News | Interview with Harry Maxwell, from BBC's Young Apprentice
In this exclusive interview, Harry Maxwell (Harry M) from the BBC's Young Apprentice, talks to Shell LiveWIRE about coping with the media attention whilst still at school, raising start-up finance and his future plans for his business.
Shell LiveWIRE: Hi Harry, have you (or any of your friends) used the Shell LiveWIRE website much in the past? If so, what do you like best about the programme?
Harry M: I have personally used Shell LiveWIRE on an on-off basis probably over the last six years and I must say I think it's fantastic! Not only can you pitch for funding in the monthly awards, the Discussion Forum enables you to promote your business whilst asking for advice and the video guides can be extremely useful too.
SLW: What other websites / resources / books have you found helpful and inspiring?
HM: In terms of inspiration, I think that has to stem from people telling you their story directly and how they have overcome difficulties to be successful. I have always admired Donald Trump so thoroughly enjoyed his autobiography series alongside those of Duncan Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis and naturally Lord Sugar! Haha. The internet is a great resource to help you with your business, although I would say the most helpful websites will be very specific to what you business actually is, in terms of formalities, Business Link is a great shout.
SLW: Since 'Young Apprentice' aired, can you please tell us if/how the PR and media attention has helped your business 'Luxury Five Star Hotel Guide'?
HM: Massively. Luxury Five Star Hotel Guide is a commission based travel agent middle man if you like where I make money from people visiting my website and placing a booking. The more traffic I get, typically the more money I make. Therefore by having this almost Google Buzz with people trying to find out more about you having watched Young Apprentice, I watched unique visitors rocket from 100 a day to 1000. This naturally led to an increase in bookings to generate record turnover! It almost became addictive logging in tracking the increases in both unique visitors and affiliate commission!
SLW: Have there been any negatives to the exposure (i.e. distractions or people not taking you seriously as a business), i.e. the 'Mahiki champagne drinking incident' ;o)
HM: I think the show is a very big distraction, and I know this is something both me and James McCullagh thought. I mean who would want to complete a Further Maths recap over reading what people are writing about you on Twitter @HarryMaxwell. From a business perspective, however, I think it has been a largely positive result.
Getting to the semi-final speaks for itself in a way and it hasn't just been my business that's paid attention. I've had five offers for University sponsorship with some of the world's biggest organisations and by being on the show, people are more intrigued to take your call where they will make a judgement for themselves - LinkedIn has been a massive help in that respect. A past candidate Debra Barr told me to build up a pool of contacts to tap into in a few years time and I can safely say that's what I've done!
SLW: On the show, the editing portrayed you as someone who didn't get on very well with your fellow contestants. However, you seemed to rise above this and not take any of the criticism personally which showed your strength of character. What do you think about this?
HM: All the candidates on a personal level got on very very well 90% of the time back at the house and on task - James, Haya & I are even having talks about sharing a house at university! However, I had made no secret of the fact that I was here for myself to win, I'm going to press on with my sales and if you cant step-up, well, see ya in a few weeks time when filmings over! Haha.
I wouldn't say that reflects my normal business attitude, however, we were in a competition so I was going to say what I thought. Although the disagreements that stemmed from this may have been an insignificant 5 minutes in a four day task, it makes a much more interesting watch to put those five minutes in the 25 minutes of what they show you. The show has to be entertaining at the end of the day, we all knew this but as I'm happy with the outcome, I'm not going to complain.
SLW: Despite seemingly rubbing some of the others up the wrong way, Lord Sugar seemed to take a shine to you and you did seem to perform well on the tasks, consistently pulling something out of the bag at the crucial moment. Care to elaborate?
HM: I made no secret of my ideas because I had always said I want to continue in this process on the basis of what I can do, not what I can charade. So I did speak my mind, and when it came to the boardroom it turned out what I was saying was valid, which was a massive relief! In terms of continuing in the process, I will say that it is purely a business judgement. We're in that boardroom for about four hours in total and week-on-week I was praised and often found myself outperforming candidates on both teams, so I was confident there was no way I would be sent home!
You know, Weeks 1, 3 and 4 I brought in the most sales. Week 2 I had this slightly zany idea that the retailers liked and also said they felt I should have led the pitches. Week 5 Nick said I showed a strong foundation for leadership. Week 6 I made the highest negotiation and I guess whilst I had a good idea Week 7 with Smoochies; it just went that I was on the losing team!
SLW: We read in another interview that in the past you may have had too many projects on the go at once in the past. How important do you think it is to have a clear focus and strategy to succeed?
HM: I think with businesses strategy is vital, having a concept of where you're going and how you're going to get there is imperative. But to follow that strategy out to the best of your ability to drive high quality results, you need to be on the ball, have your focus in check to ensure you are doing the best possible job you can!
SLW: We got the impression from the programme that you were from a wealthy background. Has this been a help or hindrance to starting a business, especially when so young? Apart from your own personal finances, have you been able to raise funding from other sources? If so, do you have any tips?
HM: I wouldn't say business is about background, it's about results, money can't buy you acumen. If you are a driven person wherever you come from, that's the key, so I wouldn't say that going to boarding school is either a help or hindrance. From a financial perspective, everything I have done is off my own back. Lots of my dealings have been online, starting websites by buying a £10 hosting package, then growing them spending £50 on PPC advertising, so there's very little start-up capital involved. I haven't had to fundraise yet, I have generally grown a project using very little money, see the profits come through and reinvest if I want to start something new. All of it is on me.
SLW: What's next for Harry M?
HM: The next goal has to be getting the A-Levels under my belt and bagging a place at University. There are just a few weeks left of school so I'm going to really knuckle down and see where it takes me. LSE have made me an offer to study there and I am also interviewing at UCL early February. Once that's all done and dusted late June, then it's time to focus on my businesses and see where they take me! I want to expand Luxury Five Star Hotel Guide using my new contacts, and am also launching something that's under wraps at the moment, you can keep updated via Twitter however by following @TheHMSP
SLW: Good luck with your A-Levels Harry. All the best for University and 'Luxury Five Star Hotel Guilde'. Thanks for the interview.
About 'Young Apprentice'
Harry Maxell was one of 12 candidates aged 16-17 who appeared in the BBC's Young Apprentice (formerly called 'Junior Apprentice') which aired between October and December 2011. He made it through to the semi-final, leaving only because the two finalists (James McCullagh and Zara Brownless) were chosen from the winning team of the final task. The overall winner was Zara.
Watch Harry M's original audition video for the programme.
