ADDITIONAL READING

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 459.

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Imagine you are a career adviser. What advice would you give to someone who is ...

Some words here are not used correctly or in their usual way. Correct them.

1 I started studying French at university, but I didn't finish my career and left

after one year.

2 My boss rose my salary with $2,000 a year. I was delighted.

3 I'm underpaid and overworked, like everybody! And I'm always stressed up.

4 My holiday titlement is four weeks a year.

5 He got maternity leave when his wife had a baby.

1 money motivated and who is prepared to take risks?

2 a very talented musician who is not necessarily money motivated?

3 an achiever who has a background in IT and is a very confident person?

4 suffering from a lack of satisfaction in his/her present job?

ROLE PLAY - Business Venture

(a new activity that involves taking risks)

Would you like to lauch your own business? Your objective is to come up with a good idea for a new small enterprise and to persuade other group members (your financial backers) that your venture is most likely to succeed. You can capitalize on your own professional experience or go for a totally new depature. It's up to you.

Working in small groups, draw up a professional business plan to present to the rest of your group. (You may find the checklist below helpful when organizing the relevant information.) Do not worry about detailed cashflow forecasts at this stage, but try to anticipate any questions you may be asked about your business venture.

When other people present their business plans, you should use your list of anticipated questions to ask them to give further details, back up their proposals, or explain anything which seems unclear to you.

Hold a short meeting with the rest of your group to decide which business venture will get financial backing. Put this to a vote. Obviously, you may not vote for your own idea, but should choose what you consider to be the best idea after your own.

Business Plan Checklist

I. The nature and objectives of the business.

- What will be your main business activity?

- What is your own professional background?

- Roughly, how will the business be structured?

- Do you have an overall vision of the company?

II. Personnel.

- Approximately, how many people will the company employ and in what capacity?

III. The product/service in relation to the market.

- What is the state of the market? (Growing, static?)

- How will you product/service be positioned? (Up- or downmarket?)

- Who will be your target customers?

- Who will be your major competitors?

- How will you market your product or service? (Trade press? Mass media? Word of mouth?)

IV. Premises.

- Where will the company be located? Why?

- What kind of property will you require? (Offices, factories? Leased or purchased?)

V. Equipment.

- What general trading equipment, if any, will you require? (Vehicles, computer hardware?)

- What manufacturing equipment, if any, will you require? (Machinery, tools?)

VI. Sales Forecast.

- What are your sales targets for year one?

- What kind of distribution network, if any, will you require?

VII. Financial profile.

- Roughly, how much in the way of funds will you need?

Read the article, say what it was that interested you most, and discuss the article with your groupmates using the words and phrases given in the exercises below.