Apprentice star Khadija Kalifa talks to ME & MY MONEY

Businesswoman Khadija Kalifa closed her unprofitable cleaning business on the advice of Lord Sugar, following her appearance on BBC TV’s The Apprentice. She tells Donna Ferguson that she lost £20,000 to the company.

Khadija, 33, who was fired in the semi-final of the popular BBC show in 2018, said the best financial decision she ever made was to spend £23,000 on two internet domain names for her new softplay cafe business, Full of Beans.

The Apprentice returned to our screens at 9pm last Thursday for series 17.

What did your parents teach you about money?

How important it is, if you want to be happy and safe. My parents separated when I was eight, and my mother raised me as a single mother. She was a medical secretary, but it was hard for her to work and manage childcare with four children, so she had a job and a job. My father is a taxi driver.

Money was always tight. Debt collection agencies sometimes knocked on the door. My mom would get mad about money. It affected her mental health. I used to watch her struggle and think, “I don’t want her to go through that again.” And I don’t want to struggle like that when I’m older. I recognized the freedom that money brings from stress, worry and fear.

How did that affect your attitude?

One of the reasons why I work so hard now is that I can take care of not only my immediate family – my children and my partner – but also my mother and my siblings. I want to give them a life they never dreamed they could have. When I was 12, I used to say to my mom, “One day I’ll be rich.”

Have you struggled make ends meet?

Many times. The hardest time was after I had my oldest child, when I was 24. My partner and I rented in London. It was a struggle when I went on maternity leave and my income dropped. There were times when I made scrambled eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But they were delicious Moroccan style scrambled eggs!

Have you ever been paid stupid money?

Yes. Since appearing on The Apprentice, I’ve made £1,500 an hour giving motivational speeches for businesses.

What was the best year of your financial life?

Last year. I opened my second gaming cafe, Full of Beans, in Peterborough. I had opened my first in Bourne, Lincolnshire, in 2020, just before the lockdown.

Of course the first months were tough. But I think parents missed taking their kids to soft play centers and cafes. When the lockdown was lifted, they seemed to cherish those moments when they could go somewhere with their kids, have a coffee and get some rest. So in the end it was good for us as a company.

This year I am opening a third café in East London. Over the course of the 12 months I have converted £250,000 and raised over £200,000 in investments. I am already making more money from my business than ever before in my life.

What’s the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

A Christian Dior handbag for £2,500. It’s a brown tote bag with my name on it.

Your biggest money error?

Setting up my cleaning business when my oldest was six months old. I put money into it, but it didn’t make enough money. As business leader Linda Plant explained to me in The Apprentice, I was more focused on having shiny vehicles and a swanky office than profit margins.

I called it quits after The Apprentice when Lord Sugar told me the business wouldn’t work for him. I thought, “He knows what he’s talking about, maybe I should take a leaf out of his book.” I ended up losing about £20,000 on that company.

The best money decision you’ve made?

You’d think it was about The Apprentice, but it actually paid £23,000 to buy the internet domain names fullofbeans.co.uk and fullofbeans.com. People may think I’m crazy, but when you have a vision, you know it’s worth it.

Are you saving for a pension or investing in the stock market?

No, I don’t and I never have. I didn’t have the money for that. Now, everything I have, I invest in my business.

Do you own real estate?

Yes. Last January my fiancé and I bought a three bedroom house in Stamford, just outside Peterborough. We are renovating it. I’d rather not say how much it’s worth.

What’s the one luxury you treat yourself to?

A spa vacation four times a year with my fiancee. We go to Champneys and as we are members of the Vitality Insurance we get a 75 per cent discount.

It usually costs £130 for both of us, including all meals. I think downtime is important if you are driven and ambitious.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do first?

I would increase funding for free school meals and the NHS. I come from the same background as footballer Marcus Rashford, who campaigns for free school meals.

Seeing children go hungry at school touches us at home. My mother also works in a hospital where patients have to wait 14 hours. I would address that by increasing funding for the NHS.

It’s sad to see nurses struggling financially when they do so much for the country. I would raise their salary.

Do you donate money to charity?

Yes. I give monthly to Water Aid and Islamic Aid. I also raise money for various charities. For example, I recently shaved my head to help out a friend, a mother at my child’s school, who has breast cancer. We raised a total of € 1,200.

What is your first financial priority?

Security for my loved ones: my three children, Sorayah, eight, Taaliah, six, Anayyah, two, my mother, my partner, and my siblings. Family and safety are always at the top of my list.