Forum - Is business TV relevant to small firms?

Dragon's Den is entertaining enough and I suppose educational for that very small segment of business where entrepreners require investment. I do like that the dragons challenge people over their numbers and expectations - that would be education for someone trying to get into business.

But The Apprentice is a total disaster for British business. I'll start by saying that you couldn't pay me enough to work for Alan Sugar - the way he's portrayed as behaving is shameful and not at all what I would consider good management. There's rarely a single apprentice that I'd consider employing. I see more capable, more organised, less annoying people every day looking for work. Why can't Alan Sugar get decent job applicants? Oh... right... Alan Sugar.

Seriously, though, I worry that shows like The Apprentice tell young people that to be successful they need to be arrogant, pushy fakers who are only good at selling. Yes, successful sales people are often arrogant pushy fakers but there are so many OTHER important roles in business besides sales. The world of business portrayed by The Apprentice is a million miles from that of 99.9% of small businesses.

I'm a small business owner. I treat the folks that work for my company with respect and courtesy.

I love Dragons' Den and The Apprentice, as a viewer, but as a business person I can't help thinking that they represent old business, old stereotypes and old misconceptions - that business is cut-throat; you have to be tough to get ahead; and that business people are, generally, impatient and rude!

In my life, I don't think any of that's true - and I'd like to see a business programme that better represents where business is today.

I actually think that Mary Queen of Shops is a convergence of those two things: it's entertaining, but we can also take from it lessons in our businesses.

The problem, I think, is that business is too often viewed as a separate thing to life, rather than a part of it. This is why show's like Working Lunch, I think, don't work. And how I'm more likely to learn about business from shows like Mad Men or films like Jerry Maguire and less from programming that ghettoises business into a certain time slot or stereotype.

The Apprentice & Dragons Den are screened for entertainment - But if you haven't learned something then you are not watching hard enough.

Dragons den shows you an insightful look at the physological aspects of the negotiation process, valuing a business and the income multiples applied in doing so. It gives you tips into what makes a good an bad pitch. I could go on all night.

The Apprentice at some stages has given me some useful tips with interviewing, particularly when..... wait for it, they are carrying out interviews.

Maybe it's just me, but these programmes, the Hotel inspector, Gerry's Big decision etc have given me tips.

I also think they inspire!! If the objective for watching is to gain an insight to how a small business is run, then you are watching for the wrong reasons. But for terminology, even sales techniques are there if you look.

They may not be educational, but they're good for the "brand awareness" of entrepreneurialism. "Entrepreneur" isn't a word I ever heard at school, shows like this help people to realise that starting a business IS an option and that it's not all blokes in grey suits.

Personally, I think these TV programmes, although good entertainment (if you're that way inclined) dont really offer the reality of business and in fact are detrimental to peoples expectations.

Just like Apple says in their ads where the 'sequence has been shortened' so to has the process of doing good, sustainable business been shortened into something that doesnt reflect true business practice but merely 'mashed up' to make 60 minutes of TV 'entertaining'.

Twitter - @JamieForster
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