The Apprentice 2011: Helen's MyPy and mash versus Macho Nacho's mish-mash

Whereas previous episodes were about making money, this week shook the format as the candidates were tasked with putting together a complete concept; a new fast food restaurant.

 

 

Project Manager Helen went into the kitchen to develop the product and Tom was tasked with market research. The result was an all British pie menu snappily titled “MyPy” and no end of half-baked puns ensued; not bad for a pie-in-the-sky idea!

 

When it came down to business, they swapped roles. Helen focused on front of house, whilst Tom was in production and at this point, his skills in taking an idea and turning it into a workable concept really shone through with simple food being served quickly for a sensible price.

 

They paid full attention to the product before moving onto the presentation and branding, which led to some solid foundations. Secondly, MyPy listened to their customer; people said it was hard to eat out of a box, so they sacrificed the aesthetics of the packaging to a plastic tray to enhance the customer experience. Customers in the real world, in my experience, can cope with problems in service delivery, so long as you are open, honest, and take positive and swift action to stop it happening again.

 

 

All set sail for Mexico (or should that be Venezuela?) with a triumph of style over substance, as “Caracas” opted for plenty of sombreros and cacti which accompanied a very confused member of the kitchen staff! This led to a colourful front of house, with nothing to back it up. As Karen said, “there was nothing fast about this fast food restaurant” and nor was there good quality, warm food.

 

The crux of the problem was the constant bickering between team mates Natasha and Susan. Susan is impossibly hard to get on with, whilst Natasha is a typical moaning employee. My sympathies on this front lay with Jim and it took me back to a time when I was project manager for a group assignment for my degree. When asked at the end what I would have done differently, it was obvious – I wouldn’t have selected that team.

 

Team Venture highlighted some real issues that companies have every day. The first is that single minded, hard to get on with people like Susan can really get people annoyed. They can of course deliver brilliant results but they are not team players. A significant amount of energy can be sapped out of a company playing to everyone’s ego. On the flip side, Jim failed as project manager to deliver that most vital of skills – people management.

 

Nothing could be further from the truth when Susan said “what goes on in the boardroom, stays in the boardroom”. Perhaps that’s true in The Apprentice but in real life it’s the day-to-day cat fighting and grudge bearing that brings companies to a standstill and what a fantastic bitching session it was in the car on the way back to the house!

 

Neither team were much good with facts and figures. It really frustrates me than in all the programmes that candidates are expected to have all the maths and facts in their head, ready to deliver when asked; this never happens in real business. Everyone has prepared sheets or can at least present information later without a disapproving headshake.

 

So the lack of geography (since when was Caracas in Mexico?) and history (Columbus was an Italian explorer, not British) made both teams look silly for TV but merely act as a lesson for those in business to be prepared to take time to do your research before running away with an idea.

 

In the end, they were judged on three main categories: customer service, quality of the product and menu range and the quality and longevity of their brand identities. Venture got an average of 4/10 for Caracas whilst Logic ran away with it, with an average 7/10 for MyPy.

 

The result sent Tom and Helen back to the safety of the house and left Jim, Natasha and Susan in the dog house over their product. Lord Sugar wasn’t impressed: “The last time I saw food like that was when my son’s dog puked.” I thought his butler dealt with these things? Karen also observed that they were a tad misleading to label it as “fast food.”

 

In the end Natasha’s spark had been crushed under the weight of the process and she was fired. Although much was made of her catering qualifications, I thought the big problem was her lack of collective responsibility. She kept going into the “I was responsible for…” corner and in my book, when you’re part of a team project, everyone needs to take responsibility for the job as a whole – the rough comes with the smooth.

 

Personally, I would have also fired Susan. Lord Sugar hit the nail on the head when he said that he has got to be able to work with the people he goes into business with and I would really question the value of keeping on a high achiever that no one has a good word to say about.

 

The final is on Sunday. Who is going to be Lord Sugar’s business partner? Remember, in business there is no such thing as a free lunch and the £250,000 investment is going to require masses of hard work and attention to detail – so kudos to Jim for pointing out Lord Sugar needed to settle his bill!