Tom won a £250,000 fund to be invested into his own business, partnering with Lord Sugar, who made his decision based on the contestants’ business plans and feedback from four professionals, Margaret Mountford (lawyer and businesswoman), Matthew Riley (Yong Entrepenuer of the year 2007), Mike Suiter (owner of Shortlist Media) and Claude Littner (British business exec), who interviewed the candidates.
Lord Sugar was most taken with Tom’s business plan, an idea to sell a special chair to prevent back pain in the workforce, a big problem he said, and a service to check if people’s chairs cause them pain.
‘Maybe there is a thing about the chair, but you are me are wasting time talking to employees. The chair might work’, said Lord Sugar.
He continued to tell Tom that in his businesses, employee absenteeism is not down to back pain, and he could argue that by putting alcohol rub on people’s desk it would stop them catching the flu.
However, Sugar was more impressed with the fact the inventor had, in the past, designed a product, a curved nail file, which is now stocked in UK and US supermarkets.
‘Tom let me in on your secret’, he said. ‘How did you get into Walmart?'
‘I found out who the buyer was and created a beautiful parcel that I asked the receptionist to deliver to her. The buyer gave me half an hour and agreed to place an order’, replied Tom.
‘I didn’t know you had it in you’, said a shocked Sugar.
Runner up was Helen Louise Milligan, the favourite to win.
Lord Sugar said he was disappointed with her business plan, a concierge service for busy families and asked why she didn’t stick to what she knew, the bakery business.
‘Helen you need to have experience in the field. Concierge service is nothing to do with the business you’ve been in. Where was your head on this one?’
She told him that she had had two ideas, but obviously chose the wrong one, before putting in a last ditch attempt which back-fired, to outline her other plan to open a bespoke bakery.
Sugar implied that if it was a job he was offering, she would have won hands down.
In third place was Susan Ma. Her business idea was to sell organic beauty products worldwide, but her plan was majorly flawed, estimating a £4.5 turnover in her first year.
‘Do you know how much L’oreal and Lancome spend on getting people to by their products in shops? My money would be gone straight-away. I know about this business. You haven’t got a hope in hell’, said Lord Sugar.
‘Whilst it has always been my intention to go into the cosmetics industry, this time it’s not for me. I’m afraid to say you’re fired.’
The man with the gift of the gab and full of cliches, Jim Eastwood, came in last position after he tried to jump on the back of one of Lord Sugar’s companies, with a e-learning product for schools.
‘When did you come up with the idea Jim’, asked Sugar.
Jim said two weeks before the show started.
‘I’m worried you’re selling me and jumping on the back of my brand.’
Jim said he needed clout, but would do all the work himself. He went on to say, after Sugar said schools have no money to spend on things like this, that he intended for the business to be not for profit but realised that wasn’t appropriate.
Lord Sugar replied hastily that he had enough of those and does his bit, and wants a business that makes money in a tough economic climate.
‘Jim you’re a great salesperson, but struggled between salesman and business acumen. You wrote the plan to make me happy.’
‘Jim this was an opportunity to become my business partner. The opportunity is no longer open to you. You’re fired.
Afterwards on The Apprentice You’re Fired, Sugar admitted that him and Tom would be developing his line of curved nail files, rather than focus on the chair, outlined in his business plan. He suggested to Tom that they work with Susan, who is currently working in the business industry, when Lord Sugar admitted that he thought Susan would go far and is one to watch in the future.
