Vocabulary

to go into business – начинать (открывать) бизнес

to go out of business – прекращать бизнес

goods – товары

to sell – продавать

bulk – крупная партия товара

wholesale – оптовый

wholesaler – оптовый торговец, оптовое предприятие

retailer – розничный торговец

to sell retail – продавать в розницу

to compete – конкурировать

customer – покупатель

rival – соперник

demand – спрос

local – местный

home or domestic market – внутренний рынок

abroad – за рубежом

international or overseas market – международный, внутренний рынок

Choose the right answer

1. a firm which is just starting up is ________.

1. going into business

2. is in business

3. going out of business

2. A company which sells goods in large quantities is called ________.

1. a wholesaler

2. a retailer

3. a wholesale distributor

3. Two or more companies which sell or manufacture the same product are ________.

1. customers

2. retailers

3. competitors

4. A company which sells goods abroad is ________.

1. an importer

2. an exporter

3. a rival

5. An area where there is a demand for certain goods is called a ________.

1. business

2. market

3. importation

Complete the sentences using the text.

1. A wholesaler is a person or a company selling … .

2. A retailer is a person or a company selling … .

3. A customer is a person … .

4. A competitor is a person or a company … .

Answer the following questions.

1. Why can a company go out of business?

2. When can a firm expand?

3. What do you buy wholesale?

4. What can you buy retail?

5. What famous manufacturing companies of our country do you know?

6. Which of them sell goods on the overseas market?

7. What must a company have to be competitive?

8. What can a firm do to win its rivals?

9. What products in our domestic market can be competitive abroad?

Give the summary of the text in 5 sentences using as many new words as possible.

May be some day some of you will start a business of your own. Let us check if you have abilities for that.

Test

Are you adventurous?

Give answers to these questions and be honest!

1. When a phone rings at home and you’re in the room, what happens?

1. You wait to see if anyone else will answer it. If they don’t, you do it.

2. You usually jump up first to answer it.

3. You leave the room.

2. What’s your attitude towards learning to drive?

1. You don’t see any point in learning.

2. You’ll learn when you have to.

3. You’ll learn as soon as you can.

3. A friend invites you out somewhere and you agree to go. Later he, or she tells you there’ll be some people there you don’t know. What’s your first thought?

1. I hope I’ll like them.

2. I wish I could find a good reason to get out of this.

3. Great! It’ll be more interesting.

4. You’re on holiday by the beach. A friend is having a good time with his surfboard. You’ve never tried this before, although you can swim very well. He invites you to have a go. What do you do?

1. Make sure the currents are not too strong, you say, “Yes, thanks. I’d love to.”

2. Say “Yes, great!”, grab the board and go out and try it.

3. Say you’d like to try it another time, but are happy to watch him for the moment.

5. You are at the party and see someone of the opposite sex that you like the look of . You would like to speak to him. What do you do?

1. Get someone to introduce you to the person, and start talking to him.

2. Think to yourself: “He/She wouldn’t like me anyway, and never speak to the person.”

3. Find a reason and start talking to him.

6. Your relationship with a girlfriend/boyfriend has become very difficult lately. You’re not enjoying her/his company as much as before and you hardly speak to each other. What do you do?

a) Talk to the boy/girl about the problem, and see if you can find some solution together – either end or change the relationship.

b) Carry on seeing her/him without saying anything. At least it’s someone to go out with.

c) Some other solution.

7) You wake up one Saturday morning with a felling that you want to go out for a day trip somewhere new.

a) You phone up a few friends. They don’t seem to like the idea.

b) You get ready to go. You say you’ll take anyone with you who wants to go, but you’re going anyway.

c) You try to persuade your friends to go where you want to go. They’re not interested in your suggestion, but you all agree to go somewhere else.

8) You have a very important lecture at the University. At the end, you realize that you haven’t understood it. What do you do?

a) Go up to the teacher afterwards and ask him to explain it again.

b) Keep quiet, and copy other people’s work.

c) Ask a friend or someone to explain it to you.

Look at your answers and give yourselves the following points.

1. (a) : 1, (b) : 2, (c) : 0

2. (a) : 0, (b) : 1, (c) : 2

3. (a) : 2, (b) : 0, (c) : 3

4. (a) : 2, (b) : 3, (c) : 1

5. (a) : 1, (b) : 0, (c) : 2

6. (a) : 3, (b) : 2, (c) : 1

7. (a) : 0, (b) : 2, (c) : 1

8. (a) : 2, (b) : 0, (c) : 1

Score 2-7: If you scored this, especially if your score is in the following numbers, then you find the world a very frightening place. You would probably like to do a lot of things, but are afraid of. It’s quite normal to be afraid of doing something new. But it would be good for you if sometimes you did things even though you felt afraid. If you decided to start a business of your own it would be better for you to have partners who you can rely upon.

Score 8-14: A score like this means that you’ve got about the right amount of adventurousness, but you’re still sensible – which is good. Keep that sensible head you’ve got – that’ll help you in taking important decisions.

Score 15-19: This is great, but you’re in danger of taking too many risks. In a lot of ways you’re a very powerful person, with lots of energy. You’ll do almost anything, often without thinking. You’ve got great potential, but don’t get yourself into trouble. If you really use your energy sensibly, you’ll succeed in everything.

Now read a text about sole proprietorships and find out advantages and disadvantages of having and operating a business of your own. Discuss them and compare your ideas with those of your group mates.

The sole proprietors

Many businesses are sole proprietorships, firm owned and operated by a single person. When a person decides to open an independent business, that person is then entirely responsible for its success or failure. Any profits go to the owner; any losses are his or her responsibility as well. If the losses prove to be greater than the investment, the individual is responsible for paying them, even if this depletes his personal assets.

One of the advantages of a sole proprietorship is that an owner can make decisions quickly and decisively without having to consult others. And an individual proprietor by law, pays fewer taxes and at a lower rate than a corporation does.

There are disadvantages of this form of business organization, however. A sole proprietorship ends with the incapacity or death of the owner. The assets can be inherited by a person who may then become an operator, but legally the business dies with its owner. Also, since it is dependant upon the amount of money the owner has saved or can borrow, usually it does not develop into a large-scale enterprise.

In spite of its limitations, the sole proprietorship is well adapted to many kinds of small businesses and suits the temperament of many persons who like to exercise initiative and be their own bosses. Some economic contributions of a small business are:

*A small business is often the starting point for developing a new product or service. One person tries out an idea. If it is successful, the business grows, or the product may be bought by a larger firm.

*The small business can give an individual a chance to gain experience, which the person may use later on a large scale.

*Small businesses are particularly well suited for meeting specialized local needs.

*Artisans can provide individualized products for customers who have grown weary of mass-produced goods.

*Small businesses provide a service where knowing one’s customers is important.

*Sole proprietors are reassuring to customers who believe an individual who is accountable will do a good job.