Module 33.1Business topic: Starting a business

3.2 Business skills: Leaving and taking messages

3.1 Business topic: Starting a business

Vocabulary: Types of business

Reading: We wanna hold your hand

Listening: Advices on franchises & Planning a seminarSpeaking: Discussing a schedule

Vocabulary: Types of businessHere are three different ways to start your own business. Work in pairs and think of one advantage and one disadvantage for each approach.

Sale trader you are self-employed and set up the business on your own. Partnership you are self-employed and start the business with another person. You are both equally liable. Franchise you buy a license to trade under the name of the franchiser and you benefit from the franchiser s expertise.

Advantage

Disadvantage

Sole trader

You take all the profit

If you go bankrupt, You lose everything

partnership

You share the pressure

You might disagree on strategy

Franchise

The business model is given to Part of your profits you so there is less trick. goes to the franchiser.

Reading1.The table below lists things to remember if you are setting up a new business as a sole trader. Read the article and complete the right-hand column.Setting up your own business —good if you have plenty of business experience —very high-risk —many new businesses fall (nine out of ten) —suits people who don’t like to follow rules —for very independent people —has the potential ti become a franchise Becoming a franchisee

We wanna hold your handTake a big piece of business sense, add some entrepreneurial spirit and voila! You have a franchise. Starting up a fanchise could be a very clever move for those who want to run their own show but don t have the experience or the desire to set up in the dangerous and often short-lived world of the sole trader. But it s vital to know what you re getting into. Franchising is the granting of a licence by one person (the franchior) to another (the franchisee) which entitles the franchisee to trade under the trademark or trade name of the franchisor and to make use of an entire package. So is the main concept behind a franchise that of a compromise between setting up on your own and working for a company? Absolutely not, says Dan Archer, head of marketing at the British Franchise Association. That s a ludicrous over-simplification. It is running your own business, but it s taking away some of the risk and bringing in the support of other people. He points out that only 0.9% of franchises fail, compared with the majority of individually owned businesses.

But being a franchisee is unlikely to satisfy the most entrepreneurial. It doesn t suit people who don t want to follow the system. William Ewbank, the head of franchise sales at Domino s Pizza, says, If you re massively entrepreneurial this isn t for you. It s a discipline, a club with rules. There is some independence --- our franchisees can charge

their own prices although we re strict on menu content. It s running a business with help. Astrid Patil, a new Domino s franchisee, abandoned a career as a solicitor to set up a franchise with her husband. The way she reasons it is this: Rather than putting all your time and effort into working for someone else, put it into your own business. Leaving a well-paid, well-respected profession to run a pizza shop at the age of 31 has worked for Patil. There s a good profit margin and the business has seen growth. Of course if you do decide to go it alone and start a business from nothing, you could always branch out into franchising.

Archer says there is now a growth in the number of younger companies that are trying to launch new franchises. An incredible number of individuals are coming in at a younger age with lower capital, getting a return and investing in bigger ventures. If the initial fee can be raised it s an ideal opportunity to stretch those entrepreneurial wings. Back

2. Now read about another small business. Complete the text with the underlined words in bold from the article on franchising on page 26.

Tags that can end misery of lost luggageGlobalbagtag was (0) set up six years ago by husband-and-wife team Chris and Alison Truelove on their return from a holiday in Australia. The couple decided to(1)________ , which sells secure tags which travelers attach to their luggage. They started to (2)___________ ￡9.95 per tag in the first year, followed by a 2.95 subscription (3)_____________ for the following years. Customers activate the tag online with their home address on an online database. If luggage is lost, the person who finds it can log on to the Globalbagtag website and report the missing items. Mr. Truelove said: “We have seen a huge (4)_________ in orders as travelers realize they cannot rely on the airlines to look after their bags. It is actually a very simple (5)___________, Globalbagtag is now planning to (6)_____________ into stickers for items including mobile phones, MP3 players, key and laptops.” set up concept charge launch

branch out

growth

fee

Listening 1Advice on franchises1. Listen to a trainer doing a seminar on being an entrepreneur. What advice does the trainer give? —You must be someone who likes to follow rules and have support from others —Choose a strong band and something you are interested in —You need start-up capital

2. Listen again to the talk. Write in the missing expressions 1. In general _____ _____ _____ you are thinking of…. 2. ______, ______ _____ make sure that the bands are strong. 3. ______ _____, making and selling pizzas might be profitable but… 4. I ______ ______ you need to like hard work. 5. ______, ______ the money. You…

Listening scriptT=Trainer M=Man T: So. That s end of my talk. Are there any questions? Yes? M: Thanks for your talk. It was very interesting. I ve been thinking of starting my own busi

ness and I wondered what you thought of franchises.

T: That s a good question. In general, it s important when you are thinking ofbecoming a franchisee to be someone who likes to follow rules and have support form others. Entrepreneurs tend to be people who don t like following tried and tested routes, so if you don t like doing what other people want, then franchising isn t for you. Secondly, I d say make sure that the brand is strong and that it s something you are interested in. fro example, making and selling pizzas might be profitable but do you want to be doing it for the next five years? I also think you need to like hard work. People shouldn t think that running a franchise is less work than being a sole trader. Finally, there s the money. You still need start up capital. This can be as low as

five thousand pounds and as high as two hundred and thirty thousand pounds fora well-known brand like Domino s Pizza.

Listening 2

Planning a seminar

1. Listen to a message on a voicemail about a seminar. Complete the information on this message pad.

Business Circle Conferencing Naunton Name: Mr. Ray(1)__________ Launching your business online Name of event:(2)________________________ Sunday evening He can’t come to the buffet on (3)____________ because his train doesn’t arrive until 9:15 Please send the schedule to his after(4)_____. naunton@ email which is (5)_________________________.

Listening scriptsRecorded message: Thank you for calling Business Circle Conferencing. Please state your name and address. Then give the name of the event you d like information on and we will send it to you immediately. Please

speak after the tone.Ray: Hello. This is Mr. Ray Naunton. That s N-A-U-N-T-O-N. I m coming to the event next week called Launching your business online and so you ve already got my details. Anyway the reason I m calling is that I won t be able

to arrive in time for registration and the buffet on the Sunday evening. Mytrain doesn t arrive until nine fifteen, so I m going to take a taxi straight to the hotel. So I probably won t get to the training centre until Monday morning. I hope that s OK. Anyway it s just to confirm that I will be there for the course. Oh, and could someone send me the schedule for the two days? You can email it to me at r dot naunton at worldsyouroyster dot com. Worldyouroyster is all one word. That s w-o-r-l-d-s-y-o-u-r-o-y-s-t-e-r. And all in lower case. Thank you.

2. Vanessa and Kirsten are in charge of organizing the seminar at Business Circle Conferencing. Vanessa calls Kirsten to confirm the final arrangements. Add the missing information to Vanessa s notes.

Notes Launching your business online are opening the room at 3 3 pm: Security (1)______________________. set up 4.30pm: people with buffet arrive to (2) _____. 4 pm (3)______: I arrive. twelve Number of delegates: (4)_________________. Registration and buffet ends at a

bout (5) _____. seven

Listening scriptK=Kirsten V=Vanessa K: Hello, Kirsten speaking. V: Hi, Kristen. It s Vanessa. I m just calling to check details for the group on Sunday evening. K: Sure. Security are opening the room at three. Is that early enough? V: Yes, the buffet won t be setting up until four thirty so that s plenty of time. I ll get there at four and I don t think anyone will be arriving before five. According to my records, we have twelve. Is that right? K: Yes. Everyone has confirmed. Oh that reminds me. We ve had a message from Mr. Naunton to say he won t be here until after nine so he s checking straight into the hotel. There s no point in inviting him to come after then, is there? I mean, I assume that we ll have finished by nine. V: By seven, I hope. Well, I hope they ll have gone by then! If they want to get to know each other any longer, they can use the hotel bar. K: Fine. I think that s everything, then. Do you need me to be there? V: No. There s no point in both of us interrupting our weekend. It doesn t need two of us. K: Great. See you on Monday. Bye. V: Bye.

Speaking:Discussing a scheduleYou and your partner are in charge of a training event. Here is the schedule to email out to all participants.New and business: a Seminar for Young Entrepreneurs Monday 15th February 9.00-9.30 Registration and coffee 9.30-11.00 Introduction and talk: A good idea does not necessarily make money. Speaker: Fiona Brewster 11.30-1.00 Workshop and mini-presentations by each participant 1.00-2.00 Lunch 2.00-3.00 Talk: Online businesses — the myth and the truth Speaker: Laszlo Reiner. 3.30—5.00 Workshop: Title to be confirmed.

However, before you confirm these details, read some correspondence and make any changes and notes on the schedule. Finally, meet with your partner to discuss and confirm the final version.From: r.thorne@ Subject: workshop Thank you for inviting me to run a workshop on the 15th. I am delighted to confirm that I will be able to attend. I would like to suggest the title: You might want it but does your Fiona Brewster called. She has a problem with speaking on the 15th. She’s going to be late so asked to TELEPHONE MESSAGE

customer? It will be about targeting thecustomer and improving service. Does that sound OK? I m currently available either morning or afternoon. Please confirm asap.

speak later in the day. Can you changeher session? Maybe to later in the morning or the afternoon?

RegardsRT

Security just said they probably won’t be opening the building until 9.15 on the 15th. It’s a problem with staffing!

Student A

TELEPHONE MESSAGE Laszio Reiner called to confirm his talk. His flight lands at 8.30 on

Subject: another change! Hi I rang earlier and left a message saying I’d be late and couldn’t do the morning session. Actually I can now but it will have to be mid morning. Then I definitely have to leave after lunch. S

orry to change

Sunday evening. Will you be meetinghim? By the way, he seems to think he’s speaking for two hours not one. He also said it isn’t reallly a talk – more of a discussion and workshop. Can you let him know?

things around like this.Fiona

The company doing the buffet on Monday have made a mistake. They can’t guarantee 1 pm. Do you mind if it’s 1.15?

Student B

3.2 Business skills: Leaving&taking messagesListeningLeaving messages

Speaking

Leaving a voicemail message

Writing Taking notes and messages

电话留言在日常商务活动中，打电话时对方不在是经常地事情。如果对 方不在，需要请人帮忙留言或者录音留言，一定要简短， 切忌长

篇大论的留言。* 电话留言的格式 英语电话留言(Telephone Message)包括五部分：(1)发话 者(From);(2)收话者(To);(3)日期(Date);(4) 时间(Time);(5)留言内容(Message)。有时，最后可以出 现记录人签名。 * 电话留言的特点 电话留言条最根本的特点就是内容必须言简意赅，切忌冗长。即 写电话留言条时，行文要简明扼要，通俗易懂，将发话者的意思 清楚明白地表达出来。

Listening: Leaving messagesA to ask for permissionD 1 _________ H 2 _________ B 3 _________ G 4 _________ C 5 _________

B to complain about a mistakeC to confirm something is OK D to request information

EF

to offer informationto cancel arrangements

G to request help H to change a booking