I see what you did there
I think that bringing up that second idea in the boardroom did or at least should have worked against her.
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The Apprentice Series 7
- Thread starter fozzybear
- Start date
I see what you did there
I think that bringing up that second idea in the boardroom did or at least should have worked against her.
Soldato
needs a new cassetteboy remix 
Soldato
awful final, no emotion, no life nothing. most pointless hour of my life so far this year and believe me iv watched some serious ****.
Why do you say the business plans were really bad?
Their business plans were picked apart by some very strict headmasters (i'm sure this is just done for the telly). Yes, the business plans were not perfect, but then when individuals set things up, this is the norm.
Obviously, if a large institution such as Tesco were creating a business plan, they would use a team of professionals to come up with all the necessary projections and make sure that the business plan was spot on.
You must also remember that business plans have a habit of evolving. Example: you take your first business plan to a bank. You want money. It gets thrown out. You ask for feedback and they give it. You then revise your business plan based on the feedback and create the 2nd version.
You then take this to a bank. You get knocked back. You get feedback. Based on the feedback you create the 3rd version.
In general, you continue this process until you have all the weaknesses which have been pointed out to you, ironed out of your business plan. Only at this point do you have what can be considered your perfect (error-less) business plan.
To expect an individual who is not a professional business plan writer, to come up with a perfect business plan is a pipe dream. I'm not sure what you were expecting.
Do you have experience of writing business plans? Perhaps you can give us all tips.
If you have business plan experience, I may hire you to read through mine.
Caporegime
But sunama, the fact that their business plans were not perfect or written in a textbook fashion was not really the issue. The main problem was that the fundamental ideas were all either unoriginal or just plain bad.
- A chair to help with back pain combined with a service whereby employers pay to analyse the chance of an employee developing back pain: there are already loads of chairs designed to help with back pain and what employer would pay money to try and find out who will develop back pain?
- A service whereby people pay to have their life arranged for them: people that are really so busy that they can't arrange a dentist appointment on their own, often already have their own PA, and for those that don't have a PA, liaising with the service is equally as time consuming as doing it yourself. Besides which, all dentists I have ever used, ever, have sent me reminders. It's just an obvious thing to do to keep the cash coming.
Also, this market is flooded with cheap immigrant labour. She could have started a nanny agency or something. She'd have been better off offering a service like last minute childcare, to professionals that have been let down by a childminder at the last minute or something. Something that people aren't able to easily sort even if they do have a spare five minutes.
Finally it's not a product, and AS likes products as she was well aware.
- An e-learning facility for schools: schools are strapped for cash, so even if the government decides that this must be rolled out nationally and Jim must be the sole contractor, earning megabucks from it won't be easy.
- Cosmetic products company: imo this was actually the best idea, flawed though by the overly ambitious growth predictions and massive investments in marketing required.
I'm not trying to pass off the negatives as my own thinking obviously, as they were all issues raised in the programme. But I do agree with them.
On the other hand every business has one problem or another that it has to overcome, I guess the key is doing it better than someone else.
- A chair to help with back pain combined with a service whereby employers pay to analyse the chance of an employee developing back pain: there are already loads of chairs designed to help with back pain and what employer would pay money to try and find out who will develop back pain?
- A service whereby people pay to have their life arranged for them: people that are really so busy that they can't arrange a dentist appointment on their own, often already have their own PA, and for those that don't have a PA, liaising with the service is equally as time consuming as doing it yourself. Besides which, all dentists I have ever used, ever, have sent me reminders. It's just an obvious thing to do to keep the cash coming.
Also, this market is flooded with cheap immigrant labour. She could have started a nanny agency or something. She'd have been better off offering a service like last minute childcare, to professionals that have been let down by a childminder at the last minute or something. Something that people aren't able to easily sort even if they do have a spare five minutes.
Finally it's not a product, and AS likes products as she was well aware.
- An e-learning facility for schools: schools are strapped for cash, so even if the government decides that this must be rolled out nationally and Jim must be the sole contractor, earning megabucks from it won't be easy.
- Cosmetic products company: imo this was actually the best idea, flawed though by the overly ambitious growth predictions and massive investments in marketing required.
I'm not trying to pass off the negatives as my own thinking obviously, as they were all issues raised in the programme. But I do agree with them.
On the other hand every business has one problem or another that it has to overcome, I guess the key is doing it better than someone else.
By the way I'm sure it's been mentioned, but it was funny when Jim accidentally called Lord Sugar, 'Sugar'
...and offended him by calling him a greedy bar steward: "It was originally a non-profit idea but I knew you wouldn't buy into that".
tbh the rest of the episodes were the pointless part albeit good entertainment as intended.
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Caporegime
Jims: No planning or research. Where is the money going to come from? Bad idea.
Susie: Needs crazy amount of advertising to even start making some money. Bad idea.
Helen: No idea where she even thought that this would be a good idea. Honestly, silly idea.
Tom: Not bad product, but very very costly and there are already chairs out there and guidelines for usage to prevent back issues.
In all 4 there was either too small a revenue income from it or too much of an outlay to make it really worth while.
I expected some amazing business ideas, but those 4 were very disappointing to see being offered.
In their own right, they might have been ok as a small business, but the fact that NONE of those business plans were chosen shows that they were not right for the show or AS. That was clear to see very early
Caporegime
Quite suprised Tom won. Good for him. Not one of the best years entertainment wise.
The Jedi Jim skit in the after show was possibly the best bit of the show.
The Jedi Jim skit in the after show was possibly the best bit of the show.
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Associate
She really was stupid and very gormless.
I was also thinking this could have been wrapped up in 1 Dragons Den episode! Changing the final prize makes the format of the show invalid, though it is entertaining.
Tom surprised me, getting into Walmart!!! Maybe he could be the new Dyson? Then again maybe not.
All of the business plans were dire but Sir Alan could stand to make the most out of Tom as a partner as he (supposedly) has that creative spark the others lacked.
Fair play to him, i especially like the delivery trick he used to get his product seen.
P.S - Helen would get smashed.
I can't argue against anything you have written, as you make complete sense.
What I can say is that no business (or plan), is going to be perfect. Every business will have flaws. Ultimately, AS has to decide which idea is the easiest to implement and likely to turn a profit, soonest. Bear in mind that all the ideas will be tweaked before they reach the market. This is quite normal in any business - even the most successful businesses, such as Google.
I just feel that a lot of you are being a little harsh and too judgemental in saying that all the ideas were poor.
Here's something to think about: if all the ideas/plans, etc were all so horrendously bad, why on Earth would AS (as shrewd as he is), be willing to invest £250k + time/effort into this business?
Personally, I liked Suzie's idea the best, though with Helen - you know that she will leave no stone unturned in her quest for business success. I would've chosen Helen...but that's me.
If I was a company owner, I would actually be trying to get hold of Helen right now, to see if she would be willing to have a chat about a prospective job position. Obviously, I would have to pay through the teeth as she is likely to have plenty of job offers in the coming weeks, but she is a fantastic worker...good workers are worth their weight in gold.
It's easy to criticise.
What you have to remember that most business ideas have flaws.
Lets take Google: the most successful start up in last few decades.
Their idea was to create a search engine which used a different method (to the methods being used by the established search engines, at that time) of ranking websites and links.
They also had plans that once they had enough traffic that they would begin an advertising program, on their website. This would be their main revenue stream.
They were looking for 7 figure investments (not 6 figure, as in Apprentice).
Now, if this idea came up on Apprentice, you would all be saying, "How on Earth do you expect to go up against the established giants, such as Microsoft (MSN Search), Alta Vista, Yahoo, etc. Are you crazy? Are you mad? What a poor idea."
How wrong would you be...
Oh and like I always say: if you think you can do better, why don't you go on the show yourself and show us all how it is done? There is nothing to stop you and your career advancement (once you've been on the telly) should take a quantum leap forward.
For the record, I think Suzie's idea is fantastic and definitely has legs to run on. If all companies backed out when they hear about advertising costs, then no company would ever get off the ground for fear of going bust. EVERY new start-up is inherently risky (and that includes Google) and the investor merely has to offset the risk against the gains and see if it is worth their while. If you are after a sure thing...forget about it.
Caporegime
Oh DAM! And I think the guy laughed in a slightly sympathetic / flirty manner, rather than an 'oh how hilarious!' manner. To quote Good Charlotte: 'boys will laugh at girls when they're not funny'.
He's not investing it into Tom's business plan though, they're concentrating on cosmetic products which was nothing to do with his plan
.
Soldato
"Oh damn". As in a "dam" blocking the way. I think the interviewer laughed because it was a rubbish joke rather than a funny one.
Caporegime
In fairness to Helen, if an interviewer asked me to tell them a joke, totally off the cuff, I'd be struggling to come up with something that wasn't either absolutely rubbish or obscene.
Caporegime
This isn't asking for a loan from a bank, this is asking for £250k for YOUR idea as it is. They have had plenty of time to get a watertight idea ready for the boardroom.
Susie's idea does have legs, but not to the scale that she is thinking and to get into any big market for cosmetics it needs advertising. She had costed out £250k of input with no apparent mention of advertising.
Lastly, stop with the whole 'if you think you can do better....' that means nothing.
Do people need to do better to pass comment on other things? I'll answer for you - no.
I have no need or want to appear on the apprentice, or go through the selection process.
Oh DAM! And I think the guy laughed in a slightly sympathetic / flirty manner, rather than an 'oh how hilarious!' manner. To quote Good Charlotte: 'boys will laugh at girls when they're not funny'.
He's not investing it into Tom's business plan though, they're concentrating on cosmetic products which was nothing to do with his plan
Oh Dam! I get it now
Misheard what she said before.