Melody Hossaini reflects on week three of The Apprentice, and a lesson for social entrepreneurs
Week three out of twelve, and last week the contestants were getting saucy. The task: to create a condiment, brand it and sell it. The team with highest sales wins.
The teams were mixed, Katie Wright took leadership of the boy's team and opted for a Mediterranean sauce to compete in the ketchup market, while Duane Bryan's team created a spicy chili chutney.
The key to winning this task was a good strategy. Duane's team had a good quantity of products and excellent profit margins- 60p per jar and selling to retailer at three to four times that. They went to a pitch trying to sell a product, which they had failed to bring with them. Instead, we were left cringing as they attempted to describe the taste.
Katie's team on the other hand, were already on the back foot from the offset as they didn't produce enough quantity making it near impossible to sell to high-end to retailers, as the margins were too low.
Katie's team had a product for mass market within an extremely saturated market - but their biggest problem was low quantity. She made the logical decision of realising that lower quantity would require an increased profit margin, so they increased the price.
Katie's team lost but at least they tried to respond to their market. This year has seen the downfall of those who failed to do this, such as Kodak who couldn't keep up and therefore went bankrupt.
Social enterprises need to do the same - but they have the added challenge of ensuring they're not not only socially sound but also profitable. Social enterprises exist to serve a cause - and it's vital to be up to date with what the needs of those causes are, and amend services accordingly.
My social enterprise, InspirEngage International, has in the past year tried to shape its outcomes to better support young people into enterprise and employment, in response to needs expressed by young people themselves.
Melody Hossaini is founder and chief executive of InspirEngage International, a social enterprise delivering Skills Bootcamps to support young people into employment and enterprise. In 2011 she became the first ever social entrepreneur to compete on BBC's The Apprentice making it to week 10 out of 12. She tweets @Melody_Hossaini
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/social-enterprise-network/2012/apr/11/week-three-apprentice
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