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Have You Got What It Takes to Be a Small-Business Owner?





This checklist will help you determine your potential for owning a small business.

A. Are you a self-starter?

1. I do things on my own. Nobody has to tell me to get going.

2. If someone gets me started, I keep going all right.

3. Easy does it1. I don't put myself out2 until I have to.

B. How do you feel about other people?

1. I like people. I can get along with just about anybody.

2. I have plenty of friends, I don't need anyone else.

3. Most people irritate me.

C. Can you lead others?

1. I can get most people to go along when I start something.

2. I can give the orders, if someone tells me what we should do.

3. I let someone else get things moving.

D. Can you take responsibility?

1. I like to take charge of things and see them through.

2. I'll take over if I have to, but I'd rather let someone else be responsible.

3. There's always some eager person who wants to look smart. I'm glad to let that person do the work.

E. How good an organizer are you?

1. I like to have a plan before I start. I'm usually the one to get things lined up when the group wants to do something.

2. I do all tight unless things get too confused. Then I quit.

3. When I get all set something comes along and presents too many problems. So I just take things as they come.

F. How good a worker are you?

1. I can keep going as long as I need to. I don't mind working hard for something I want.

2. I'll work hard for a while. But when I've had enough, that's it.

3. I can't see that hard work gets you anywhere.

G. Can you make decisions?

1. I can make up my mind in a hurry if I have to. It usually turns out okay, too.

2. I can if I have plenty of time. If I have to make up my mind fast, later I think that I should have decided the other way.

3. I don't like to be the one who has to decide things.

H. Can people trust what you say?

1. You bet they can3. I don't say things I don't mean.

2. I try to be on the level most of the time, but sometimes I just say what is easiest.



3. Why bother if the other person doesn't know the difference?

I. Can you stick with it?

1. If I make up my mind to do something, I don't let anything stop me.

2. I usually finish what I start – if it goes well.

3. If it doesn't go well right away, I quit. Why beat your brains out4?

J. How good is your health?

1. I never run down.

2. I have energy for most things I want to do.

3. I run out of energy sooner than most of my friends seem to.

Directions: If most of your checks were beside the first answer you probably have what it takes to operate a business successfully. If not, you are likely to have difficulty and should consider getting a partner to compensate for your weaknesses. If most of your checks were beside the third answer, not even a good partner will enable you to overcome the deficiencies indicated.

Notes

1. Easy does it – Тише едешь, дальше будешь

2. put oneself out – стараться изо всех сил, выложиться

3. You bet (they can) – Можете не сомневаться.

3. beat one's brains out - ломать голову, прикладывать максимум усилий

 

Text 4

Read the text and choose the most suitable title out of those given below.

- Small Business in the USA

- The Small Business Administration

- The Small Business Act

- Criticism of the SBA

The Small Business Administration, or SBA, is a United States Government agency that provides support to small businesses.

The SBA was established in 1953 by the United States Congress with the passage of the Small Business Act. Its functions are to make loans to small businesses unable to obtain financing from private sources on reasonable terms; to help small firms sell their products and services to the federal government; to make loans to small business concerns affected by natural disasters; to license and regulate privately owned investment companies that make loans to small businesses; to develop and improve the managerial skills of prospective and current small-business owners; and to provide aid and support to women and minority groups in order to increase their participation in small-business ownership. The head of the agency is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.



The SBA has directly or indirectly helped nearly 20 million businesses and currently holds a portfolio of roughly 219,000 loans worth more than $45 billion making it the largest single financial backer of businesses in the United States.

The SBA has survived a number of threats to its existence. In 1996 the then Republican-controlled House of Representatives planned to eliminate the agency. It survived and went on to receive a record high budget in 2000. Renewed efforts by the Bush Administration to end the SBA loan program have met congressional resistance, although the SBA's budget has been repeatedly cut.

The SBA has been subject to criticism on several occasions. Businesses applying for SBA loans are supposed to have previously been turned down by at least two banks. Designed to avoid direct competition with banks, this provision allows the most promising projects to be funded by the private sector leaving higher risk projects to be picked up by the government resulting in the government holding a higher share of non-performing loans.

The SBA has most recently been criticized for the manner in which it disbursed loans earmarked for businesses directly affected by September 11th. Lax oversight resulted in widespread abuse of the program as the low-interest loans were awarded unaffected business.

2. Draw up a plan of the text and use it to summarize the contents.

3. Find out if there is a specialized government agency in your country, performing the functions similar to those of the SBA. Present its profile to the group.

Text 5

Self-employment

1. Before you read the text discuss the following questions with your partners:

1. What do you understand by self-employment?

2. What advantages might there be in self-employment?

3. What disadvantages might there be?

2. Make sure you know the following words and phrases.

off the beaten track - в стороне от оживленных мест, дорог

go from strength to strength – библ. приходить от силы в силу; постоянно расти, улучшаться

touch and go (attr.) – рискованный, критический, опасный

Catch 22 – ловушка 22 – взаимопротиворечивые условия; положение, из которого трудно выйти; бюрократические препоны на пути к цели (выражение из одноименного романа американского писателя Дж.Хеллера (1961)



financial track record – кредитная история

3. Read the interview of a small business owner and get ready to answer the questions that follow.

It's a small bookshop in the centre of Brighton. A place called George Street. It's a little bit off the beaten track, not in the main shopping street, because when we were first setting up, we didn't have the money to afford the rent on such premises. We sell books to students of English as a Foreign Language, and teachers in their schools. We've been open for about four years now.

The reason we set up the shop in the first place was because both of had been teachers for many years and we had the desire to be self-employed rather than working for someone else all the time.

We've just gone from strength to strength, really. It was the first six or eight months which were touch and go, trying to get new customers, but now we're very busy. We've got two other people working here.

Setting up the shop in the first place, as with all small businesses was very difficult, because it's sort of Catch 22. You have no financial track record in running a business yourself, so nobody wants to lend you any money. And you've never previously ordered goods on credit from anyone, so nobody wants to supply you any goods on credit.

So the most difficult thing is to get your potential suppliers, in our case educational publishers, to agree to supply you with your opening stock and wait for their money. And the other one is to find some friendly bank manager who's willing to lend you cash at an extortionate rate of interest, which is always the case with business loans.

Having got over those two problems, and found a property that we could operate from, the rest of it seems to have been comparatively easy. The business is going so fast now, we're beginning to wonder whether it's the business which is running us or us running the business. That's the problem.

The other thing is that you don't escape from being told what to do when you become self-employed. Because when you're an employee, your boss tells you what to do. And when you're self-employed, it's your bank manager or your accountant or most of all your customers who tell you what to do. So you still find yourself tipping your cap to someone or other.

4. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the speaker’s business? What does he sell? In which town? 2. Why isn’t his shop in a main street? 3. Why did he and his wife start the shop? 4. Have they been successful? 5. What were their first months in business like? 6. What are the common problems with setting up a small business? 7. What did the speaker need: a. from educational publishers? b. from a bank manager? 8. Do they feel themselves free from others’ dictatorship now when they are self-employed? 9. Who tells the self-employed person what to do? 10. What do you think ‘tipping your cap to someone’ means?

Language

1. Practise reading the following words aloud; in case of difficulties consult a dictionary.

Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial, priority, familiarity, employer, employee, franchise, franchisor, franchisee.

2. Complete the following table.

Verb Noun Adjective
Own owner/ownership -
  Risk  
Dream    
    creative
    strong
weaken    
familiarize    
Will    
    successful

 

3.a) Form nouns using one of the following patterns a+-(i)tyàn, a+-nessàn; make the necessary adjustments in the words; give their Russian equivalents; the first has been done for you:

ableàability – способность; weakàweakness - слабость

Able, weak, (im)possible, aware, necessary, familiar, willing, clear, formal, prior, real, creative, personal, busy, certain, effective, difficult.

b) Use some of these words either as an adjective or as a noun in the following sentences; the initial letter of the word is given as a prompt:

1. There is a strong p……. that they win the next election. 2. When starting your own business you should be a……. of all possible risks. 3. Applicants should demonstrate a f……. with bookkeeping. 4. You need e……. communication within the organization. 5. The boss shouldn’t be disturbed unless it is absolutely n……. . 6. We were impressed by his w……. to listen and learn. 7. Success is by no means c……. . 8. Just try to do the job to the best of you’re a……. . 9. The loss puts our company in financial d……. . 10. I’ll keep Thursday afternoon c……. in case we need to meet. 11. We went through usual f……… at customs and passport control. 12. She resigned from her job for p……. reasons. 13. We offer people the opportunity to be c……. .

4. Form agent nouns from the following verbs (nouns) according to the given pattern, work out the Russian equivalents of the resulting nouns.

employ

 

employer employee

one who employs one who is employed

работодатель, наниматель работающий по найму

 

train, pay, franchise, mortgage, trust

 

5. Form agent nouns (names of people or things) by adding –er to a phrase;give the Russian equivalents of the resulting nouns.

to own a business +-er à a business owner – владелец бизнеса; to process words – a word-processor – текстовый процессор

take a risk, make decisions, produce cars, to rise early, to write textbooks, throw flame, get attention, break ice, do wrong (things), pinch pence, kill pain, bust stress, tell stories, hold shares, seek a job, raise money, supply energy, provide the Internet (services).

6. Match the synonyms. 7. Match the opposites.

1. found a. sponsor 1. accept a. disable
2. difficulty b. opportunity 2. succeed b. borrower
3. effective c. own 3. strength c. disinterested
4. goal d. hardship 4. reasonable d. refuse
5. chance e. assistance 5. enable e. ineffective
6. possess f. aim 6. interested f. fail
7. trait g. intelligent 7. lender g. unreasonable
8. clever h. efficient 8. effective h. weakness
9. backer i. set up    
10. aid j. feature    

 

8. Form word partnerships (more than one option is possible) and use them in the sentences of your own.

pursue assume recognize own make establish set cut grant an opportunity a company a risk a dream a budget priorities goals a loan a profit

 

9. Sort out the following verbs and idioms denoting a degree of success in business under three headings:

Success Survival Failure
     
     

 

Boom; succeed; fail; breakeven; go bust; be in debt; prosper; lose count of millions; make a considerable profit; keep/stay afloat; thrive; sink; be a success; be a failure; survive; reach a break-even point; keep one’s head above water; flourish; be a flop; get a business off the ground.

10. Complete the sentences with appropriate prepositions.

1. He is a great expert … international management. 2. This book of tips for entrepreneurs was published in association … the Small Business Administration. 3. Could I interest you … something from our range of beauty products? 4. We have dealt … the company for years. 5. To make the right decision we need to look carefully … all options. 6. The project’s success depends … the support of everyone concerned. 7. They supplied us … our opening stock of clothes … credit and agreed to wait … their money. 8. Are you fully aware … all the difficulties that you'll have to overcome? 9. We only deal … companies which have a good credit record. 10. All successful entrepreneurs share a number … common traits.

11. Match the following phrasal verbs with their meanings; in case of difficulty consult a dictionary:

1. get something lined up 2. run out of sth 3. run down 4. set up 5. make up one's mind 6. take charge of 7. keep going 8. put oneself out 9. get going 10. stick to sth 11 get along with sb 12 see things through   a. take responsibility for controlling or caring for sth b. start doing something c. continue to do one particular thing and not to change it or stop it; continue to follow a particular path d. try hard, do one's best even if it causes problems for you e. continue doing sth f. organize or prepare things g. establish or arrange h. like each other and be friendly to each other i. to use all of sth and not have any left j. lose power; get exhausted k. continue doing something until it is finished, especially something unpleasant or difficult l. make a decision

 

12. Translate the following sentences into Russian with a focus on phrasal verbs.

1. She really put herself out to get everything ready for us. 2. I think we should stick to our original plan. 3. Since he took his extra job he's really run himself down. 4. My doctor said I was looking run-down and ought to take some time to rest. 5. I can't make up my mind whether to buy it or not. 6. Many hospitals are running out of money. 7. They got a series of activities lined up to keep their business partner entertained. 8. A committee has been set up to organize social events in the college. 9. The boss asked him to take charge of the office for a few days while she was away. 10. I get along well with most of my colleagues. 11. Don't give up; keep going. 12. Having come this far, we were determined to see things through.

13. Complete the sentences with the words given using them as either countable or uncountable nouns; make the necessary form adjustments – mind the number of the noun and the article). Translate the sentences into Russian.

1) business

a. She’s finished college and now she works in … . b. The two brothers started up (…) clothes retailing … . c. If the introductions are over I’d like to get down to … . d. Many small … fail in the first year. e. Are you here for … or pleasure? f. Those were the years of private enterprise, when lots of small … were started. g. Mathew’s little shop has turned into (…) thriving … . h. Our firm does a lot of … with overseas customers. i. I have a hobby out of which I think I could make … . j. Most small … go through a period of time before they break even, and considerably more time before they make a profit. k. It was a mistake to go into … with my brother.

2) venture

a. There are many joint … between American and Japanese companies. b. They’ll need to raise £1 million in … capital if they’re to get the business off the ground. c. I don’t think he will obtain another loan because all his previous … failed.

3) enterprise

a. Euro Disney is (…) much smaller … than its American counterparts. b. The country needs a government that works to encourage free … . c. They’re involved in (…) exciting scientific … . d. We need someone with … and imagination to design a marketing strategy. e. Don’t forget this is (…) commercial … – we’re here to make money. f. Margaret Thatcher often talked about the benefits of private … and said that her achievement was to establish an … economy in Britain. g. State-owned … account for 90% of the country’s output.

14. Complete the passage by filling in the blanks with the words given below.

 








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