They’re the two television programmes showcasing entrepreneurship in the UK, but which of The Apprentice and Dragons Den has the better track record in picking winners? Analysis just published by the business plan adviser Teneric claims to have the answer: it’s winners of The Apprentice that have generated the most exciting growth.
For the uninitiated, both shows operate with a similar premise: they invite entrepreneurs who are trying to build a business to compete for a large capital investment plus practical support and advice from a business guru with deep pockets. On The Apprentice, the billionaire businessman and media personality Lord Sugar does the hiring and firing, whittling down 16 candidates to a winner who takes all the money. Dragons Den, meanwhile, hears a number of pitches from entrepreneurs on each episode, with each of the “dragons” – a five-strong panel of wealthy business angels – deciding whether to offer an investment, either alone or in combination.
Both are artificial constructs, of course; their TV-friendly formats require tensions and behaviours that are a million miles removed from what it’s really like to launch and grow a business in the UK today. Such is entertainment. But what happens after the cameras are switched off and the lucky investees start trying to capitalise on their success?
The short answer is that The Apprentice’s winners appear to do better. Teneric’s data, based on analysis of filings to Companies House, shows that all of the nine entrepreneurs who have picked up investment from Lord Sugar so far are still in business; by contrast, some 83 of the 238 businesses backed by Dragons Den have subsequently failed, a miss rate of almost 35%.
The Apprentice’s winning businesses are worth more too. Collectively, according to Teneric, the nine companies backed by Lord Sugar now have a net worth of £8.3m – an average of just over £920,000 each. By contrast, the value of the 238 Dragons Den-backed businesses today is £11.9m; that’s the equivalent of £50,000 each, or around £77,000 if you strip out those companies that have failed and are now worthless.
Teneric also points out other reasons why entrepreneurs might consider The Apprentice a better bet, though it’s a more difficult show to get on to. For example, Lord Sugar puts his money where his mouth is, Teneric argues, while Dragons Den panellists often pull out of investments once they study the fine print of the entrepreneurs’ businesses. And while The Apprentice backs only one winner each year, plenty of losing candidates have gone on to business success, partly thanks to the exposure the show has given them.
“With start-up culture at an all-time high and many new businesses seeing these shows as a stepping stone, we wanted to examine which programme would be more fruitful,” says Peter Hale, the founder of Teneric. “As the data shows, The Apprentice has the best track record for success and should be the preferred option for hopeful business owners.”
Still, don’t take this exercise too seriously – it’s a bit of fun and comparing nine Apprentice winners with more than 200 successful Dragons Den contenders is fraught with difficulty. On this analysis at least, though, Lord Sugar wins the day.
