked how TV could send a message and help people to learn.

The entrepreneur wanted to build on the concept. He talked with network leaders and by the fall of 2012, he was at NBC at the Rockefeller Center in New York. He pitched the idea for "The Profit," where he would invest in struggling companies and help them turn around. He offers cash for a piece of the business and percentage of the profits.

Suburban companies he has helped include Sweet Pete's Candy, Denim & Soul, MLG Chicago - all in Lake Forest - The Simple Greek in Highland Park and Runway in Deerfield.

He doesn't think of the show as entertainment, instead he documents what's taking place.

So far, he's invested about $40 million of his money into these struggling businesses that appeared on "The Profit." About $31 million has been with businesses that have succeeded. Some he's not sure about yet. And others ripped him off, he said.

Working with struggling companies is always a challenge and the strengths of a company must be found, said Phyllis Ezop, president of Ezop and Associates, a business consulting firm in LaGrange.

"A company requiring a turnaround can benefit from the help of someone who understands their problem or has experienced it themselves and can provide guidance moving forward," Ezop said. "Turnarounds are also often in need additional capital, which Marcus Lemonis provides."

Lemonis always follows up with the businesses that he's helped. One includes Bentley's Corner Barkery, which was a struggling pet food bakery in Arlington Heights that he helped grow from 5 stores to 150. He's also proud of Sweet Pete's Candy in Jacksonville, Florida, that has opened a store in Lake Forest and reminds Lemonis of his past.

"You see, I'm back to selling candy," he said.

Camping World

Leadership: CEO Marcus Lemonis

Headquarters: Lincolnshire

Locations: 100 stores, including Wauconda

Employees: about 8,000 employees, including 130 in Lincolnshire.

TV Shows

"The Profit" on CNBC. "The Partner" will debut later this year on CNBC.

Other businesses

Ownership in Sweet Pete's Candy, Denim & Soul, MLG Chicago in Lake Forest; The Simple Greek in Highland Park' and partners with Runway in Deerfield.

Websites: www.campingworld.com and www.marcuslemonis.com

Twitter: @marcuslemonis