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Файл:Introduction into Business
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MAKE UP YOUR OWN SITUATION OF BUSINESS PROPOSING
READING
I
A young entrepreneur
Jayson Meyer was sixteen when he and his younger brother Matthew started
their technology company. Jayson lives in Daytona Beach, Florida, in the USA. He
looks like any typical university student, buy Jayson doesn’t go to university. He
doesn’t need to. He is already a successful businessman. Jayson is a co0founder and
CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Meyer Technologies, Inc.
At high school Jayson spent a lot of time working on computers for the school
and local businesses. He didn’t have time for school work, but he could fix almost
any computer problem. So when he was fifteen Jayson left school and went into business full time. With his brother he set up a shop at the local weekend market.
The business was successful and quickly went from making $ 4000 in the first
year to $ 100000 per year. Soon Meyer Technologies, Inc expanded and was making
over $ 500000. The company builds special computers and creates software programs
for its clients. Many small businesses in Florida can’t afford in-house computer support. They rely on service companies like Meyer Technologies to maintain their computers, and the company has plenty of customers. In 2000 the sales grew to over $1
million. Not bad for a business whose CEO was not old enough to vote!
Currently Jayson is helping to grow another company called Work Smart MD,
which makes special software for doctors’ offices. Jayson now employs a number of
technical staff and most of them are older than their boss. Jayson himself works 80 to
100 hours a week and often sleeps at the office. He doesn’t have a lot of free time to
do the things that most young people do, but he doesn’t mind. He says, ‘I’d rather be
building an international business. I think about my business most of the time – it’s in
my blood’.
1. What is an entrepreneur? Do you know any famous entrepreneurs?
Would you like to be one? Would you like to do what Jayson Meyer does?
2. Find the verbs (1-8) in the articles. Match them with the word or phrase
(a-h) that has a similar meaning.
1 fix a repair
2 set up b depend on
3 build c make
4 create d construct
5 afford e start
6 rely on f pay for
7 maintain g give work to
8 employ h look after
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*3. Work in pairs. Role play an interview with Jayson Meyer. You are a
journalist and here are your notes for some questions to ask. Add two more
questions.
1. Do you think you are a typical seventeen year old?
2. Why did you start Meyer Technologies?
3. Who are your clients?
4. How successful is Meyer Technologies?
II
Getting started in business
What do Juan from Spain and Jessica from the USA have in common? They
are both teenagers running successful businesses. Juan, 16, has a gardening business
with 75 clients and three employees. Jessica’s company cleans new houses. She start-
ed it when she was 14. if you want to start a business, good planning is important.
Here are some tips.
1. Get organized. Decide what your skills are. Find out if there is a market for
them in your area, e.g. ask your neighbours what they need. Babysitting, coaching for
exams or sports and computer training are all possibilities.
2. Decide how much money you need to start your business. Think about how
to get the capital. You can use your own money or you can ask the bank for a loan. If
you get a loan, be sure you can afford to pay the interest.
3. Calculate your costs. First, work out your fixed costs, for example, the rent
on your office or the interest on a loan. Then add your variable costs, for example,
equipment or tax (if you pay).
4. Work out how much to charge for your service. Find out what other people
are charging and use this to set your own prices.
5. Your revenue is the amount of money you receive from selling your service.
You need to calculate this very carefully. Your revenue is the number of hours
worked multiplied by the price per hour.
6. Your business will make a profit if your revenue for a year is more than
your costs. If your costs are higher than the revenue, you’ll make a loss. Work out
carefully the number of hours you need to work.
1. This article gives advice for someone who wants to start his own business. Match the questions (a-f) with the paragraphs (1-6).
A How much will my business cost to run?
B How do I get started?
C Where will I get the money?
D Can I make a profit?
E How much money will I make?
F How much should I charge?
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2. Match the highlighted words in the text with the definitions (1-7).
1. an amount of money you need to start a business
2. the money you receive from selling a product or service
3. what you make if your revenue is more than your costs
4. what you make if your revenue is less than your costs
5. an amount of money that someone, e.g. the bank, lends you
6. money you pay for things or services to run your business
7. an amount you pay for borrowing money, e.g. from the bank
*3. How much free time do you have outside university? How do you
spend it? Would you like to spend some of your free time earning money?
You have decided to start a small business to earn extra money, discuss
these questions.
1. What service are you going to sell?
2. How much capital do you need to start it?
3. What are your fixed and variable costs?
4. What price will you charge?
5. How many hours’ work will cover your costs?
6. How much profit will you make?
III
Geeks
Although they live hundreds miles apart, Steven Jobs and William Gates have
much in common. Both were born in 1956. Both were pioneers in the personal computer industry. And both became multi-millionaires when they were still in their 20’s.
The earliest computers were highly technical machines, understandable only to
scientists. Steven Jobs thought that if computers were easier to use and less expensive, the public would buy them. He was right. With $ 1300 (most of which came
from the sale of his second-hand Volkswagen van), Jobs produced what he called the
Apple I computer. The success of the Apple I gave him the money to finance the
design of new and improved personal computers.
Bill Gates started in the computer industry when he was at school and has become the world’s youngest billionaire by the age of 31. A combination of technical
brilliance and competitive business tactics quickly made him the most powerful man
in Silicon Valley. He was intrigued by the success of the new personal computers
coming into the market in the 1970’s. Gates realized that the success of personal
computers would depend on the “user-friendly” (easy-to-use) software. In 1975 he
co-founded Microsoft Corporation which designed the basic operating software for
all IBM and IBM-compatible personal computers.
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Today Microsoft Corporation is the largest software company. But Bill Gates
wants his company Microsoft to be more than just a software house and in recent
years it has diversified into many new fields.
What are the approaches of Steven Jobs and Bill Gates to developing
computer industry?
IV
Successful Entrepreneurs
But you don’t need to be a computer whiz to be a success in business!
When she was eight years old, Carolyn Bennett was given a kaleidoscope. The
colorful shares she saw through the viewfinder fascinated her. Carolyn never lost
interest in kaleidoscopes and as a young adult learned to make them. At first she gave
her kaleidoscopes to friends and relatives as presents. Soon people were asking her to
sell them her kaleidoscopes. The demand was so great that in 1978 she quit her teaching job and entered the kaleidoscope manufacturing business.
In 1987 C .Bennett Scopes, as her business is called, produced more than 50000
scopes retailing for $10 to $450.
You’ve probably heard of rags-to-riches stories. Sam Johnson, owner of the
Lincoln/Mercury automobile agency bearing his name in Charlotte, North Carolina
lived one. Poverty was no stranger to young Sam who was one of 11 children of
share-cropping parents.
Starting at the very bottom of auto-sales business in 1959, Sam’s first job was
as a $25-a-week car washer for a Buick dealer in St. Louis. Two years later his boss
gave him cars on consignment for sales on the side, and two years after that he was
working for the agency as a full-time salesman.
Johnson did so well at sales that by 1973 he had saved enough to buy his first
Ford dealership, a run-down agency that he was able to buy at a bargain price in East
St. Louis. Johnson turned the St. Louis agency around and as sales climbed he was
able to put aside the money he needed to buy a part and then full ownership of the
Sam Johnson Lincoln Mercury automobile agency in Charlotte, North Carolina.
That was in 1981. Today Johnson Lincoln Mercury grosses well over $80 million a year, and Sam Johnson has time to assist other members of the AfricanAmerican community in learning about and starting careers in the automobile industry.
Jobs, Gates, Bennett and Johnson have a number of things in common. For one
thing they can be described as entrepreneurs, people who own and operate their own
business in the hope of earning profit. The search for profit is the driving force behind production in a free enterprise system. In order to make a profit an entrepreneur
must create a useful product, develop an efficient method of production, finance production and market the product at a price that exceeds the cost. Entrepreneurs enter
business knowing that success is not guaranteed and if things do not go as planned,
they could wind up losing money.
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1. What do Carolyn Bennett and Sam Johnson deal with?
2. What are entrepreneurs?
3. What is the driving force in a free enterprise system?
4. What should be done to make a profit?
V
Becoming an entrepreneur
There are a number of reasons people think about owing a business of their
own. Personal independence, unlimited profit potential, the opportunity to work at
something that they really love, at hours they choose are some of the reasons people
have given for trying entrepreneurship. Many business leaders begin their careers as
entrepreneurs after four years of undergraduate college training and even additional
graduate school training. Others become successful entrepreneurs without special
training.
Entrepreneurial programs. Many colleges now offer programs that teach
students how to start and operate a business. Basic information is combined with
hands-on experience and the advice of successful business consultants. These programs help potential entrepreneurs decide whether their own ideas are good and how
to follow through with them. With the high rate of business failure, this approach can
prevent personal financial losses.
On-the Job training. A common way to learn about a business and the opportunities for starting similar to it, is to learn while working for someone else. That
pattern was used by several of the entrepreneur mentioned earlier. It provides a
source of steady income to people while they are planning to start their own business.
About 50% of entrepreneurs start their business in industries in which they have some
experience.
The family. Evidence shows that people who come from families whose members were in business themselves are more likely to start their own companies. Ap-
parently it doesn’t matter whether the business was successful or not. Relatives oper-
ating a business and enjoying the fruits of their labour present a “model” for a possi-
ble career.
Starting a small business. There are many aids for people who want to start a
small business. Through the Small Business Administration established in 1953 the
federal government provides help in the form of literature and counseling through
110 offices in 100 cities throughout the country. Professional small business consultants can also be hired to help potential entrepreneurs make the necessary decisions.
The overall message from people who give advice on the subject to get all the information you can before you decide.
1. What are the different ways of becoming entrepreneur?
2. What are the reasons of becoming entrepreneur?
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3. What are the aims of entrepreneurial programs and how they help to
start a business?
4. What else can help those people who want to become entrepreneurs?
VI
Risks and benefits of starting a new business
Unfortunately two out of three new businesses fail within their first four years.
According to a President’s report, The State of Small Business, the share of small
business output has been declining. Large companies, in part due to their efficiency,
have taken over markets that previously belonged to small businesses. Nevertheless,
estimates showed that small businesses, defined by the International Revenue Service
as businesses having fewer than 500 employees, accounted for 39% of all the goods
and services produced in America.
According to the report, small businesses face many other problems. Bad economic times affect small business more than they do big business. In addition, small
business profits tend to fall faster, and small businesses are more likely to fail. Ac-
cording to the President’s report, ‘The larger the firm, the better the chance it has of
surviving’. The report also said, ‘A firm with 21-50 employees has 54 % chance of
surviving four years. A firm of under 20 employees has 37 % chance of surviving
four years.
What are the problems that face small business now? The National Federation
of Independent Business reported that the four top problems facing small business at
that time were taxes, low sales, the high cost of borrowing money and competition
from other businesses. On the bright side, the innovativeness of entrepreneurs in
small businesses is likely to enable small business to react quickly and successfully to
changing times. The report points out that 80% of new jobs are provided by businesses with 100 or fewer employees. Small businesses produce twice as many innovations
per employee as larger firms. Those innovations are the source of new jobs and new
opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Where is entrepreneurship most likely to be welcomed? The answer is in small
business. In fact the word ‘entrepreneur’ is frequently used to define a small business
owner, since the owners in small businesses usually carry out many of the functions
of those businesses themselves. In large business the tasks of organizing and operating are done by many hired managers. Large and small businesses are organized in
different ways to meet their objectives.
1. What are the problems that face small business?
2. Where is entrepreneurship most likely to be welcomed?
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UNIT 4
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Most individuals and firms need the banking services offered by commercial
banks. A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits and makes commercial
loans. A bank deposit is an amount of money paid into a bank account or held in a
bank account especially when it is earning interest.
The main function of banks is to act as “financial middlemen”. They channel
money from depositors to investors, from those wishing to save money for future
use to those wanting to spend it now. Deposits can be in the form of savings accounts or checking accounts. Savings account is a bank account for saving money
over a long period of time usually with higher interest. Checking account is a bank
account that allows the customer to use a cheque book and provides services such as
bill payments. People who deposit their savings in banks get deposit insurance.
Another function of banks is to make loans. This function is very important to
the economy. Business loans enable firms to meet current bills and finance expansion. Consumer loans enable individuals and families to get goods and services
immediately paying for them with future earnings.
One of the principal sources of income earned by banks is the interest on their
loans. Checking accounts with bank loans provide a means for expanding the money supply.
Active Vocabulary
financial institution – финансовое учреждение
accept – принимать
deposit – вклад
account – банковский счет
middleman – посредник
current – текущий
savings account – сберегательный счет
checking (current) account – текущий счет
cheque book – чековая книжка
bill – коммунальный счет
Tasks
1. Translate the following combinations into Russian.
to need the banking services
to accept deposits
to make commercial loans
an amount of money
to pay into a bank account
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to hold in a bank account
to earn interest
to act as “financial middlemen”
to channel money
to save money for future use
to save money over a long period of time
with higher interest
to allow the customer
to use a cheque book
to provides service
bill payments
to deposit their savings in banks
to get deposit insurance
to make loans
to enable firms
to meet current bills
to finance expansion
to enable individuals and families
to get goods and services
to pay with future earnings
the principal sources of income
the interest on loans
to provide means
to expand the money supply.
2. Translate into English using the expressions from the previous task.
1. нуждаться в банковских услугах
2. принимать вклады и делать займы
3. денежный объем, хранимый на банковском счете
4. зарабатывать процент
5. действовать в качестве финансовых посредников
6. переводить деньги от вкладчиков к инвесторам
7. экономить деньги для будущего использования
8. сохранить деньги на длительный период
9. использовать чековую книжку
10. обеспечивать оплату счетов
11. получать страховку вклада
12. позволять фирмам покрывать текущие счета
13. финансировать расширение
14. позволять семьям получать товары и услуги немедленно
15. оплата из будущих заработков
16. основной источник дохода
17. обеспечивать средства для расширения денежного потока
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3. Study the new words and make your own sentences with them.
4. Translate into English using the expressions from the previous tasks.
1. Все предприниматели нуждаются в банковских услугах.
2. Финансовые учреждения принимают вклады и делают займы.
3. Весь денежный объем обычно хранится на банковском счете.
4. Деньги на банковском счете зарабатывают процент.
5. Финансовые учреждения действуют в качестве финансовых посред-
ников.
6. Они переводят деньги от вкладчиков к инвесторам.
7. Банки помогают экономить деньги для будущего использования.
8. Предприниматели могут сохранить деньги на длительный период.
9. Банки позволяют использовать чековую книжку для оплаты комму-
нальных счетов.
10. Текущий счет позволяет обеспечивать оплату товаров и услуг.
11. Вкладчики всегда получают страховку вклада.
12. Банковские услуги позволяют фирмам покрывать текущие счета.
13. Банковские займы позволяют финансировать расширение бизнеса.
14. Потребительские займы позволяют семьям получать товары и услуги
немедленно.
15. Оплата из будущих заработков – очень удобна.
16. Основной источник дохода банка – процент за хранение вклада.
17. Текущие счета обеспечивают средства для расширения денежного
потока.
5. Match the notion and its definition.
bank savings account checking account insurance loan
interest deposit
1. an amount of money that a bank lends you
2. a contract relating to a particular risk
3. a financial institution that accepts deposits and makes commercial loans
4. a bank account that allows the customer to use a cheque book and provides
services such as bill payments
5. the money we pay for borrowing money from a bank or the income from
lending money
6. an amount of money paid into a bank account or held in a bank account es-
pecially when it is earning interest
7. a bank account for saving money over a long period of time usually with
higher interest
6. Define the meaning of the words highlighted in the text.
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7. Fill in each blank with a suitable word.
1. They …… money from depositors to investors.
2. People who deposit their savings in banks get deposit …… .
3. Another function of banks is to make …… .
4. Business loans enable firms to meet ……. bills.
5. Consumer loans are paid with future …… .
6. One of the principal …… of income is the interest.
7. Checking accounts with bank loans provide a means for expanding the
money …… .
Insurance channel loans current sources earnings supply
8. Questions and tasks.
1. What is a bank?
2. What is a bank deposit?
3. How do the banks perform their main function?
4. Explain the difference between savings account and checking account.
5. What do people who deposit their savings in banks get?
6. What do business loans enable to do?
7. What do consumer loans enable to do?
8. What are the principal sources of income earned by banks?
9. What do checking accounts with bank loans provide?
GRAMMAR REVIEW
Conditionals
1. CHECK. Here is a way of remembering the use of the first and second
conditional sentences in English.
First conditional Second conditional
Realistic condition – result Hypothetical condition – result
If you do that, this will happen. If you did that, this would happen.
2. First or second conditional? Here are two sentences. Notice that differ-
ent forms of the verb are used in the two sentences. Why?
If you want to borrow for longer, it’ll be slightly more.
What would happen if you lost your job?
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