The Apprentice star Keir Shave has opened about the real reason he went on the BBC hit show.
The 27-year-old is one of 18 candidates battling it out to win Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment and mentorship.
However, Shave told BusinessCloud that his main focus is growing his Leeds-based business Parallel Partnerships, a B2B and B2C outsourced telemarketing agency which now has nearly 50 staff.
The entrepreneur launched the company just three days after being redundant from his previous job and has already grown turnover to ‘a couple of mill’.
“The main reason that I went on (The Apprentice) is because I wanted more people to know about me and my company,” he admitted.
“I’ve already had several enquiries from people that have seen me and have reached out, whether that be on LinkedIn or just directly through our company website.
“The reason I picked this (show) is because it is a more professional show and I think the eyeballs that will be looking at me will be those I want on me.
“I’m not going to start selling teeth whitening products next week on Instagram, for example, that’s not what this is for. I want more people from a business perspective to know about me.”
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Despite only two episodes of the new series being screened so far, Shave has already managed to make a big impression.
He went gone viral for playing ‘rock, paper, scissors’ in order to clinch a sale and describing one of his rivals as being ‘as motivational as a pillow’.
He said: “’Don’t get me wrong, some people will have thought I was an idiot, and I guess there’s an element of truth to that.
“But at the same time, it’s TV, they’re not in the process, I am. All those moments like the rock, paper scissors, the pillow line, the yodelling, are funny.
“I got a lot of screen time in episode one. I went on for the eyes and I got the eyes.”
However, Shave preferred not to comment on tabloid reports linking him to fellow contestant Amber-Rose Badrudin.
“I definitely don’t want to speak on that,” he said. “The matter’s entirely done and dusted. The BBC have actually come out and said that they’re not commenting on it and it’s not a story that they’ve put out themselves.”
Shave’s full name is Keir Sebastian Segundo Shave and he’s half Chilean.
He attended Harrogate Grammar School and is now focused on expanding Parallel Partnerships and potentially looking at opening a second office for his business.
“I just want to continue growing. We’re going to be above 50 staff for my main business, so that is my main focus,” he explained.
“I’m going to bring in lots of key hires and I might try to open a second location as well.
“The aim is to keep growing at the rate we are, but sustain that growth and from a personal perspective, I just want to come across well in the programme.
“I was very happy with my progress in the experience and I enjoyed myself, so I hope that comes across well.”
Shave’s business plan for Lord Sugar was to create an AI-powered online tool to help sales staff at all levels throughout their sales conversations.
The tool is designed to provide little but constant support in the form of a Chatbot where the user can input their issue and the tool responds with ideas/tips around the sales objection.
Shave also shared his experiences of getting on the show.
He said: “I remember that I applied late at night one day. I then got an email back the next morning inviting me to the first stage.
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“There were lots of different rooms in which we had to go in and do different tasks and speak to different people.
“I think it was three or four separate days to get onto it, and apparently, thousands of people applied. So even getting on is a great achievement at the end of the day.”
Although Shave and his team lost the first task, they bounced back and managed to get the win in week two after creating an AI music video.
He stressed the importance of having to work well together in a team in order to be successful.
“Even if you do exceptionally well personally, if your team loses every single week, you’ve got a really low chance to succeed in the process.
“You’ve got to work with these people and you’ve got to get on with them because if you don’t, you’ll just end up losing every week and eventually it’ll be your time to go.
“So you have to work with them, even if you don’t agree with some of the things that happen.”