well and... he's been given advice but doesn't seem interested in actually taking any of it (or at least any of it that requires real effort.)

I think that's what separates the serious businesspeople from the "dabblers"... if you're in it to run a successful business, you figure out what it is you can do to improve things, take all the advice you can get and make use of it, learn from your mistakes, and continue to grow your business.

There are always people out there who are more interested in complaining about how terrible things are, or why their business isn't working, but honestly, I haven't seen success in anyone who does that without putting a positive outlook on it... but that's hard for a lot of people to get their hands around.