He may be Donald Trump’s first Apprentice but Bill Rancic is already a master at the game of entrepreneurship.

Everyone wanted a piece of Bill Rancic, winner (first season) of the hit reality American TV show The Apprentice, when he was in Kuala Lumpur recently. It was easy to see why.

The successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker recently had his contract at the multi-million dollar Trump Corporation extended for another year.

His book, You’re Hired: How to Succeed in Business and Life, is a best-seller. Of course, his Hollywood star good looks helps too.

The 32-year-old Chicago native, who started a cigar company (now worth millions) after graduating from Loyola University Chicago eight years ago, achieved celebrity status at the recent Global Leadership Forum in Kuala Lumpur, where he was one of the guest speakers.

At the forum later, Rancic’s audition tape for The Apprentice Season 1 was played to the audience, followed by clips from the series. “You are a little bit flustered under some circumstances,” observed Trump on Rancic’s performance as a group leader in one of the tasks.

Although he might appear a bit frazzled in the show — he was competing with
higher-qualified candidates, some with more experience in the world of
entrepreneurship — it was clear that Rancic had the best business acumen and
drove the Trump to say “you’re hired!”

Addressing the crowd at the forum, Rancic oozed charm, charisma and a
powerful sense of leadership. All that time spent under Trump’s iron-clad
wing (he’s in charge of Trump’s International Hotel and Tower building in
Chicago) this past year may have contributed to this irresistible positive
energy.

Or maybe it’s something that was already in him.

“I was already an entrepreneur at the age of 10,” he said, recalling those years when he was sent to his grandmother’s house on weekends and where he “mastered the art of making pancakes — from blueberry to banana pancake — you name it, I can do it”.

He continued: “One morning, I invited my grandma’s friends for (pancake) breakfast. When I cleared the table later, there were US$5 notes under their plates! I took the money and kept my mouth shut.”

For the next five weekends, Rancic looked forward to breakfast. “Until my parents discovered a stack of cash in my bedroom drawer one day, totalling USD100. I had to confess to operating a makeshift restaurant in my grandmother’s house. My mum had me end the business immediately.”

His first taste in entrepreneurship, he said, was stemmed by the ability to “recognise an opportunity and seize it.” Years later, he dipped in hands in the risky waters of business again, this time, to pay for his university tuition fees.

“Most jobs paid about RM5 an hour. It made me think ‘just because they told me that I was worth RM5 per hour, that didn’t mean that I had to believe them’.” So, he did what good and successful businessmen do — think outside the box.

“I decided to offer a boat-washing service at the marina area where people keep their luxury boats. A lot of friends laughed at the idea; they thought it was crazy. I managed to convince one of my friends, Jerry, and we

started talking to boat owners who actually loved the idea!”

Rancic and Jerry, who were making up to RM1,200 a day, then expanded the business and came up with a concept for boat owners to purchase memberships for the service (“we wash it every week at a special rate”).

“We put up neon orange flyers with big black letters on 150 boats that day. Then came a huge torrential rainstorm.” The two later realised, much to their horror, that the flyers bled when wet. “I called up my cousin, a first-year law student, for advice because I thought I was going to jail.”

Armed with “every single cleaning agent known to man,” the two went from one boat to another for three straight days. “Our knuckles were bleeding. Our friends said that word would get out and we’d be out of business.”

Surprise, surprise. Rancic’s business grew by 30 per cent. “This was because we took responsibility for our actions. Lack of accountability is the problem in corporate America today. They blame others and don’t own up to their mistakes. You can even see this in the show (The Apprentice).”

Rancic took a nine-to-five job after graduation (“I was young and cocky. I earned a lot of money and I thought I could set the world on fire”). Seven months later, he got a wake-up call that set him on a different career path.

“A guy who’d been with the company for 30 years got fired because they (the employers) didn’t want to pay him that much salary anymore. The sight of this guy walking to his car with all his possessions in a cardboard box really hit me. I remember leaving work that day, saying ‘I will never let that happen to me’.”

That same afternoon, he was convinced he’d start his own business again. He founded Cigars Around the World (www.cigarsaroundtheworld.com), now a multi-million company which markets, distributes and sells exotic cigars.

“When I quit, the two owners of the company laughed at me. They said ‘Bill, you’re a great guy but we think you’re crazy. The (cigar business) concept will never work and no one’s going to buy them. We’ll keep your office space because we know you’re coming back in seven or eight weeks’.

“Within 30 days after opening the company I brought in RM500,000, which was pretty good. A month later, we earned RM4 million. We moved the business forward and ventured into wholesale distributing. By 2006, we hope to earn RM400 million.”

What happened to the two owners who laughed at his idea? “I was having lunch two years ago when I saw them. They came up to me and said ‘We knew you’re going to make it’ and I said ‘No you didn’t!’.”

Rancic recently released his second book, Beyond the Lemonade Stand, a business book for children between eight and 12 years old. Proceeds from the book, he said, will go towards helping underprivileged children worldwide.

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