Winner of The Apprentice 2016, Alana Spencer, said the show rewards contestants with leadership qualities ‘ and why those who hide in the background too much will get axed
For this week’s task, teams had to come up with a racing-themed corporate away day event at Silverstone. The groups had to work out how much they wanted to charge their customers and what they were going to offer within that budget they were given. This is a slightly backward way of doing things in business as normally you just take how much the client has a budget and then you work out what you could put together for that budget.
So, the teams decided to create a basic plan and come up with their ideal price per customer. My first instinct going into a negotiation would be to establish the client’s wants and needs and most importantly, the client’s maximum budget per person. That way, you can establish the maximum amount of money you have for the campaign, and work out what you need to spend. However, neither team seemed to do this they seem to just set incredibly high budgets and work their way back without really making any effort to work out exactly what the client wanted.
Stephanie’s team I feel we are particularly bad in this situation – but I think it’s fair to lay the blame solely on Stephanie here as she was not in the negotiations alone. We’re getting to the point in the competition now where everyone has to play their part and if you’re there as a bystander, you’re just as responsible. The same can be said for Nick because he seemed to have a very similar position throughout the competition. He’s been around but not particularly doing much, although I do think he seems like a very nice guy.
When it comes to running events like this, having a plan and sticking to it is so important, especially if half of your team is running one half of the event and the other team is running the other half. One team arrived half an hour early to prepare the food and this will of course cause much stress to the sub-team, therefore throwing things off because they didn’t turn up on time.
Corporate away days are all about fun and bringing a team together, and I think Aaron and Bethany did an incredible job of doing that. They were able to keep spirits high and made everyone engaged within their group. It sounds like they were favoured by the team as well as in the boardroom, and Lord Sugar mentioned that they did a stellar job. Preet was a strong leader this week, and as I said previously, I think she’s going to go far. She is decisive and firm but people also seem to really like her, although Achim did seem a little bossed around in this week’s task.
Overall, Harpreet team put on a better event and it was a loss for Stephanie’s team. Nick was sent home and sadly I think this was the right decision. I say sadly because he comes across as a very lovely person and I’m sure he’ll go on to have a fantastic career with whatever he chooses to do. And as for Akshay, how he avoided being fired for the fifth time is beyond me. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does as project manager next week. We’re nearing the end now of the competition and those nerve-wracking interviews are just around the corner. I’m really excited to find out what everyone’s business plans are.
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