The Apprentice: Neil Clough on Lord Sugar’s triple firing

IN his weekly blog, Apprentice finalist Neil Clough discusses the candidates and the show’s first ever triple firing.

With 20 candidates, it had to happen one week, didn’t it? Lord Sugar is certainly not messing around this year, with the first triple firing in the show’s 10-year history.

I was Tweeting throughout the show and though some suggested to me that this was done as a stunt, the general opinion I received was that this was the right decision. I also know first-hand how seriously Lord Sugar takes this process, so for me the right decision was made.
 
The video tasks are always good fun, and last night was no different. As with most of the tasks, the aim was extremely simple – to create a YouTube channel, with the winning team being the one that gets the most views. But as usual, the teams made a real dog’s dinner of the whole thing.
 
I woke up this morning with the sound of “Fat Daddy, Thin Daddy, Fat Daddy, Thin Daddy” running through my head – catchy, but for all the wrong reasons! The attempt at humour clearly failed, and this was demonstrated by the reaction they got when pitching to BuzzFeed.

Having worked in this market, I know how important it is to be clear on your approach – all humour or a much more serious message on getting fit.
 
Understanding the needs of your target audience is critical in any task, but particularly when you’re using videos. It’s very easy to get carried away when given a camera and forget the reasons for making it, as we have seen in previous years – remember Raif’s attempt at an Oscar-winning advert or Philip Taylor’s appropriately-named ‘Pantsman’? Ensuring your product is relevant to your target market is the cornerstone of business, whether it’s a video, a gadget or an online publication!
 
However, it was not just team Tenacity which struggled. Summit’s ‘Dare to Dine’ channel was supposedly aimed at 18-30 year olds, though I can’t imagine many in that age bracket would be interested in rubber chickens and pastry fangs! Ultimately, though, Solomon’s decision to go with Ollie was a smart move, as “following the numbers” leads to success.
 
Stephen is a great character and the process will miss him, for the comedy value if nothing else. That said, he just didn’t gel with his fellow candidates and ended up being ignored.

In this task, his undoing was his woeful attempt at pitching. When pitching, you have to be prepared, otherwise it’s very easy to lose your way and ramble, and that’s exactly what he did. At least he can look at one positive from his sacking, in his own words, as he’s already done that hardest first step in his 100-mile journey home!
 
As for the two girls, they were both gone as soon as their team lost. I felt for Ella Jane in the boardroom, begging to stay in the process after being fired, but she is young and will progress. However, she doesn’t have a great record – she’s never even had a job and has already heard ‘you’re fired’ three times!

On the other hand, I feel no sympathy for Sarah. She instantly alienated the entire women’s team as project manager in task one, and from that point on has done nothing but cause arguments. Possibly good for the television audience, but never for business. Could you go into business with her?
 
My one to watch this week is easy – Solomon. He was a strong and decisive leader, and unlike many previous PMs, can take full credit for the victory of the task. As well as Solomon, Mark is quietly going about his business very effectively, and at the minute is my tip to be the dark horse.
 

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