KIERAN MCCARTNEY EXCLUSIVE: NINE BUSINESS LESSONS LEARNED FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE TWENTIETH SERIES OF THE APPRENTICE

The Apprentice is one of the crown jewels in the BBC reality cannon, regularly pulling in 3 million viewers per episode. Running for over 20 years, the programme is billed as the ‘toughest process’ for aspiring entrepreneurs and future business moguls.

Over twelve gruelling weeks, twenty candidates fight tooth and nail for an opportunity to become Lord Alan Sugar’s next business partner, winning a £250,000 investment from the business heavyweight and an opportunity to work alongside him and his team. It’s the stuff of dreams for any aspiring tycoon, and a deal worth fighting for.

Now, as season 20 enters the end game with just five candidates remaining, we sit down with recently ousted Estate Agent Kieran McCartney, who made an audacious ‘win or walk’ deal with Lord Sugar that spectacularly backfired during last week’s pet product challenge, to reveal the lessons he has learned during filming the show alongside British business royalty Lord Alan Sugar, Baroness Karen Brady CBE and Tim Campbell MBE.

Lesson one: Stay true to your word – In business, trust, transparency and honesty is everything. If you make a statement or commitment, you must honour that otherwise potential clients, partners, staff will never know where they stand with you. On The Apprentice, I struck a ‘win or walk’ deal with Lord Sugar, and I had to honour it. There was never going to be a world in where I reneged on that deal, and that is how anyone should operate in business. You have to deliver on your promises.

Honesty is so important in business. You must stick to your word because otherwise people will think you’re untrustworthy. And if you’re untrustworthy in business, no one’s going to do business with you.

Lesson two: In today’s business world, you’re always on – What I mean by that is, your social media platforms and channels are an extension of your personality, and thus a reflection of you and how you operate. Clients, prospects, potential staff, they will look at these channels. It’s really important to be authentic across your social media channels, while also promoting the things that you believe in and what you stand for. Everyone leaves a digital footprint. It’s important to consider that before you post things – it’s all about building and maintaining your own brand.

Lesson three: Leverage your social channels – Since appearing on The Apprentice, and particularly while the show has been on air, I’ve had so many people reach out to me on social media and get in touch for my property business McCartney and Partners. People have seen me on the show and liked my personality, that has driven loads of new business for my firm.

Lesson four: Take advantage of your USPs – My business has had a massive advantage when compared to other independent property firms by the fact that I have been on The Apprentice for the last ten weeks. That is an unbelievable platform and something that is unique to me. I’ve been able to capitalise on my appearance on the show by generating awareness for my business that would otherwise cost millions of pounds – it’s publicity that no other Estate Agent operating at my level has had.

Lesson five: Never judge a book by its cover – The brilliant thing about The Apprentice is that it throws you into an incredibly intense environment with people from all walks of life, different backgrounds, experience-levels, industries. People that I typically wouldn’t do business with on a day-to-day basis.

There were candidates on the show that, based on first impressions, I wouldn’t normally have given the time of day to, but that environment, especially on the tasks, means that you have to sit back and let everyone have their say.

Therefore, sitting back, being patient and listening to people is something that I’ve learned to do slightly better from the show. And I do it now in the office. I give my colleagues and partners more time to speak rather than speaking over them, or pulling rank because it’s my business and I have the most experience.  I only jump in when I need to.

Lesson six: Look the part – I’ve learned always to look the part in front of the client. First impressions are really important, and when you’re in a business that deals with property or large value transactions, there needs to be a level of respect shown to that asset by looking professional and showing up properly.

People may not want to hear this, but I think it’s definitely true. The better you look, the more chance you have of landing that deal or contract. People want to work with people that look good. In fact, in some cases you can lose a client or a prospect before you’ve even had the chance to give them your pitch based on your appearance.

Lesson seven: Take calculated risks – The best people in business are those that take considered, calculated risks. Sometimes, risks don’t always work out, as I found out with my win or walk deal in The Apprentice, but I truly believe that if you don’t have the appetite for risk, then you will never do well in business. When I struck the win or walk deal, I was on my knees – I thought I was going to be a goner. That deal with Lord Sugar ultimately kept me in the game for another week, and it would have put me in the final five had Dan made a better deal with Pets at Home.

Lesson eight: No idea is a bad idea – You may not always win or succeed. However, if you don’t give your idea, or put your ideas across, then how will you ever know? It’s really important to have the confidence in yourself to be able to speak your mind and share your thoughts. If you don’t have that confidence in yourself, then how do you expect others to have that confidence in you?

Lesson nine: Have fun – There’s the old saying that if you love what you do, you don’t ever really work. I completely believe in that. You should always try and have fun in everything that you do. That’s why on The Apprentice, I knew I could build a rapport with Lord Sugar by having a laugh with him.

Lord Sugar’s got banter and he enjoys himself, and again, giving banter back to him, it actually built a good relationship between me and him. So, it’s always good to build relationships, whether that be through comedy, jokes, mutual interests. It’s about building relationships to get to a higher goal.

Kieran McCartney was speaking on behalf of BestBettingSites.co.uk- the leading comparison site for casinos.