However, as we are growing at such a rate there is a need to spread the opportunity of mentoring to a wider audience than the team’s black books. To this end we hosted our first ever Mentor Club event with the intention of recruiting established entrepreneurs who want to work with the next generation of entrepreneurs to help them realise their dreams of owning their own businesses. The event was hosted at the Merrill Lynch Financial Centre in St Paul’s and kindly sponsored by our keystone partner, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

After anxiously waiting for the first guests to arrive, the room was soon full with the welcome murmur of conversations and laughter from invited guests including international business owners, our trustees and of course, the stars of the show, the investee businesses we are working with. Nike Akinola (fashion designers), Ballerz League (6-a-side football leagues), Audium (recording and production services), V.OGraphics (film production services), La Bella (Hair & Beauty salon) and Rent-A-Cleaner (have a guess??) all set up virtual shops displaying their goods and services.

The line up for the evening consisted of a Q&A session with Shawn Brown, MD of Rent-A-Cleaner and his mentor Trevor McClymont which truly brought home the power of mentoring from both sides of the relationship. We were also honoured to have the banks’ Chief Economist for Europe, Holger Schmieding offer the audience his take on the state of the economy and his predictions for the future, which was extremely valuable to many of the business owners in attendance.

Our keynote speaker for the evening was the Rt. Hon Baron of Scarisbrick, Lord Michael Hastings CBE. As the International Director of Corporate Citizenship at KPMG, we were excited to hear his take on mentoring from a professional and personal perspective and he didn’t disappoint! The audience held onto every word of his personal journey recollecting mentors who had impacted his life and career, which was summed up with the advice he gave to our aspiring business owners that the power of a mentor is unfathomable because, as in the words of Edmond Locard, “every contact leaves a trace”. Locard’s exchange principle stated that with contact between two items, there will be an exchange and it is the exchange between the experienced and the eager to learn that the Bright Ideas Trust Mentor Club wants to facilitate by recruiting more mentors.

In exchange for the wine and canapés all we asked of those in attendance was to let us know if they were interested in becoming a Bright Ideas Trust Mentor or if they knew anyone who they thought would make a suitable mentor. Not a bad deal for a fantastic evening that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. And we’d like to extend that to you also as the power of mentoring is about finding those whose hindsight can become our investees’ foresight.

If you can help go to our mentor page here and we’ll contact you to discuss in more detail.

Until next time…

Bright Ideas Trust Team

The Awards recognise and reward excellence in the Not for Profit sector and provide the winners with huge levels of funding to help transform their business. There are two categories for different size organisations.

The first offers up to £5 million free of interest and arrangement fees for 3 years, or a one off cash donation of up to £500,000, while the second category offers up to £1million free of interest and arrangement fees for 3 years, or a one off cash donation of up to £100,00. The Bright Ideas Trust, a registered charity, has entered itself into the first category with the larger prize fund, which is more suited to the size and scale of the business.

The winner of each award will also secure a true ‘money can’t buy’ reward of three days mentoring from one of the UK’s best known social entrepreneurs and the title of “Bank of Scotland Corporate Social Entrepreneur 2009.’

Kavita Oberoi, Managing Director of Oberoi Consulting, and Liam Black, Co-Founder of Wavelength have agreed to provide three days of their time, offering advice and guidance to the winning organisations of The Social Entrepreneur Awards.

Sam Kerr, Head of Specialist Banking, Bank of Scotland Corporate, comments, “Bright Ideas Trust fulfils a venture capital role which in a market where many private equity companies do not have an appetite to operate. I am looking forward to their presentation and catching up with Tim who we all know through the public profile created from the TV programme The Apprentice.”

Tim Campbell, Chief Executive of Bright Ideas Trust, said, “Helping hard to reach individuals and giving them the tools to change their lives through enterprise is a subject close to my heart. Bright Ideas Trust is an exceptional organisation and one which I hope we can take to the next level through the funding which The Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneur Awards can provide.”

The Social Entrepreneur Award was open to Not for Profit organisations whose primary purpose is to further social or environmental goals, and those who operate for non-commercial purposes and social benefit. Such organisations cover a vast spectrum, ranging from Charities, Churches and Social Groups, to Public Sector organisations, Schools and Universities.

To win the award the entrepreneurs will have to present their entrepreneurial vision to a panel of six judges – the winners of each prize tier will be announced that evening, at an event which is to be held at Christ Church Spitalfields on the 25 June 2009.

• For more information – visit www.bossocialawards.co.uk

The final task, although not the most taxing of final tasks, was to design, manufacture, advertise and sell a box of chocolates to industry experts and advertisers in three days.  It was very similar to the catering task in week 2 but this time it wasn’t every apprentice for them self.  The beauty of the last task is that the finalists have to motivate fired apprentices who have nothing to gain to help them to win the same prize they were so eager to get only weeks before.  This really tests not only candidate’s ability to manage people but also their perseverance after giving so much over the last 11 weeks.

The task began with Yasmina and Kate having to select their teams and I think that Kate took first blood by picking the stronger of the teams having both Ben and Debra on her side with Rocky and Kim supporting.  Yasmina picked Howard who did really well alongside ‘clairvoyant’ Lorraine, ‘joker’ James and ‘pantsman’ Phillip. 

Kate focused on developing a new concept of a box of chocolates for couples to share whereas Yasmina thought she could exploit a gap in the market selling chocolates specifically for boys.  After conducting some market research with her proposed target audience and those who sell chocolates Yasmina wisely changed tack and eventually came up with manufacturing unique tasting chocolates which shocked.  Or in other words Coco Electric.  You see what they did there????  No?  Ok then.

Once concepts had been chosen and chocolates had been made Kate and Yasmina had to then develop a box and produce an advertisement.  Yasmina took charge of her advert with Kate delegating to Kim.  Unfortunately this didn’t last long as Kate showed true leadership and stepped in without stepping on anyone’s toes when the advert started to look a bit boring. 

The culmination of the task was a pitch to a room full of experts from the world of chocolate and advertising.  Kate went first and delivered an excellent pitch but alarmed her audience with the audacious pricing planned for her products.  Yasmina who admitted that pitching was not her thing, delivered a painful presentation but improved in the Q&A and delivered a concept that could be adapted and ‘tweaked’ as Sir Alan said.  Although her audience were not bowled over by her selection of chocolate flavourings she did enough to get through. 

The key lesson this week is that in business it is about what we at Bright Ideas Trust call the 5 Ps – Passion (will to win), Planning (focused effort), Perseverance (indomitable spirit), Partnerships (teamwork) and Planetary Assistance (a bit of luck!).  Yasmina and Kate showed all of these and that is why they were in the final.  If you can apply these to a business idea or aim that you have it can make a lot of difference.  You may not know everything but business is not about know-it-alls.  It’s about learn-it-alls!  I think what Yasmina had over Kate is leadership quality which has been developed from her entrepreneurial background.  Having led teams both in and outside of the show Yasmina has a gritty determination which will be well suited to Sir (soon to be Lord) Alan’s organisation.  It was a hard choice, as they were both brilliant contestants in their own ways, but I think the right one won.  Good luck to her growing Amscreen’s business. 

The Apprentice is over for another year but hopefully what viewers have taken away from it is that business is an option for anyone who is determined enough to put in the hard work.  Use it as a catalyst for your next idea and if you are 16 – 30, live in London and need charitable assistance to get your businesses idea off the ground then get in contact at http://www.brightideastrust.com/our-support/

Look forward to seeing what business lessons we can learn (or in some cases learn not to do!) next year…

Tim

Four years ago when I was at this stage there was a general consensus that if we left at this stage then it wasn’t because we were rubbish but because our faces or personalities didn’t fit.  But no one wanted to go at this stage because you were so close.  The Apprentices can almost see the contract so they put there best smiles forward (especially Kate!) and entered the interviews from hell.

This episode we really got to know the five remaining candidates and how they react under pressure.  And boy was there pressure.  Claude and Karen took the candidates down a few pegs and got rid of any false bravado they may have had left.  Alan and Bordon revealed a number of chinks in their armours and twisted the screws until some of them screamed.  But overall we learned that if you say it you better be able to back it up.

 Unfortunately most of the Apprentices couldn’t.  The key lesson from this week’s episode was that telling the truth is always the best policy even if it puts you in a bad light.  With your business Sir Alan always said to me that the only real thing of value you have as a business person is your integrity.  As a business having ethics and being know as an organisation you can trust is vital for success.  Remember to only promise what you know what you can deliver.

 I thought Deborah should not have gone.  She had the most potential to develop and would have been a great asset having benefited from the guiding hand of a great mentor.  She may have left after a few years for something better but hey in the meantime it would have been fun.  So for the second time we have an all female final.  Yasmina and Kate are like chalk and cheese which guarantees a great showdown to the finish line.  Good luck to them both and may the best woman win.

Until next week.

tc

This week the Apprentices had to sell products live on a TV shopping channel.  The first and most important thing for the teams was to pick the right products.  Yasmina, who was the project manager for Empire with Debra and James, intuitively instructed her team to pick a variety of low-value items which she believed customers of the channel may purchase.  Howard, who led Ignite with Kate and Lorraine, went with a more logical approach of a number of products with varying price points.

Once the teams were familiar with their items they had to sell them to the viewing public, live on primetime TV.  Having done this myself, I know how difficult this actually is and how easy both teams made it look.  They did extremely well selling items to a faceless camera and James even managed to get a letter from the public saying how good he was (which says a lot about how the Apprentices performed).  But as Sir Alan said, he isn’t looking for a TV presenter, he is looking for an Apprentice with business flair and the ability to spot what customers want and that unfortunately, was not Howard and Ignite.  Empire had a higher volume of sales compared to Ignite, who failed to sell enough of their higher-priced items.

The key lesson from this week’s task is that being able to sell your products and services to your customers is as important as having the right products and services to start with.  Some products and services almost walk off the shelf (iPods and car insurance are good examples) but the majority need to be effectively sold and marketed in order to attract customers.  Howard’s team selected items that had a history of doing very well when sold by professional sales people, but his team failed to motivate the viewing public to part with their cash and as a result they found themselves in the boardroom.

I thought Howard had done enough to stay another week but unfortunately it was not to be.  Now the final six will face the intense interviews from a number of Sir Alan’s closest, most trusted business associates.  We’re nearly there, and with only one man left it looks like we may have another female winner.  Maybe…

Until next week.

Tim

This week, Sir Alan selected those (supposedly) most experienced with children – the parents amongst the remaining seven Apprentices – to lead the teams. ‘Daddy’ James took charge of Empire and ‘Mummy’ Lorraine led Ignite. Both teams had to select from a number of products geared at the baby market, ranging from a dubious pair of high heels to a cardboard cot. Ignite chose a cheap foam cap to protect babies heads from injury and an innovative folding pram which could fit in an overhead compartment on a plane. Empire meanwhile went for a home birthing pool and a rather attractive and very expensive set of rocking horses.

Both teams struggled on the day for a variety of reasons. James had to deal with customers who were scared off by the price tags of the horses and the fact that only a small number of women actually had home births in swimming pools. Lorraine couldn’t get to grips with the USP of the pram, its folding mechanism, and they had a direct competitor in the same arena selling the same product only cheaper.

Eventually the teams got into full swing showing in depth product knowledge which finally got customers parting with their baby pounds. Ignite started to sell prams and a fair few baby caps and Empire shifted some of their baby birthing pools. Unfortunately, James and his motley crew were not able to sell as much as Lorraine, ‘lucky talisman’ Kate and Howard did which meant James, Yasmina, Ben and Debra ended up in the board room.

The key lesson from this week’s task was that a successful sale depends on understanding what your customer is willing to pay. Although the potential profit from the most expensive item on the list of products would have assured victory for James, the customers at the show were highly unlikely to have a spare 1700 quid burning a hole in their pocket to spend on just one item. The strategy for James’ team was high risk and back-fired big time, whereas, Lorraine had lower priced items that she could sell higher volumes of thus securing an important win at a crucial stage of the contest.

In the boardroom, James could have used the protective head caps to deflect the blows he was receiving from his team mates as Sir Alan tried to decide who was next for the taxi. Debra ‘9 lives’ Barr just about survived the boardroom, but the luck of the Irish ran out for Ben ‘I’m too sexy for my braces’ Clarke as he became the 9th person to be shown the finger. He should take solace in the fact that Sir Alan thinks he will be alright. This and him saying ‘with regret’ when you are fired are the closest you will get to a compliment, and hopefully this will ease the pain of not getting to the final as he had hoped.

We are nearly there now. The contestants can almost taste the job now. Let’s hope that next week their selling skills haven’t been exhausted as they enter the addictive world of TV shopping channels.

Until next week…

Tim

Deborah took charge of Empire resisting an attempt from Howard who wanted to flex his project management muscles, whilst Yasmina led Ignite with the iron hand she is renowned for.  The two teams had to select a market to focus on and Yasmina selected families and Deborah’s team decided to select the gay community.  Well not all of Deborah’s team.  Mona strongly objected but was outvoted by the rest of the team. 

Both teams had to develop a poster and leaflet campaign with a supporting catchphrase that had to be pitched to industry experts and residents of Margate.  Empire knew that there was an emerging gay community so went for the radical option of encouraging more of the community to come to the seaside.  Ignite focused on the more conservative families looking for a child friendly place to take a break.  Both good concepts that needed a clear marketing campaign to support it.  Kate delivered an excellent pitch supporting their clear poster campaign to both groups and Ignite were rated as the better team.  Deborah’s team failed to complete their marketing collateral and ended up with the lowest rated campaign and having to face the scrutiny of Sir Alan in the boardroom. 

The key lesson from this week’s task is that coming up with the idea is just the beginning; effective communication and execution of the idea is what matters.  Deborah took her eye off the ball and because of poor time management failed to complete the task which ultimately led to her team losing the task.  I didn’t think Mona deserved to go.  Sir Alan fired her ‘with regret’ as he thought she hadn’t done enough over the course of the show but at least now she doesn’t have to argue with people who wouldn’t listen to her. 

The show this year seems to be one for the girls as the boys are not doing anything impressive at the moment.  Ben, Howard and James are looking fairly weak against Deborah, Kate and Yasmina.  Let’s hope next week they start showing how they could possible be Sir Alan’s apprentice as now it looks like this year’s winner is going to be a woman. 

Until next week.

Tim

Sir Alan did!

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. Actually, just give me strength! I don’t know about you but my insurance policy has gone through the roof from the amount of claims I have made from throwing objects at my plasma. These guys are unbelievable. Sorry, specifically Philip is unbelievable. This is no longer The Apprentice. This is Dallas and Dynasty all in one. Enter stage right: J R “Philip” Ewing vs an embittered Alexis “Lorraine” Carrington with the love triangle completed with Sue Ellen “Kate” Ewing adding fuel to the flames.

Moving away from the war on the ranch for a moment, this week, The Apprentices were sent on yet another sales task, but this time not to punters but Business to Business, selling directly to retailers. After seeing 12 up and coming designers and their wares, each team had to select just two products they thought they could sell to retailers. Although Sir Alan presented both teams with two sales prospects, both Mona (who led Empire) and Lorraine (PM for Ignite) ignored these golden opportunities and decided to pick products they personally liked, as opposed to what would be appropriate for a hardware store and a high-end furniture retailer.

Although Empire failed to sell any products to Sir Alan’s contacts, Mona and Debra sold their socks off, whereas, Ignite remarkably sold some products to the retailers but Philip, Kate and Ben failed to sell anything to anyone else. This led to Lorraine and her team being called back into the boardroom, having only made £1302 of sales against Empire’s £4501.

The key lesson from this week’s task is that if your business model is based on selling to other businesses, this requires in-depth research and preparation, as it is not based on the desires of the individual but rather on the practicality of the offering for the business. Mona (in her excellent negotiations with a qualified sales prospect, who clearly had a need for the sleeping bag product she was selling) convinced the retailer to buy a lot more products than he intended. This was because she was prepared and knew the margins she could negotiate within, and when confronted with a possible dealbreaker, showed she was willing to concede if more products were purchased. With her performance, she may be one to watch.

The boardroom this week was the most heated I have ever seen, with backstabbing and accusations flying all over the place. This was not the way to conduct oneself in a pressurised situation. Philip came out worse and was eventually shown the finger and told he was next for the taxi ride.

Tonight there was not just one firing though. There was actually a triple firing. Philip first received a dangerous flesh wound from Nick “What about pants man then?” Hewer, followed by a mortal round from Kate “I don’t know you” Walsh and was finally put to bed by Sir Alan “I’ve given you enough chances, son” Sugar, when the boss told him he was fired.

Pants man is dead. Now maybe we can get down to some business.

Until next week.

tc

Philip ‘Pants Man’ Taylor was responsible for leading Ignite, and Ben ‘I’m too sexy for Sandhurst’ Clarke took charge of Empire.  These two strong characters almost guaranteed fireworks, and they certainly didn’t disappoint.  With arguments and calamity along the way, the teams rushed around London, trying to sell 10 items with varying levels of success.

Ben, who really wanted to prove himself as Project Manager, split his team up but decided to take 7 of the 10 items for Debra, Noorul and himself; leaving the remainder of the team only 3 items to focus on.  When dealing with one of the more lucrative items (the skeleton), Noorul, who had conducted some price analysis, suggested the item was worth over £150.  But quick fire Ben ignored this and went for the quick sale for £60. 

Philip wasn’t having much luck with his items, either.  His personal issues with Lorraine blinded him to the possibility that her gut feelings may be right about the most expensive item of all (the rug), which Philip sold to a random stranger on the street for £50–when it was actually worth £200.

Although the ultimate goal of the task was to sell the items for the highest price, the key lesson from this week was that good leaders are as good at listening as they are at giving orders and taking action.  Philip and Ben failed to act on the information from those around them, and this contributed to them both making a loss. 

Bright Ideas Trust provides those it supports a dedicated mentor, who is always there to give them advice.  But they have to be open and listen to someone who may know more than they do.  Remember: we have two ears for a reason.

I think Noorul had to go, but not on the basis of his performance this week.  Ben panicked and all the bravado of having the stuff of an Army Officer disappeared, as he thought he was up for the boot in the boardroom.  Ben showed cowardice, and I’m pretty sure Sandhurst won’t be beating a path to his door now.

One thing that is noticeable though is how much of a good luck talisman our Kate seems to be.  Having transferred over to Ignite, she took her winning streak with her.  I think Philip owes her a nice big ‘Thank you.’

Until next week,

Tim

One of my usual questions to applicants to Bright Ideas Trust is “What have you done already to turn your idea into reality?”  I’m partly trying to understand how committed they are to it (as they will need to be totally committed to succeed in business) or is it just an overnight whim that will fade away.  I’m also trying to build up evidence to support the viability of the idea.  However, far too often I get the response that the applicant has had a logo designed and letterheads printed. 

Now, apart from a waste of money, (why do you need letterheads printed when most correspondence is by email and you can print them off your computer if needed), what does this tell me about their priorities?  Firstly, it suggests they find it easier doing the administration side of business rather than talking to customers and suppliers.  Secondly, it suggests a passive approach to marketing, believing that the logo will do all the work for them, whereas it is really just a reminder (for good or bad) to those who have had some previous contact with you.

Establishing your identity is important, but not your first priority.  Don’t put the cart before the horse.  Make sure your effort goes into fully understanding and testing your business proposition (is it something your customers will buy) and working out a viable business model (who and how?) as your priority.  Then you can think about the logo.

Two extra thoughts this week:

·         “I am going to be a global brand.” No you’re not! And so what anyway?

·         Why do the Apprentices keep on promising Sir Alan 110% effort.  No one can deliver that and he knows it!

Andy Menary | Investment Manager  | Bright Ideas Trust

T  08707 602 813   | F 08707 602 814 | M  07…

 Empowering Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs