Mukul Verma

Celebrity Apprentice is quite an amazing show to watch.  I believe there are no losers on this show, and that the apprentice has been set up to ensure that all are winners and this is how real business should be done.

In life and business alike, people believe that someone must win and others must lose.  This cannot be further from the truth, it should be about creating value.  In a deal, often both sides are not after the same benefits.  I read a book by Donald Trump book several years back and he gave one piece of advise that I base my business on.  And this business advice is also  reflected in this show more and more.

Donald Trumps advice is – In every deal, “both sides should walk away feeling like winners”.  The Celebrity Apprentice is a perfect example of exactly that, where there are soo many winners.

Lets start off with the charity, millions of dollars were raised for the celebrities different charities.  It is not relevant if you have the title of the celebrity apprentice or finished second or third.  What matters is that these charities are getting prime time exposure, building greater awareness and recognition that would have costed them hundreds,thousands or maybe millions of dollars to get.

Holly raised almost $600,000 and Bret almost $400,000 for there respective charities, and a lot more money was raised for other celebrity charities as well.  All the Charities are true winners.

Maria through Make A Wish made one little boys dream come true, if that is not a true winner, to have a child’s dream come true – to meet Donald Trump and sit next to him chatting on the season finale episode of Celebrity Apprentice, then what is more magical.  The children that Make A Wish help – they did not ask to be sick or in this difficult life struggle, however through the Make A Wish Foundation, we can change there lives by adding a sparkle, by building awareness and make their wish come true.  Now this is powerful, as Make A Wish is a charity that is closely personal to my heart as well.

Another great benefit of the Celebrity Apprentice is for the participating Celebrities to have the opportunity and remarkable chance to build there personal brand and rekindle their celebrity status to the world.  There is no doubt in my mind that being apart of the Celebrity Apprentice can take a great toll on these celebrities lives – from time, the great efforts and hard work that go into each task, however the great exposure they gain being on prime time television is well worth the costs.  Rod had guts to come back and face the public, Cindy selling a album next month, Joan Rivers fee’s went way up now she is a bigger star then ever before.

The companies that are featured during each task that sponsor the show and provide a platform for the celebrities to compete they too have a lot to gain from this show as the Celebrity Apprentice gives them greater exposure and great awareness for their brand name. And the opportunity to have such creative minds working on their products and brand awareness  is an added bonus for many of these companies.  I also liked that this year many of these same businesses felt compelled to gave to the show and the community and donate substantial amounts of their own money to the featured Charities.  Thank Snapples for the $250,000 donated towards Holly and Bret’s charities and the branding for Brett and Holly’s Charity.  This I am sure would have costed a lot more in primetime advertising, if done anywhere else other than the apprentice.  Companies like ACN or Zappos are becoming more household names after being featured on the Apprentice.

Lastly but certainly not the least, The Donald!  He is a marketing machine. He truely knows how to create a win-win situation for all and does a very good job at it.  He will sell more books, condo, ties, tours or whatever carries the Donald Trump name on it by building his brand and greater awareness of his NAME.   Donald Trump was a big name before, however now he is a even bigger and will continue to grow as the show progresses into the next season.

And Finally,  I too am a winner, because as a result of the very first Apprentice, I picked up the first book after a very long time, his book, Donald’s book and have never stopped reading professional development and self help books ever since. Another  benefit I gain from this show is the business lessons, I learnt from this show, which have helped me in my own business and everyday life.  I learnt several important business lessons from season 1 and 2 of Apprentice, a while back and applied it to my business and have seen great progress as a result of this.

One so lesson I learn was during an Celebrity Apprentice episode, where a fellow team memeber went in the golf store and asked the right question to secure the win – the question was “Have you ever given anyone a discount?” .  This simple question enabled their team to get a much better price then the other.  Simple, but effective.   I applied this same tactic into my own negotiations a few weeks ago and so the results for myself.

This show is what business is all about, creating winners in every one and in every way.  The Celebrity Apprentice has perfected this winning process and everyone is a winner especially the charities.

Cheers,

Mukul