Overcoming Writers Block on Your Blog; 3 Tips

What’s the first thing you did this morning when you switched your pc/laptop/tablet on?

I’m guessing you checked your emails.  Or at the very least scanned the total in your inbox to see by how many it had increased since yesterday (or earlier this morning if you were burning the midnight oil).  Am I wrong?
Ok, so if you didn’t check your emails I bet you went straight to your favourite website or some other ‘habitual’ place.  Don’t worry I’m not watching you, nor am I the new Derren Brown, it’s just something we all do.

Let me ask another question.  At some point over the last week how many times have you had an opinion about something?  Quite a number I would hazard a guess, and equally how many times have you thought ‘I should write that down’?  I have and I suspect I’m not alone in these thoughts.  I sometimes worry I’m having a seriously high number of ‘senior moments’ for someone in their thirties, such is frequency I forget what it is I was going to write.

However I’m beginning to realise that the reason for what I politely term ‘bloggers block’ (and impolitely harangue myself about) is more to do with the habits I’ve formed over years of working at a computer.

So some simple tips to overcome bloggers block and make a start on that company/personal blog you’ve always wanted to write:

Start your day different

We all need to check emails, after all it could be a new sale, a customer that wants a reply or 10% off at Krispy Kreme.  But how about for once, maybe only one day a week you (horror of horrors) switch your machine on and instead of going straight for the emails, you pause open Word or some other writing programme and get writing.  Don’t worry if you haven’t got a clear idea of your article, just the process of ‘brain dumping’ your thoughts on a subject can make things a whole lot clearer.

Get some inspiration

Sometimes you’ll have a fantastic idea on an article you want to write.  Other times you’ll know what you want to say, but you’re missing some bits.  Don’t despair, get the thoughts down you’ve had and then have a search round.  Try searching for your subject, check a couple of books, maybe send a tweet out and ask your followers their opinions on the subject.  Sometimes the very process of searching can be enough to formulate your article in a much more coherent way.

Fresh Air

It’s amazing how many times we have our best ideas when we don’t mean to.  Generally that means we are doing something else entirely.  Having a shower, working out, sat on the toilet or even having a bath (it worked for Archimedes) all seem to be favourites for eureka moments.  Rather than sitting at your machine, putting yourself under more and more pressure to get an article written, why not put your coat on and take a little stroll in the fresh air.  Even if it’s rotten weather, the process of concentrating on something entirely unrelated can get your subconscious creative juices flowing.  At the very least you’ll be getting away from your screen.

Writing a blog is a fantastic tool for promoting and growing your business, it is all about consistency and content.  Unfortunately we all get caught up in our work habits and forget that masterpiece of an article we wanted to write.

So to use some poetic licence on a programme I do remember from my youth I’m going to ‘Turn off my email and do something less boring instead’.  Why don’t you.

Teaching the Big Boys a Lesson

It isn’t often that Oldham Athletic could be considered able to teach the goliaths of Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC a lesson.  As many a teary-eyed watcher of the (now perennial) League One club will testify, they’ve done it on the pitch once or twice over the years.  Though many of those watchers will undoubtedly have more grey hair than most, indeed some will have even less hair than a pre-transplant Wayne Rooney it is that long ago. Certainly off the pitch the Latics have nothing to teach the giants of the English game, until now that is.

Sitting in a full Anfield on Friday night, the long suffering Oldham fans gave a performance that even outshone their hard-working heroes on the pitch.  Full of verve, songs and no little humour, the kind of humour football crowds at their best produce on a weekly basis.  The highlight being the singing of ‘What a waste of money’ to big money signing Andy Carroll who proceeded almost immediately to score for the 1^st time at Anfield this season with a fine finish.  Not to be put off, the fans immediately switched in a breath to ‘You’re still a waste of money’, to grins and giggles from around Anfield, even on the pitch.

At the other end of the ground it was a different story, with the Kop uncharacteristically quiet throughout the game.  Save of course for at least one individual who, minutes before Carroll’s scoring appearance, reduced Oldham defender Tom Adeyemi to tears with an alleged racist outburst.  It was a sad end to what had been up until the incident a good old-fashioned FA Cup tie. 

In the stands around the ground it was unclear what the holdup was for, but something had clearly happened between the young midfielder and a section of the crowd.

Coming so close to the Suarez affair, the man himself was in the posh seats on Friday night, it was clear the incident would grab the headlines.  Sure enough within minutes of the end of the game reports of statements being made and arrests were across the full spectrum of media.

It is not a position Oldham and their non-existent team of PR people find themselves in often, ever in fact.  Yet from those first post-match minutes to four days later the sleepy League One side has shown more sense, decency and maturity than either the reds of Liverpool or Manchester. 

Oldham as a club were quick to condem the action, there was no speculating, no mention of anything other than the fact that an incident had occurred and reported.  By ensuring the relevant parties were made aware of the incident, including Tom’s parent club Norwich, they gave Tom their public support.  In private, the club staff, his team mates and fans all rallied to Tom’s aid, showing him equally tremendous support.  By these actions alone, Tom knows he has the full backing of the club.

Liverpool’s PR machine also quickly leapt into action, rightly condemning any such action and delivering the reassurance that every effort and support would be made to investigate.  They followed this up with a more significant statement 3 days later to apologise to Adeyemi for the hurt he was caused, whatever the subsequent outcome of police action. 

Oldham, with a quiet dignity have since thanked Liverpool for their actions, and made it clear they hold the ‘fan’ and only them responsible.  Of course it is always easier to maintain such dignity when you are the ‘wronged’ party, but the way Oldham have handled the incident has been classy.

Contrast this with the debacle that followed the Suarez/Evra incident where certainly Liverpool and to an extent Manchester United have played on tribal divides and the historic rivalry between the clubs to exacerbate what was a sad incident.  Much has been spoken about the PR disaster that was the Suarez shirts at the Wigan game and subsequent comments.  In fact sadly some commentators have suggested the Adeyemi incident may have been sparked by the arrival of a team many Liverpool fans see as being from Manchester.  There were unsubstantiated rumours at one stage that the perpetrators against Adeyemi were wearing the same Suarez shirts.

Whatever the outcome of the Adeyemi incident, it is clear is that the Premiership giants could do a lot worse than take a leaf out of the PR playbook of a tiny League One team.  After all, getting these incidents sorted out and ultimately removed from the game should be the aim.  Quiet dignity after the event, but not during the event should be the mantra.  Adeyemi didn’t remain quiet during the event and for that he above anyone comes out of this with dignity. So maybe it’s time for to look beyond clubs and just do what needs to be done.

We Could Be Heroes

When my mobile buzzed on Sunday afternoon, I wasn’t expecting to see the news that greeted me on the text.  Wales manager Gary Speed had been found dead, it was a shock. 

Even more shocking was the circumstances in which the former Leeds, Everton, Newcastle and Bolton midfielder had died.  Although Speed was never one of ‘my players’, he was a player who garnered respect even from opposition fans.  Not flashy, just a good honest pro with no little ability.  The kind of player that would give you a consistently great performance every week.  He was a hero to so many, and his recent Wales record had given a whole national cause for optimism.  Gary Speed as Wales manager just seemed to fit.

He was, on the surface, a person who had it all.  The successful career, the money garnered from his Premiership playing days, the gorgeous wife and kids, and a new managerial career that was just taking off.  Yet, the perfect life wasn’t so much for Speed, he was obviously suffering in silence, I’m not sure how else you could explain it. 

It is so often the way for men in particular to suffer in relative silence when something isn’t right.  Sometimes, the more successful you are, the harder it gets to admit to such feelings.  Often the loneliest place to be is surrounded by friends and family, it becomes a battle within yourself to try and balance the basic human need to be physically part of a group with a feeling that you are better alone.

As someone who does suffer, it is an incident that makes you think.  The men in our lives are so often our ‘heroes’ whether they want to be or not.  I think it is this basis which can make it so difficult for a man, especially a man like Gary Speed, to seek help.  Our Dads, Granddads, Uncles, footballers, rugby players, businessmen, firemen, soldiers, policemen all look and feel to us like heroes.  I remember when I was in the primary school playground ‘being Gary Lineker’ or ‘Frankie Bunn’, and my Dad could do anything (though he wasn’t bigger than your dad obviously).  Though I’m older than almost all of the Oldham team these days, I can still be heard every Saturday praising another ‘hero’ on the pitch, it is ingrained.  Surrounded by that kind of pressure (loving pressure but pressure none the less) it is not surprising that so many men find it difficult to admit they can’t cope.  Particularly when on the surface they have no need for help.  Indeed, it is often suggested that we should just ‘pull ourselves together’ or ‘get over it’.  Often that isn’t easy.

I met a psychologist once who told me that so often it is the most successful people who are the most vunerable.  I’m not suggesting that I am successful by any means, but what the chap was trying to say was that often we create circumstances where to ask for help with such a problem becomes impossible to us. 

So much of this is down to unhappiness with us, whatever the material rewards have brought.  Being happy within ourselves and being true to ourselves is ultimately the best way to be content with life.  It sounds so easy to say, but for so many people, men and women, it is a concept that the pace of modern life will never ‘allow’ them to achieve.

So whatever really happened to Gary Speed I hope that it will make all those other heroes out there realise that sometimes being happy with ourselves is the biggest battle we face.

B+ your Public Speaking

Public speaking.  Various studies have shown time and again that the majority of people are frightened of undertaking any kind of public speaking.  Understandably, people fear the whole process of standing up in front of a group of others and talking.  Yet sometimes get those same people in a group of friends, and they'll have no qualms holding court, often being witty, funny and entertaining. 

Even those people that don't speak even to a group of friends tell a fantastic story when one-on-one.  Put an audience in front of them, or make the 'speech' a formal occasion however and they go to pieces.  Public speaking is considered by so many to be an art form in itself.  Some of the worlds great orators past and present such as Winston Churchill and Steve Jobs are considered 'other worldly' because of the quality and polish of their public speaking skills.  However, it is possible for anyone to become a good public speaker, I should know. 

I probably got the kind of introduction to public speaking that many others would've loved. From a very early age my mum (a teacher) was keen on me learning the art of speaking to an audience, purely I should add, as a way of getting me past my innate shyness.

However, it probably wasn't until my Sixth Form and University days that I began to gain confidence in public speaking skills.  I'd often volunteer to be the person who did the presentation or make the announcement.  Though I did find this was frequently because I just wanted to keep the lesson / event moving and hated the kind of 'no you, no you' conversation that followed a request of 'Can I have a volunteer to go first'.

Public Speaking doesn't have to be a nightmare though.  Here's my 3 B's  of public speaking:

Brain

Your brain is a wonderful thing.  The creativity contained within it is amazing, well it is for nearly all moments apart from the public speaking moment.  Even before you've stood up your brain has switched into maximum negative imagination mode and you're running through hundreds of scenarios of what might go wrong.  Fly's down, fainting, falling over, accidentally swearing...to be honest its a wonder you're still sat there.  Sound familiar?  It doesn't need to be like this, it just requires a couple of basic techniques and you can overcome it.

1. Visualise a fabulous reaction at the end of your speech, concentrate on how delightful and fun it will be to share the knowledge you have
2. Be in the moment, you've practised so even if you think you can't remember it you can.  Concentrate on what you want to say...it quietens the brain's more 'creative' thoughts.

Get your brain working for you when you're public speaking and you're onto a winner.

Body

Your body and posture can make an instant difference to your speech.  Imagine an invisible piece of string running up your spine and out of the top of your head and give it an imaginary tug.  You'll feel your head up, shoulders relax and a straight back.  Not only does this give you an added air of authority to your audience, it will instantly make you feel confident. 
The old adage which is so true with public speaking is Look confident, feel confident and you'll be confident.
Now isn't the time to slouch in your seat or cower away, head up, shoulders back (and relaxed) and you're already winning!

Breathing

The human body cannot survive without oxygen for more than 3 minutes, yet in our haste to rattle through our speech we seem to forget that.  Breathing not only keeps you alive (seriously listen to me people), it also helps in two major ways.
Firstly maintaining your breathing at a regular rate will slowly calm you down and counteract the adrenalin that will be shooting through you as you prepare to speak.  It helps to give your conscious mind something else to concentrate on too (further distraction from the 'creative' thinking).  Secondly, if you've practised your speech correctly you'll have your natural breaks/breathing breaks.  Adding these gives your speech a fantastic flow allowing you to emphasise points and gives the whole thing a more natural rhythm.  It also gives your audience a chance to take in the speech without worrying for your health as you rattle through without taking a breath.

Three simple points, but three very effective B's to remember the next time you are speaking in public.

From 3-3 to 3-3, 3 things for Paul Dickov to learn from

Like two perfectly formed book ends there was certain symmetry about Oldham’s 3-3 draw with Carlisle United at the weekend.  Not just in the final score, but with another 3-3 draw 46 league games ago.  Both finished 3-3, both saw late, late equalisers from the opposition and perhaps most tellingly both had seen Oldham race into 3-0 leads playing some of their best football of the season.

One thing Oldham manager, ex-Manchester City striker, Paul Dickov will be hoping is that the two results book-end a poor conventional season of results.  In the 46 games between the 3-3 draw with Exeter City at Boundary Park last November, and the 3-3 draw with Carlisle, Dickov oversaw a period of relatively poor results and football littered with defensive errors and goal-less attackers.  This contrasts hugely with what had gone before when Dickovs’ side started last season in such a fashion they were quickly nicknamed Galadickovs, including previously shot-shy midfielder, Dean Furman scoring the Football League goal of the season, also nominated one of the European goals of the season.

In between these two games, Oldham have gone from Galadickovs at the top of League One  earning over 1.7 points per game, scoring 1.4 goals per game to just avoiding relegation at the end of last season and starting this one as the model of mid-table mediocrity (win 2, lose 2, draw 2).  The overall record for the 46 games in between would have Oldham on 51 points from 46 games, possibly (just) enough to stay up in a conventional League One season (though 51 points hasn’t been enough in the past).

So what can we learn from Dickov’s tenure so far...here’s my own 3-3 draw, 3 positives v 3 improvements.

3 For

Scouting and Signing
Dickov and his scouts have proved they can pick a player.  He’s also shown he has a very useful list of contacts currently in some big clubs.  Some good loan signings last season Oumare Tounkare, Aidy White, Jason Lowe, Cedric Evina (turned to permanent) all unknowns who performed very well last season until the lack of quality replacements took there toll on the youngsters .  He’s continued to show the touch this season with the signings of Smith, Diamond, Simpson, Clarke and Kuqi.  All better known, but all have fitted in well to Dickovs system showing he’s certainly done his homework.  His signing failures have been few and far between. 

Football

Some of the football Oldham has played has been the best since Joe Royle’s legends graced Boundary Park.  High tempo, high pressure games built very much in the image of Dickov, but allied to some beautiful passing is the hallmark of Dickovs side at its best.  He admitted early in his tenure that he had been advised from some very experienced heads that 4-4-2 was the best way to get out of League One, and he has stuck fairly rigidly to this.  However, with players such as Chris Taylor, Fillipe Morais and even youngster David Mellor he has the ability to flex the formation during the game.  He’s also not averse to sending the big centre half up front when chasing a goal.

PR

Dickov has brought the polish of a man brought up in the goldfish bowl that the Premier League has become.  He exudes natural enthusiasm, is clear and concise in his interviews and, despite understandably relying on a few clichés and regular phrases, his honesty whilst still backing his players is clear.  So too his willingness to help promote the club, and get the players involved in promotion and PR, all crucial at League One level where a ‘big name’ like Dickov in a town like Oldham can make a real difference.  PR may sound like an insignificant point to raise, but with fans as sceptical as Oldham’s can be, it makes a refreshing change from what has gone before.

3 Against

Half Time / Full Time

Dickov’s playing style was, let’s say, combative.  Ok, scrub that, it was an all-out assault every time he took to the field.  Non-stop from the 1^st minute until the last, which makes one of his sides biggest failings all the more surprising. 

Since he took the reins, Oldham have developed the disturbing habit of regularly conceding goals in the 5 minutes either side of half time and in the last few crucial minutes of games.  Games the side have been in total control of have swung entirely on a goal just before/after half time.  Even more worrying is the sheer number of goals conceded in the second half of games, with around 60% of goals conceded throughout Dickov’s tenure happening in the second period.  For a side that on the surface seems extremely fit, this trend is difficult to explain.  It does point to a certain lack of concentration, but is it something more?  Just what happens in the Oldham dressing room at half time?

Experience

Dickov’s backroom staff should be complemented on the way they have helped create a team that plays the way it does at it’s best.  Former Leicester City and Bolton centre back Gerry Taggart as Dickov’s assistant brings the defensive experience to complement the striking experience of the manager, and they obviously get on extremely well.  However, what does strike many Oldham fans is the lack of management experience in the coaching team.  Certainly Dickov has admitted himself on more than one occasion that he has got substitutions and tactical changes wrong.

Perhaps some experience around the coaching team, maybe even a Joe Royle type figure would aid Dickovs development.  I’m not advocating a change to the coaching staff, merely the addition of some experience, even just in the form of an advisor which could enhance the team.  Almost in the same vain that the likes of Brian Horton, Lennie Lawrence and Gerry Francis have aided the managers they’ve worked with.  A strong man like Paul Dickov will do things his way, and quite rightly, but adding that experienced voice may just make that crucial difference at key times. 

Set Pieces

Set pieces play such a key part in any game both offensively and defensively that there isn’t a single manager worth his salt that doesn’t put the training hours into perfecting them.  Dickov is no exception.  However, Oldham have suffered almost the perfect ‘negative’ storm over the Dickovs tenure, regularly conceding from set pieces and never scoring from them themselves.

It isn’t an area that Dickov and his team aren’t aware of, and is regularly mentioned by Gerry Taggart in his musings, but still the problem persists.  Certainly this specific problem was a consideration in some of the pre-season signings this summer with height and experience brought in.  However, set pieces are all about concentration and ‘switching on’ quicker than the opposition (see the earlier section on Half Time/Full Time).  It is getting this right that can make a massive difference for Paul Dickov’s side.

3-3

I’ve been hugely impressed with the way Paul Dickov has gone about the job over the past season.  His command of the role and the way he has the side playing has been a joy to watch at times, particularly after many years of stagnation in League One.  As an Oldham fan I’m hoping Paul can stick around for a few more years yet and finally give this old club a reason to smile once again.

Strictly Business

As an amateur Ballroom and Latin sprawler, the return of Strictly Come Dancing to Saturday night TV serves two purposes for me. 

Firstly, it gives me the complete confirmation that I will never make it pro, and secondly just how much works goes into the 1 min and 30 seconds of performance we see on our screens.  Good, bad or Widdecombe, there is no hiding when the various celebs get their sequins and fake tans on and strut like they’ve never strutted before (apart from Robbie Savage who always had a strut that wound up opposition fans).

But Strictly Come Dancing gives us 5 business lessons that we can all learn from:

Dedication, that’s what you need

The celebs on Strictly eat, sleep and breathe (sometimes very heavily) dancing.  They have to; there is just no getting away from the intense period of time that is the show.  Last series we saw Matt Baker training in farmers fields and cow sheds whilst on location doing his day job of Countryfile.  This series Chelsee Healey is spending 8 hours a day filming Waterloo Road and then heading straight to the training room for 3 hours of intense dance. 

Whatever your opinion on TV work being ‘real’ or not, the celebs are dedicating every minute they have to the competition.  As with any business, if you are dedicated to that business, giving your all and every minute you have it will show.

Hard Work Pays off

When you are in business, it’s hard work that pays off.  Put the hours in both in your business and on your business and you’ll succeed.  Most entrepreneurs will take 16 hour work days as the norm, especially in the early days of a business, working all hours to ensure they are producing, selling, marketing and accounting.  It’s non-stop. 

At Strictly, it’s completely the same, put the hours in to learn not just the dance, but the technique and you’ll get the kind of marks that put you top of the leaderboard.  Take Harry Judd for example, the McFly drummer currently tops the training hours leaderboard and waltzed off with the first 10 of the series. 

Putting the hours and hard work in to your business is the way to get results, it’s just a pity we can’t all be accompanied by Harry or Aliona to make the time a little easier.

Know your limits

Let’s face it you wouldn’t ask Audley Harrison to perform a backflip.  Equally, asking Anita Dobson to lift Robin Windsor probably wouldn’t be the wisest decision either.  The professional dancers will put the dance choreography together to show off the best skills of the celeb.  They know exactly when is best to let them jive on their own and when it’s best just to slap them in a harness and hope for the best. 
Similarly it is crucial when you are running a business to recognise what you are good at, and what you aren’t so good at.  We aren’t superhuman as much as we like to think,  therefore getting help and support in for the bits that you aren’t so good at (or don’t want to do) will only help you and the business in the long run. 

Knowing your limits is the best way to push your business to the next level and often crystallises new appointments.

Sell the Dance

So many times celebs in Strictly Come Dancing will ‘nail’ all the steps.  Technically they’ll get to the end of the 90 seconds with the routine complete, yet something just won’t look right to us viewers or the judges.  Selling the dance be it Rhumba or Waltz is key to getting to the very top.  It is equally the case in business, you must ‘sell’ yourself and the business if you want to succeed.

Selling yourself, promoting the business is what can make the crucial difference between a sevennnnnn or a nine.  Without this essential part you are left with a technically great business that no-one gets or perhaps even knows about.  Selling is the key to success.

If you stumble, keep going

Sometimes the funniest Strictly moments are  those when it all goes wrong, and yet the celeb keeps going.  Pamela Stephenson last year nearly spun into the 3^rd row of the audience but kept going with a smile as big as ever.  This series Nancy Dell’Olio came to blows with a feather boa that wasn’t prepared to let her go, whilst Lulu completely forgot her steps in week one and carried on regardless.  The key with all of them was the celebs knew there was no hiding place they could do only one thing, carry on.

Running a business is no different, making mistakes is part of becoming an entrepreneur.  Some eminent entrepreneurs such a Richard Branson will tell you it is an essential part.  The key with these trips or mistakes is to keep going.  Dust yourself off and get back in the game.  There is no hiding place when you are in charge, you just have to keep going as best you can.  People will understand, and as long as you don’t keep making the same mistakes, it will only do you good in the long run.

Perhaps it’s time to get the glitter spray and fake tan out now, I’m feeling like a Quickstep.

Tom-tastic! Apprentice Series 7 The Final

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a winner!


The mad professor Tom Pellereau is the man Lord Sugar has backed to the tune of £250,000 after the final episode of The Apprentice. A worthy winner in many respects, a certainly fortunate to be under the new Apprentice prize of a joint business venture as opposed to a job within Lord Sugars portfolio of companies. If we’d been working to rules of previous series the likelihood is that Tom would’ve struggled to make it through the auditions let alone the first few weeks. His quirky style, mad inventor personality and action-man eyes always presented him as a potential loose cannon, but dig below that and Tom was always a candidate who stood out for Lord Sugar.

It is under the old rules that this year’s second place candidate, Helen Louise Milligan would’ve walked it. After a quiet opening few weeks Helen smashed her way to the top of the leaderboard and her structured planning and calculated organisation meant she stayed there right to the end. She played the perfect game in this series, and that perhaps is her biggest failing. There is a sense with Helen that she performs best within a structured environment, and as all new business owners will testify, a new start up is not the place to need rigid processes and procedures to perform at your best. Certainly in my experience, the ability to function within organised chaos would be closer to the mark. Helen you felt all along lacked a certain something despite her impressive showing, and it was crucial to Lord Sugar in the final reckoning. He was willing Helen to produce a stunning business idea, or even just a credible one, you felt if she had then even with the reservations she’d have been a shoe in. Not that she was the only one without a credible business plan.

The range of plans/businesses was revealed and disappointing was probably the easiest way to round them up. They ranged from Susan’s Skincare company to Jim’s e-learning entrepreneurial skills for schools.

Taking them individually, Susan’s plan involved the huge potential skincare market if she got it right, but with associated costs that would eat up the investment before it had time to breathe. Jim’s e-learning idea, cheekily branded AMsmart in line with Lord Sugars existing businesses, already exists and was in essence an idea non-profit business hastily given commercial figures. Helen disappointingly presented the equivalent of a virtual PA service that somehow was supposed to get the country back on its feet. Even winner Tom’s plan of ergonomic chairs and associated products was seriously flawed. Hugely disappointing all round and rightly all were pulled to pieces by what must be one of the most scary interview panels outside of the Den. In fact you got the feeling at one point that Lord Sugar was going to end the interviews and send all four over to the Dragons Den studio for a grilling in a BBC cross-show promotion.

Tom’s victory was down to two main attributes. He’s quite obviously a guy that Lord Sugar feels on a personal level he could work with. As I pointed out in a previous article, Sugar made most of his fortune in partnership with guys like Tom, and that was obviously a big draw for him, he knows how to handle this type of character. Secondly, Tom is a one-man ideas factory, it may take him 20 different ideas, but somewhere along the line Tom is going to hit on another massive idea and Lord Sugar wants to be there when it does. With his already established, but somewhat off-track, ‘Curved Nail file’ Sugar has a readymade product to start recouping his investment.

And so The Apprentice finishes for another series, we’ve had the usual mix of inflated egos, tears, tantrums and Top Hats. Only a few months until Junior Apprentice starts, and if that is anything like last year, those candidates will once again be putting their senior counterparts to shame.

Though certainly not this country’s entrepreneurial elite, this year’s batch of Apprentice candidates have made some great TV and been responsible (sometimes inadvertently) for some essential business lessons. We are left with the vision of a white coated Tom giggling away in a high-tech lab somewhere reaching for an emergency biscuit whilst creating the world’s first time machine using parts from a nodding dog, a top hat, nail file and travel clock. It’d be fun to be there don’t you think?