The Apprentice You're Fired is Making "Business" Accessible

While on the panel again this evening as the business expert, my 4th appearance since 2015 for BBC2’s The Apprentice: You’re Fired, I was reminded of the fact that while I’m immersed in the world of business model canvases, disruptive strategy plays and sustainable social enterprise, most viewers and the public at large are not fluent in the jargon of business.

And despite the progressively negative reputations of corporates and executives over the last decade, a majority of viewers thankfully are truly interested in knowing what it takes to build a successful enterprise, large or small.

So with this backdrop, explaining to my latest fired candidate and viewers what are the components that make the product and/or services menu on offer really resonate with a target market can be tricky.  Avoiding the acronyms, explaining concepts in straightforward language, and framing them as common sense seem to be the ways to build interest and draw people in.

Sparking action from those thinking about building a business is hopefully the legacy of this show.  Wouldn’t this be a great statistic for the BBC and the production company Boundless to track: how many of the show’s viewers – as result of watching the series – have been inspired to write a business plan, seek financing, market test their ideas?

With this, you could make the case that The Apprentice and You’re Fired not only ignite economic activity, they reposition business as a more acceptable pursuit and draw in valuable talent.

Let’s hope all of us panellists can keep selling the value of entrepreneurship as the exciting and fulfilling pursuit that it is…