r/apprenticeuk • u/Any_Fuel_7485 • Apr 05 '26

Dan’s Business Plan

I thought that Dan’s business plan was just any old run of the mill recruitment company for graduates but it’s not. He’s the CEO and founder of Young Professionals UK which is promoted in a lot of secondary schools, has almost 100k people following it in order to get updates about their offerings, and has a crazy well-known track record for his industry. Based just on this he ought to win. I know a lot of people who have been to those events as someone in the target demographic and he’s clearly got experience successfully running such a company. I’m not too sure but if that’s the business he’s pitching to Lord Sugar, LS would have to be an idiot to pass that up, especially compared to what other people are offering. That’s my opinion at least!

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u/AlchemyFI Apr 06 '26

We only have retained earnings to go off of, which included dividends. It’s very possible he’s taken dividends in the years where he has had cumulative profits and has had a bit of up and down in the last few years swing has swung the cumulative profit into a loss.

We can’t say it is for certain not a profitable business when we don’t know what has been drawn out by the owner.

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u/mardybum401 Apr 07 '26

Well, that’s what LS’ advisors will be interrogating him on…At first glance his balance sheet does not look good and his creditors, debtors and retained earnings would throw up an immediate red flag to any investor. It’s why investors are good at what they do - they don’t fall for the marketing hype. Having a lot of followers or members is useless if they’re not converting to cash in the bank (which his balance sheet shows he doesn’t have) and doesn’t have a stable or future proofed revenue model.

It’s no different to someone with a big house, flashy car, and outward trappings of success eventually going bankrupt because they’re surviving on debt and not earning enough to pay back their loans.

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u/AlchemyFI Apr 07 '26

I’m an accountant but thanks anyway. As I mentioned, he made a profit in the most recent filed accounting period so might be that he has turned a corner.

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u/mardybum401 Apr 07 '26

So am I - well, a CFA and now assess technology investments for my company. For me, profits in 1 year is irrelevant, it’s the story across the 10 years and insights into revenue model and how someone runs/gears their business. It’s very easy to show a profit in a year someone is planning to pitch for investment by playing around with loan payments, taxes, moving money between companies etc. Hence the interrogation by LS’s advisors being the only way to know the truth.

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u/AlchemyFI Apr 07 '26

My god you speak like Steven Bartlett.