All Philler, no Killer - The Apprentice Thread Three

[ArticSaviour]

New thread for tonight as we have nearly reached the end of Thread Two

Yes I felt that too. Wouldn't it have been more informal in 1933 but still a small business that his grandparents or great grandparents did, made pies for people in their shop or kitchen

Hovis would be another one

this is a really daft move on Phil’s part if he actually agreed to go into business with sugar. He is giving away 50% of his business for £250k. He could spend a lot o less than that in really decent business advice. He needs someone to sort out the financial management and put in some controls and systems to help monitor and run the business. There are loads of advisors out there that can help businesses with growth plans etc.

He has the product and he has a good local reputation to build on. I can only assume he’s gone on the show for publicity

i don’t know the legalities behind established but easily rectified by using the word ‘since’

I've always assumed that at the outset there is a subset of potential winners - they must look at the business plans in advance. However on this one Phil lost every task until he was given a significant team advantage on a task in his sweetspot.

The interview round showed Phil as not having decent business plan - he has somebody else's struggling/loss making business and doesn't even know what is in his accounts let alone have them under control.

If he wins I'll know for sure that its not even a subset of potential winners - the whole thing is fixed from day 1 which also shows future applicants that its not a competition in any sense.

I think Paul was the smart one at this point. He isn't desperate enough to give half his business away for 250k and has a business which will attract more equitable investment. Paul's stupid move was the same as Tre's - starting a new business in an area he doesn't know instead of making it a new venture within his expertise.

Phil apparently is willing to give away half the established business for 250k

Paul would have been mad to give away 50% equity in his existing dentistry practice for £250k (and likely there are other shareholders with a % that would have made it unviable).

If he'd gone in from the outset with a new dentistry business proposition, rather than the scrubs nonsense, he might have got the (potential) investment in it as a separate entity.

He doesn’t need investment - dentistry is a gold mine - cosmetic or not.

I assume he went on for publicity or he just fancied it.

I was really disappointed by last night’s episode. I used to love the interview stage but last night I found it quite boring. They never seem to actually interview the candidates now, the episode just shows them being constantly put down, one awful ‘interviewer’ at the time and you don’t learn much about what their actual plan is. It just felt so dull.

I think Paul did the right thing. There’s no way he should hand over 50% of his current business that Alan Sugar has had nothing to do with. I think Phil is also crazy to consider doing it.

Was I the only one who was surprised that Rachel is only 27 years old? I thought she was at least a decade older than that 😬

He wouldn't even get the £250,000. Lord Sugar invests the £250,000 into the business then be gets 50% of the business. Net it costs Lord Sugar £125,000.

I do think it needs to go back to it's original format.

Linda and Claudine were far too nice this year as well.

It won't happen, it was killed when Stella English sued for constructive dismissal.

I've just finished watching it. I'm also currently watching re-runs of earlier series. I'm on series 10 at the moment. It's definitely gone down hill. The interviews were boring and very tame compared to previous years. Nobody really got ripped to shreds despite shit business plans and the like and there was no picking CVs to bits and finding "errors".
I also feel the thing has been rigged for Phil from the beginning. He has been completely useless all the way through and yet still managed to scrape through each time.
All of the tasks are pointless because Sir Alan has decided which one or two business plans he likes the best.
They definitely do need a new format. It's just boring now. Maybe go back to having them compete for a job again. Also there need to be some new ideas for tasks and maybe some more unexpected twists to jazz it up a bit. eg. at some point in the process the remaining candidates can vote for a previously fired candidate to return to compete again. Something like the "Tim Gunn" save on Project Runway - Karren or Tim can save one person during the serious who has been fired by Sir Alan.
Maybe they want to make sure it's a "serious business" process and not have anything like that, but on the other hand it stopped being a serious business process a long time ago.

Or maybe each episode Tim and Karen can give immunity to one of the team they shadowed based on watching them through the task

It’s a shame, I used to love The Apprentice, but the shift to business plans from a job with Suralan (I know why they did it) has really killed it. The tasks throughout the show are now meaningless as it really depends on whose business plan is viable. Tre and Flo were the best candidates through the process, but Phil the Pieman is in the final despite performing poorly as he has an established business (that he doesn’t seem to know much about) that Sugar can make a quick buck from. Oh well, it’s been going for 20 years, but probably time to knock it on the head. And I finally got around to listening to Tre’s hit and got a blast of nostalgia for my student days 😁

What hit did he make?

Was I the only one who was surprised that Rachel is only 27 years old? I thought she was at least a decade older than that

I think the hair and makeup choices age her a bit.

I think the pie business has potential. It's main problem is Phil.

For help with the logistics of making it a nationwide product.

He should have (and probably did) apply for Dragon’s Den too.

Yeh I agree with everyone that it's crappy crapola that you can do really well for weeks and then be ditched for some useless piemaker like that.

Everyone (all the interviewers I mean) said how great Tre was and that was clear in the episodes too. But agree his business plan was bobbins.

We love Mike S so so much with the domain names and the "I just happen to have had your product made". My old boss - what a man.

Rhe domain name make me wonder if the contestants have never watched the show. Or is this another bit of set up where the contestants are told they have to make up a name that then gets inserted into the business plan. Then again maybe they are that stupid they would pick a name without even googling to see if there is another company using the name they want (never mind a proper search.)

Completely agree - Tre would likely have won if it was old school Apprentice as the interviewers all loved him & he's definitely one of the strongest candidates (along with Flo & Rachel).

No way should Phil have made it to the final given his performance in tasks, so can only assume he's won the show.

That drink tre made himself while reviewing his business plan looked rank!

and filming Paul cleaning his teeth🙄. They really respect their audiences intelligence

the problem with this format is that £250k is not a huge amount - as the established businesses show - both had more than that in reserves.

so is this just a way for Alan to get 50% of a business with little risk to himself

or should it be aimed at people who actually really need that seed investment. In which case someone whose product needs a lot of work should still be able to win because it should be the person he is investing in

or is it just a tired old format that needs to go in the bin

I really don't understand how anyone purporting to be a businessman or woman could conceivably put together a business plan with no figures. Even I know that that's fundamental, and I don't run any business or have any ambition to do so.

The should have been leant on to change his business plan overnight, like Paul was. Mind you, I struggle to believe the testosterone shots idea was ever a serious plan in the first place.

I agree. He came across like a complete BS. No business plan. No figures.. Had never visited the supposed drinks lab. Just an idea with two recipes he’d never actually tried to make. It was completely made up just to get on tv.
I’n not sure if he was trying to even prove anything. He used his music so it was on tv a couple of times. Was that it? It wasn’t memorable. Is he hoping someone will offer him a job as a DJ or presenter after seeing him?

Is he hoping someone will offer him a job as a DJ or presenter after seeing him?

I think so. Look at the career Alison Hammond had after being on BB and she was the 2nd to be voted out as the housemates found her - especially her laugh, iirc - so irritating.
Tre came across a lot better than she did.