Business Growth Power Pack

The Apprentice 2009. What happened, who got fired, why they were fired and whether it was fair from a business viewpoint.

Right Kristina you’ve done The Apprentice how about persuading Sir Richard Branson to put on another series of  “The Rebel Billionaire” which you could go into and win!
But seriously, I’d be surprised if Richard Branson wasn’t deciding whether to offer her a job. After all it’s rare that you get to see a potential employee put [...]

After 12 weeks Sir Alan finally made up his mind.
Rather than polishing a tried and true older apprentice he went for the one who claimed he would be malleable because he was “not fully formed.”
So Simon Ambrose becomes the third apprentice and Kristina Grimes grits her teeth, gets her hair done and smiles during the [...]

Yesterday I was talking with my brother Roddy about The Apprentice and he said that he “hated it with a passion.” He believes it just doesn’t reflect business.
As I said to him and others who commented in a similar vein, “it’s entertainment, it’s not business it’s show business.”
What I would also say is that Sir [...]

The BBC have really been out scouring their Apprentice archives to capitalise on this years Apprentice success.
Last Sunday, just before this season’s final we had “The Apprentice: Why I Fired Them”.
This was Sir Alan explaining his reasoning behind each firing. Some of which we’d already heard as voice overs when the candidates were fired.
That said [...]

Tim Campbell won the first series of Sir Alan Sugar’s Apprentice. He wasn’t the favourite to win because like Lohit he was “too nice”. Well nice doesn’t have to be boring does it?
I found this interesting video at a great short film site of him telling exactly how the Apprentice producers wanted him to act. He [...]

Check The Mirror for a story about how Katie has always wanted fame.
Certainly she appears to be keeping tight-lipped at the moment as the refused to do an interview with with another blog. One that ran interviews with all the other fired candidates.
Like I said, expect a new company announcement, a book serialisation of her [...]

After the interview round in week 11 Katie showed her true colours. She rabbited on about how she was going to move nearer to London. How her parents would probably fit in nicely by moving to be near to her and her sister to offer her support for her children. How she was committed… and [...]

We’re down to the final 5 candidates for a job with Sir Alan.
They are, in no particular order:

Simon Ambrose
Tre Azam
Katie Hopkins
Kristina Grimes
Lohit Kalburgi

Let’s do a reality check of who I would look at for the final. Will they be the same two as Sir Alan? Who knows…because the clever BBC editors are just giving us [...]

And so
to week 10’s task…
This time the teams had to select a bunch of products and sell them on the QVC channel on TV.
The teams split so they each had two people presenting and one person producing and then the person producing did the selling while the team’s couple did the producing.
Kristina Grimes was the [...]

The task the apprentices faced this week was another selling one. Sir Alan asked them to go a six countries presentations on 3 of the products they want to export to Britain.
So What Are The Strategic Questions?
The strategic questions I would ask here over all the products before choosing which country’s products to sell were:
1) [...]

I’m beginning to hope that Katie stays until the final 3. She’s given so much vitriol to the watching masses and we’re eating it up aren’t we?
Luckily this task is right up her street. Or is it?
Sir Alan told them he wanted them to design and sell a trainer. He’d organised a big ad agency [...]

Tara Conlan at the Guardian reports that the BBC has agreed another two series of The Apprentice.
Apparently Sir Alan Sugar is also coming back for more. Although why he needs so many well paid staff I’m not too sure! Who cares though because he’s been a consistent diamond in the shows so far.
If you’re interested [...]

 
Today the Times Reports An “Apprentice storm in a tea cup“!
Apparently senior members of the BBC are worried that the Apprentice has become a plug fest. Where any brand used appears to be highlighted lovingly throughout the series.
So as examples we have the Chrysler Grand Voyagers that the Apprentices use as taxis, Moët & Chandon [...]

I saw Sir Alan Sugar on Jonathan Ross’s show last night.
He was very entertaining although he did have a bit of a go at the armchair critics who are all saying how the candidates aren’t doing as well as they should.
He does have a point. We aren’t in the situation where someone comes along gives [...]

Someone noted that the rules I’d put in for the quote competition weren’t clear.
So to make things a bit clearer…
The competition is for you to nominate something said by anyone of the Apprentices, Sir Alan, Margaret or Nick.
The “best” quote I’m looking for is the most ridiculous, stupid, crazy, half-witted, funny, murderous, nonsensical thing any of [...]

So the Apprentices are asked to use their negotiating skills to buy stuff and use their time management skills to get stuff back to Sir Alan in time. Plus they couldn’t use the Internet to search for stuff. They had to use Yellow Pages instead. The objective? To come back with the most money and [...]

We’ve reached the stage where I’m beginning to break the candidates down into groups:

Apprentices To Look Out For
Apprentices That Annoy
Apprentices Who are Flying Under The Radar

Let me explain and show you which Apprentices currently fall into each camp.

The Apprentices who have made useful contributions overall are the ones to look out for. Those whose management [...]

Is Taking Cheese To France Like Taking Coals To Newcastle?
This time Sir Alan Sugar gave his slowly dwindling band of Apprentices the job of selecting the best of British foods and selling them in a French market.
Now we’re all aware that the French are the gourmet nation? So obviously you’d pick food that the French [...]

The Apprentices get “creative” with photographers to sell their prints
First things first. I have to own up to the fact that I’m the son of two commercial photographers whose work was very creative and beautiful. But was it art?
So bear in mind that I’m a bit biased when it comes to photography and art. It [...]