I think it is very much agreed by everyone that Neil was the ´real´winner in the sense that he ticked all the boxes. He is pro active, have initiative, very engaging with people, ambitious and business-minded.

However, he should have known better. This format is as much about the person as it is about the business plan. If you look at the previous winners, Tom´s business plan was disregarded but he already had another product on the side plus a creative mind, that made it for him. Ricky was in the field of science, already had the knowledge and expertise in the field. This year´s winner, whether it is Louisa or Leah, they both have a business plan that is tightly aligned with their expertise and business experience.

Neil´s past with his business idea is that "he sold his house". If his idea was genuinely good then Sugar can set it up himself, Neil has no value in it. That´s where it all crumbled for him. To win it the business plan, although the business doesn´t exist, must have some substance to it and the candidate must actually add value in terms of knowledge and experience.

Exactly. Neil's plan (even without the flaw at its heart) did not involve Neil any more than Jordan's business plan involved Jordan.

Neither man had the capital nor the expertise to make his plan work. They added nothing aside from the wish to make it happen and a desire to be rich.

If Neil is in a position to self-finance his plan, which is possible after a long, successful career in sales, since startup costs may be low, then he could still go for it. I'd be sceptical about it working, mind.

Didn't he say that it took him two years to sell his own house? I suppose selling times can vary depending on what part of the country but I wouldn't have thought that was indicative of any great understanding of the house-selling business.

And that's before you even get to the business plan. Was his thinking that estate agents would advertise on it because it was a property website (even though its purpose was to take their business!) and... even though adverts from estate agents would take from his sel[I]l-your-own[/i] web business? Curioser and curioser.

I haven't heard it said of Neil but I wonder...is selling, as in his present job, all that he is good at? And in reality has no great brain for business, rather like Jordan, in fact, despite his self-promotion and self belief.

I think Neil's Business Plan was underrated. Although there are some small companies who operate on a self-sell basis, the model has yet to catch on, and if it was done nationally (or even just in London/SE) it could be massive.

In my experience, you pay Estate Agents up to 2.75% and still have to undertake your own viewings.

But if he had an angle, surely that would have come up in the business plan. The only angle seemed to be that people would sell their own houses, thereby cutting out the Estate Agent. The only way it would work is if everyone paid a flat fee for advertising their house on his site I think there are one or two companies that do this already.. He couldn't take a percentage as he wouldn't know if the houses had sold or not.

It was underrated because yes it would have worked on a small scale but it just wouldn't have been able to make enough to make a substantial profit for these money hungry capitalists (I'm sorry I'm sure they are all very nice but at the end they are after money, money, money and that is there main drive). Also trying to add the estate agents confused the business and just made any investability in the company that it may have had too insignificant to be able to invest. With a lot of restructuring and had the Dragons taken to him he might have been better off going to Dragons Den instead and as long as he gave reasonable stakes in the firm he would have had to give much less equity that the 50% Lord Sugar would be giving him.

I don't understand why they all thought having both individuals and agents advertising on the same site was such a bad idea, have they not heard of autotrader? Neil should have used that as an example.

It's not nearly as much a bad idea they made out, over-ambitious perhaps but not impossible.

I always thought Neil to be a follower....a botty licker.....and one who will say exactly what it is he thinks others want to hear.

He drove me mad during interviews by constantly repeating "I fimly believe that I am the best candidate for the job and I will put all my effort into it blah blah blah" (words to that effect)

But he never actually said WHY he would make the business plan work.

He is a salesman.....nothing more.

Autotrader is a bad example. Both private sellers, and motor dealers, pay to advertise cars for sale on there, and buyers can choose whether to buy privately or from a dealer.

A more relevant example would be Betfair - a betting exchange where punters bet against each other with no bookmaker involved - and you won't find any bookies advertising on there, they hate it.

Surely the real reason it was 'underrated' is because it has the potential to conflict with Alan Sugar's existing business relationships! His main business is now property management and business lettings and the big agents used by him would hardly be impressed by his involvement in a venture to undercut their business in the domestic housing market. What Sugar says should seldom be taken at face value.

hi there, first post, so forgive me....i wanted to say that i could see where neil's business plan was going too. that's not to say it was worth investing in....but by my reckoning all he'd have to say to justify the part where he was being slated for estate agents not wanting to sell/advertise alongside private sellers is ebay and amazon....both of those massive companies, quite happily use that format, trading side by side.

i also thought they were a bit out of order when they turned their noses up at people wanting to sell themselves...it's fine for them, they've got the spare cash to pay the fees. as a person considering putting my house on the market, i'd certainly be interested in paying a lesser fee to try it myself....if it failed i'd then go to an estate agent.

needless to say, i don't think his plan would have stood up against the 3 girls, unfortunately....i quite liked neil, and can't stand luisa....i'd like leah but i don't particularly like walk in clinics and i don't trust her judgement now she's friends with luisa

Yes, I couldn't see the problem with people showing others their own house, lots of people already do, in fact probably a higher % than let estate agents show their home.

I think another poster "hit the nail on the head", when they mentioned would it conflict with LAS's property dealings.

I thought Neil came across very well on YBF, and seemed to realise his idea was flawed (if it was) and should of taken the hint to change it, but I like his "stand by his convictions" attitude, something which LAS moaned at Leah for not doing on the Dubai task!!

I think another problem was the fact the business had nothing to do with Neil's line of work.

The two finalists' business plans reflect their jobs.

Luisa sells cakes and wants to launch a new baking brand.

Leah is a doctor and wants to open a cosmetics/botox company.

Both candidates know their products and the markets.

Neil is a football centre manager but wants to sell people's houses. There's no link. Due to his blinkered 'I am right, you are wrong' attitude it didn't give Sugar any incentive to trust the guy. Neil should have concentrated on what he does for a living, perhaps branching out with a new football coaching business or something connected to that .

Alan Sugar is a huge football fan, he used to own Tottenham Football Club. Neil could exploited Sugar's love of football rather than coming up with a confused concept in a line of work - property selling - where he has zero experience.

I liked Neil up until the point where he was so stubborn as not to even consider advice or make adjustments. I reckon his idea of selling your own house for a lesser fee is good - only problem was he told Claud he would have established estate agents using his site which was just downright stupid. When he refused to even think about it, his fate was sealed. You can`t go into business with someone thats so unwilling to adapt.

I liked his business idea too, in the sense that when I sell my house in the next year or so, I'm dreading the estate agency fees!

As one poster (fuzzydong) said, it's ok for LA etc to scoff at the idea of selling your own house - they have the money to pay someone else. Most people these days are struggling to get a deposit together, let alone save for all the fees you have to pay for too.

I'd love Neil to set this business up, possibly make a few tweaks, scrap the bit about estate agents using it, and be successful. I'd certainly use it!

You perhaps have forgotten about when you bought your house most likely from an estate agent.
He found you the mortgage (although they are easy to come by these days if you know how) which a buyer needs and Neil wont be able to help with.

He also acted as go between. There are often things to 'iron' out when arguments erupt. I wonder will you be doing your own solicitor work as well which is much easier and really nothing to it. I doubt it.

Agents usually have a list of buyers whom they know personally and know what they want and what they are prepared to pay or should I say able to pay. They are agents for the seller in case you dont know not the buyer. They are there to get the highest price for you otherwise you might as well sell at auction.

They can value a house which Neil wont be able to do. Not something easy at all. A local agent with knowledge of past sales should be able to do it.

My advice to you is to go to a local agent, maybe more than one, and ask him if you should rather sell on line or privately.

But there are already big firms doing the very thing Neil is pushing. We successfully sold our house using one of these six years ago - cost around £500 I seem to remember and we got a good price (http://www.housenetwork.co.uk). There must be others too currently operating so where does he think the gap in the market is?

This is a professional online estate agent. I dont think this was Neil's idea at all. He was thinking it seems of just 'listing' properties online.

Yes I think it was, and "Autotrader for Houses.

To be honest most Estate Agents "talk out of their Ass" about house prices, they will try to get as much as possible so they get a bigger fee, their not interested in actually what its worth, and a lot of todays problems with mortgages etc can be linked to their greed.

I didn't have an estate agent the first time.....but that's because I've got a part buy part rent house, so it was a housing agency that did all of that. I found my own mortgage - easy to do with t'internet. Found my own solicitor, too. It means that when I sell, the housing agency will try and find me a buyer, but only for 3 months, then I have to go to an estate agent.

I'm not saying Neil's plan was without flaws, but I like the idea, if done properly. It could be a 'hub' to communicate between buyer, seller, solicitor, surveyor, mortgage lender etc. the user could login to view the progress and see where in the process they are. I was forever trying to find out at what stage the sale was at, who was holding it up and such like.

A lot of work, yes. But it is essentially an online estate agency, without the agents to show the house and the extortionate fees. A bit like these divorce websites - you pay them a small fee to organise the paperwork, you don't need a solicitor, and then you only pay court fees. Very successful these days.

Ok, it seems like this is already available! Never mind.

I wouldnt blame the agents for the problems. I blame the banks or building societies.
Why should they be interested what its worth. You sell for the highest price the market can take. This is a business not a charity.
The problems are because its too easy to get a mortgage. If you know how on the buy to let, you dont even have be earning anything at the moment, or ever have worked. They just throw money at you and you let the housing subsidy pay the mortgage. Now that it is dropping thats when the real trouble will start.

Other peoples experiences and viewpoints have no value to Neil.

Difficult to see how anyone with such a closed mind can succeed in business.

It's fine to have confidence in your own business plan but Neil was in danger of sounding like a fully paid up member of the flat earth society in the end. He was given enough hints during the interview process yet was not aware enough to pick up the signals being sent. That was a major red flag to me. I'm not surprised Sugar would want him on board, but as an employee not as a business partner.

Agreed!