To me, however, Lord Sugar represents something far more meaningful; in fact, I have a great deal to be thankful to him for. That’s because, shortly after I established Hernshead Recruitment in 2019, I approached him for investment, securing substantial backing from his private investment vehicle, Amsvest. Over the past five years, I have worked side by side with Lord Sugar and his team to establish the Hernshead brand within the advanced engineering recruitment sector, while building an overarching group structure to scale growth, expand into wider markets, and support aspiring recruitment leaders in launching their own businesses. As a result, Hernshead Group now has four individual brands under its umbrella, has achieved an impressive £2.9 million turnover, and is already on track to accelerate growth by a further 35% by the end of 2024.
Of course, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish all of this were it not for the hard work and dedication of my team, but Lord Sugar himself has also played an instrumental role in making Hernshead the business that it is today. After all, he’s a fantastic mentor for young entrepreneurs like me to look up to, and there are many invaluable things I’ve learned from him that’ve helped me pave the way to success.
Don’t expect to have your hand held
Many people will already be aware of Lord Sugar’s rags to riches story. In his youth, he and his family lived in a council flat in East London, struggling to make ends meet. He earned money working at a greengrocer’s and in the civil service, before using his savings to buy a van from which he sold electricals. Roughly 20 years later, at the age of just 40, he was worth £600 million, making him the UK’s 15th richest person at the time.
Lord Sugar’s humble beginnings in life instilled in him the sense of entrepreneurial flair and never-say-die attitude that’ve made him the success that he is, and he expects those he invests in to demonstrate these characteristics also. Indeed, Lord Sugar made it clear right from the start that, while he would be supporting Hernshead’s growth financially, he expected us to continue putting the hard yards in ourselves with the day-to-day running of the business. After all, he didn’t have anyone to rely on himself when he first started out, and as such believes that the entrepreneurs he partners with should be able to work hard for themselves by showing up and putting a shift in. This has helped to keep me highly independent in my decision-making and leadership of the company, making me a much more well-rounded businessperson in the process.
Know your numbers
One of the most basic – but commonly overlooked – things that Lord Sugar has hammered home with me is the importance of knowing your numbers. Of course, we’ve all seen those hapless candidates put through the ringer during the interview process on The Apprentice, all because they’re not on top of their business plan’s financials. Away from the cameras, Lord Sugar is no different in this regard, and I completely understand why. After all, your numbers tell the story of how successful your business has been to date, and therefore give investors a good indication as to whether their will be a strong return on investment. As such, if you aren’t sure where your numbers are at, it’s hard to instill confidence in would-be stakeholders, which could badly derail your chances of gaining investment.
Having already seen The Apprentice myself, I knew before meeting Lord Sugar that I needed to be on the ball with my financials, but now that I’m working with him, this is something that I’m more aware of than ever. Not only has knowing my numbers helped me to get a big-name investor like him on board, but it has also helped me to make better informed choices about the direction of the business more broadly. In this sense, having my finger on the pulse of Hernshead’s financial health has been just as helpful to me, and the level of control I feel over the business, as it has been to Lord Sugar as an investor.
You’re hired!
There’s a reason why Lord Sugar is one of the most successful and famous businesspeople the UK has ever produced. He’s an extraordinarily shrewd, self-made entrepreneur who has built an enormous business empire against the odds, driven by his incredible work ethic and raw determination to be the best at what he does. He is, of course, a huge inspiration to me, and I’m extremely grateful to him for the faith that he has placed in my business and vision.
I would strongly encourage any entrepreneur considering approaching Lord Sugar to take heed of this advice. After all, it should come as no surprise that he’s a man who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, so anyone who goes into business with him needs to be at the top of their game, or risk hearing those famous words: ‘You’re fired!’.
