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Vetinary surgeon |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 339
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Vetinary surgeon
Why aren't the business plans vetted properly before allowing the candidates through the process?
Richard this year shouldn't have gotten to the first week with proper vetting. Last year was horrendous with two completely unrealistic business proposals and a third poorly presented. Previous years have had similar issues when they eventually reach this stage of the competition. I know that the grilling of the shrewd interviewers picks up on the finer details but surely most of the lead balloons can be thrown out early enough. |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 68
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I agree. The plans are set up to fail epic.
It's entertainment value; like last years's Solomon's joke of a bp. If they were serious about this show they'd have finalists with very tenable plans, aka more like Dragons Den's type candidates who can give figures and presentations and entrepeneural types WITH existing business not just crazy dreams at night. |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Swansea
Posts: 1,972
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I said this last year too. I was a big fan of Katie and Roisin last year so was hugely disappointed to find out that their business plans were basically rubbish. It seems like such a waste of time to put the candidates through all this only to find that their business plan is crap at the end of it.
It makes you wonder whether the candidates previously fired, say someone like Sam or April, MIGHT have had quite a strong business plan. My guess is no because I'm surmising that before the process starts they know which business plans are up to par and which aren't and really, even before the tasks start, they know who they want in the final and they'll just keep some of the 'characters' in until towards the end to make things more interesting. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Sussex by the Sea
Posts: 19,193
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Richard's plan could have worked if he'd ditched the David Brent-speak and gone for a simple and clear marketing consultancy proposal. With his record on the tasks, he would have breezed through the interviews and into the final. He would have had to made it clear, ideally in advance, that he would sell his half of his existing consultancy business as well of course.
The business plans aren't drawn up in detail until the interview stage so they can't be vetted in advance. Even Solomon's idea might have been credible if he'd bothered to write a business plan for it. The only thing they could vet in advance is the existing businesses they own and how they might conflict with the proposed business idea. |
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 168
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I think the process involves vetting the business plans, finding one or two that are viable, protecting those candidates, and then the rest of the applicants are chosen for their entertainment value only.
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Nottingham, UK
Posts: 11,878
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Quote:
The business plans aren't drawn up in detail until the interview stage so they can't be vetted in advance.
That said, I doubt they vet all 18 candidates before filming starts because why bother? Wait until they are down to the last 7 or so. That'd give them a week or so, which should be enough time. Quote:
I think the process involves vetting the business plans, finding one or two that are viable, protecting those candidates, and then the rest of the applicants are chosen for their entertainment value only.
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 339
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I think as some comments above have eluded to, the business plans can't really be drafted too early. I think it's a failing of the structure of the show, and the end result is frustrating.
Viable candidates until that point. I hate seeing it. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,228
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Its nothing more than entertainment.
You could be the best candidate ever but if your BP is pants then Sugar will say goodbye and you'll have effectively wasted the past x months of your life. I agree it would be sensible to vet the BPs at the start, save all the hassle for the poor candidates. Gary's mobile disco for goodness sake. He left tesco and demeaned himself for 11 weeks just for Sugar to say Gary, I don't understand your BP, even though he's had the chance to read it from the start. Silly really. |
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 554
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Quote:
Its nothing more than entertainment.
You could be the best candidate ever but if your BP is pants then Sugar will say goodbye and you'll have effectively wasted the past x months of your life. I agree it would be sensible to vet the BPs at the start, save all the hassle for the poor candidates. Gary's mobile disco for goodness sake. He left tesco and demeaned himself for 11 weeks just for Sugar to say Gary, I don't understand your BP, even though he's had the chance to read it from the start. Silly really. You might learn something useful. Alternatively, you get to be on prime TV for several weeks which might be more important, which might be good for your future business career. Or your CBB chances ![]() I think Gary was "let go" by Tesco, and by the sound of things has now got another job in retail. |
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Swansea
Posts: 1,972
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Quote:
But then it's hardly a waste of the last few months.
You might learn something useful. Alternatively, you get to be on prime TV for several weeks which might be more important, which might be good for your future business career. Or your CBB chances ![]() I think Gary was "let go" by Tesco, and by the sound of things has now got another job in retail. I would think most of them, as long as they hadn't made a complete ass of themselves, would all find work again fairly soon. Taking an 11 week sabbatical so to speak won't leave a huge gap on your CV and you could always use your experience on the show to refer to. |
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 2,546
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Quote:
Its nothing more than entertainment.
You could be the best candidate ever but if your BP is pants then Sugar will say goodbye and you'll have effectively wasted the past x months of your life. I agree it would be sensible to vet the BPs at the start, save all the hassle for the poor candidates. Gary's mobile disco for goodness sake. He left tesco and demeaned himself for 11 weeks just for Sugar to say Gary, I don't understand your BP, even though he's had the chance to read it from the start. Silly really. In my job I have "trained" hundreds of peope like this - and many "graduates " ( in my day a " graduates" meant some thing ) and frankly most of them don't have the brains that they were born with. |
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Nottingham, UK
Posts: 11,878
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Quote:
Why aren't the business plans vetted properly before allowing the candidates through the process?
Richard this year shouldn't have gotten to the first week with proper vetting. |
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Sussex by the Sea
Posts: 19,193
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Quote:
Maybe a better question is why do the candidates apply with plans that are clearly non-starters. Nobody who has seen this show before would expect Lord Sugar to agree to Richard having a second, competing, company on the side.
Rare cases like Richard's where there is a conflict of interest in an existing business should be dealt with at a much earlier stage, as part of the audition process. A simple question such as "Do you have shared ownership in an existing business related to your proposed business idea" would suffice. It should at least raise the thought in the candidates mind and make sure such a problem does not exist at the crucial stage. That being said, Richard was offered the chance to say he'd sell his share in the existing business and he left it too late to say yes. |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 141
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Quote:
That is true.
In my job I have "trained" hundreds of peope like this - and many "graduates " ( in my day a " graduates" meant some thing ) and frankly most of them don't have the brains that they were born with. |
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,655
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Quote:
Trained in what? How to put paper in the office photocopier? Obviously not really trained as you put it in quotes. You come across as someone with a chip on your shoulder for making such sweeping cliched generalisations about graduates.
, aside from the specific area of expertise you studied its supposed to indicate a person capable of critical thinking, problem solving skills, a good standard of writing and the ability to direct their own workload. The amount of people with degrees has doubled over the last 25 yrs or so, are we to assume that twice as many people are very bright now as opposed to 25 years ago? The standard of graduates has fallen in tandem with the rise in numbers and I say that as a graduate myself. Back OT I'm not convinced they don't thoroughly vet them beforehand, I think Sugar makes his decision based on trust and likeability as well as competency in the tasks. If he really wanted her Charleine's plan would have been tweaked to suit him before it was aired, same with Richard and Gary's. |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 7,653
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If all of the business plans that made the final 5 were cast-iron it would further the conspiracy theory that all decisions made during the show were solely based on them. The show needs to have a few duffers at the end so they can say "look, these crap ones got to the end, it's still based on the tasks, honest".
The "business plans" I would imagine are just another test anyway, of having enough business nous to put together a decent basic proposal. I doubt any of the actual nuts and bolts of the businesses that are actually set up look much like the initial submissions in the end |
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