"it was something we decided to explore"
At just 17, Arjun Rajyagor won the BBC’s first Junior Apprentice series in 2010, securing a £25,000 prize.
Lord Alan Sugar told him he had “natural business flair combined with intelligence” and could be “the best at whatever he wants to do”.
Now aged 32, Arjun is leading a SaaS (software as a service) business that helps doctors prescribe medicinal cannabis.
Arjun’s inspiration was close to home.
He cares full-time for his mother Usha, who has been bedridden for around 15 years.
When the UK legalised medicinal cannabis in 2018, the family decided to explore it as a treatment.
He explained: “My mum (Usha) is not well, she’s been bedridden for the last 15 years or so and is a chronic pain patient, and as a primary carer, I was kind of looking for something to help her, and when medicinal cannabis was legalised in 2018, it was something we decided to explore, because we tried everything else, and there were no other options available to us really.”
His company, incorporated in 2023, now supports 10,000 prescriptions every month. The cloud-based software helps doctors speed up the approval and dispensing process.
From November 1, 2018, specialist NHS doctors have been permitted to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products.
This applies in cases where other treatments have failed, such as severe epilepsy, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis.
Epidyolex is one of the approved products. It contains cannabidiol (CBD), but not tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), so it does not cause a high.
Arjun’s understanding of business came early.
His parents ran a local post office in South Ockendon, Essex, where he picked up lessons in finance and customer service.
He said the experience helped him understand “balance” in business.
Despite his success, he says Lord Sugar still plays a part in his journey:
“Lord Sugar’s always there should I ever need business advice or I want to make a call to understand how something works.
“It’s always nice to know that I’ve got him in my corner.”
Before launching his current venture, Arjun was already a self-employed computer repairman.
His entrepreneurial spirit earned him national attention as a teenager on Junior Apprentice, where he stood out for both technical skill and resilience.
Arjun said: “You get dropped into some of the most complicated, but most interesting problem spaces and told to sink or swim.
“Which I guess is a good representation of what life can be like at times.
“It did teach me that when it comes to business, there is nothing that is below your pay grade.”
During the series, he wore a cupcake costume for eight hours as part of a selling task. In the final challenge, he had to market bottled water.
He remembers the fame that followed, saying:
“I remember Year 7 students who’d just come in [to school] – kind of in awe looking at me and it was really weird.”
Though the Junior Apprentice was cancelled after three series in 2012, Arjun says the contestants still stay in touch.
“I’ll check on everyone at least once a year to check what they’re up to.”
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