Vocabulary

Bankrupt – банкрот

Business plan – бизнес–план

Company – компания

Competition – соревнование

Demand – спрос

Distribution – распределение

Entrepreneur – предприниматель

Finance – финансы

Loss – убытки

Market share – доля рынка

Profit – прибыль

Start-up – компания, недавно появившаяся на рынке, пуск в эксплуатацию

A start-up is a new business. Many people decide to start up their own business because they have what they think is a good business idea and they want to become entrepreneurs. But it is important to prepare a good business plan before you start. You need to know if there is a demand for the products or services you want to offer. If you can finance the operation, find customers and beat the competition, you have a good chance of making a profit. Then you can call your business a success.

To begin with, of course, a successful company has to make a profit. That means that it has to keep costs as low as possible – the cost of manufacturing, for example. Secondly you need to make big sales so there has to be a demand for your products. And of course, you want to be competitive. If your competitor brings out a better product, you can lose customers. The most successful companies control the market. That means they have a bigger percentage of sales and a bigger market share than their competitors. Their product is market leader. It sells more than any other product in that sector. Another factor for success is growth. No company wants to stand still. Successful companies are always finding new markets and new opportunities to grow.

Well, the first step, of course, is to develop a new product idea. Many people decide to start a business because they have a good idea. But you have to remember that about 80 per cent of new business ideas fail. Usually it is because people don’t understand the market. So the second step is to conduct market research.

Answer the questions according to the text:

1. What can companies do to make more profit?

2. What happens if a competitor brings out a better product?

3. What does it mean when you say that 'no company wants to stay still'?

4. What makes a successful company?

5. What is it important before the start-up?

EXERCISES:

1. Match each word in the box to its definition below. Then translate the words into your language.

aptitude	background	experience
know-now	knowledge	skill

1. Knowledge that you need to be able to do something:______

96. Information that someone knows:_______

97. An ability to do something well, especially because you have practiced it:________

98. Knowledge or skill you get from being in different situations:_______

99. The type of education, experience and family that you have:________

100. A natural ability to do something well or to learn it quickly:_________