“Why I’m the most successful Apprentice winner there’s ever been”

I walked away with The Apprentice winners’ crown in December 2014.

Since this date I’ve fought hard to stay at the top, with a string of accolades to my name, and a 50% stake in the UK’s fastest growing digital marketing agency; Climb Online.

So, why am I the most successful BBC Apprentice winner to date? And what lessons can start-ups take from my journey to entrepreneurial success to date?

First to turnover £1 million+

Famous for battling my case in the boardroom, I pledged that I would make a million in my first year of business if Lord Sugar chose me as his next business partner

Aside from proving all the doubters wrong, I’ve actually been the only Apprentice winner to turnover in excess of £1m during my first year of trading with Climb Online.

In addition, I’ve more than doubled my success in year two, boasting company turnover of more than £4m as of January 2017.

Climb Online is the most profitable Apprentice-born business… and Lord Sugar agrees

Profitable from month two, and able to return Lord Sugar’s initial investment of £250,000 from month nine, Climb Online has been extremely successful from the get go.

My team of digitally savvy specialists work tirelessly to service our agency’s 450+ clients from across the UK and overseas, including the likes of Groupon, Be Wiser Insurance and C.V. Library.

In fact, my company’s profitability has even been shared on Twitter by Lord Sugar!

An awards cabinet of accolades and indices

In January 2017, I made not one but two lists in the famous Forbes 30 under 30 Europe index – amongst the continent’s top ‘media’ and ‘immigrant’ professionals.

If you need to know anything about this list, it should be that it’s notoriously difficult to feature and, with an acceptance rate lower than 4%, you’ve got a better chance of getting into Stanford or Harvard university. I am the only Apprentice winner to have ever made this list!

I’ve also been named a Young Gun, a status that less than 500 entrepreneurs in Britain hold, and Climb Online has consecutively been named among the UK’s top 100 early-stage businesses in the esteemed Startups 100 index.

On the back of my success to date, I’ve reflected on what I’ve learnt so far…

My four business lessons to help you attain similar business success:

1. “To earn more, you need to learn more”

Successful entrepreneurs all have one thing in common – they take the time to read, listen and learn from other successful business leaders.

This includes anything from watching TED talks, reading advice from resources like Startups’ and downloading audiobooks to attending business events and engaging with like-minded professionals.

To be able to build a successful business, you need to learn and develop from those who have already succeeded in doing so. Understand why or how they made mistakes, how to pick yourself up, to grow, advance and work towards your dreams. In building a business, you need to be utterly focused and that’s something Wright has and continues to maintain.

2. Always show up

We’ve all had a hard day, week or month – but the key is to continue show up and keep fighting.

Remember why you started your business in the first place and don’t give up – and certainly don’t give in.

If you leaver your business stranded, someone else will be there for the taking.

3. Ignore the competition

I believe that, in business, we spend far too much time worrying about what our competitors are doing, to the extent that we often lose sight of ourselves.

My advice? Ignore them and do it better than them.

4. ‘Birds of a feather flock together’

 To be successful as an entrepreneur, I think you need to surround yourself with like-minded people, who share and believe in your business and your goals.

Those who doubt your capabilities, ultimately doubt your dreams and will affect your journey to success!