STARTING A BUSINESS Work in pairs Imagine that you and your partner are two young entrepreneurs and want to start a new business Notice that all of them are supportive or eco-friendly Choose one of these ideas for a business Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each one a) To talk about advantages and disadvantages, you can use these phrases: I think that this business is better than the others because… but this other one is… The main advantage/disadvantage of this business is… In my view, a big advantage/disadvantage is… On the one hand, this business offers the possibility of… but on the other hand we must think about… b) Use phrases to show agreement and disagreement to your partner while you are discussing the advantages and disadvantages Finally, try to reach an agreement I agree with you I totally agree with you I couldn’t agree more I disagree with you I completely disagree with what you say I agree to some extent Shall we come to an agreement? I think we should definitely go for this one Fill in this questionnaire about your new business a) Name of the company: b) Name of the director(s): c) Date you started the business: d) Write a short description of the business What does your company do? e) Aims of your business: f) Who is your product aimed at? Circle the answers men teenage boys children women teenage girls senior citizens parents single people g) How would you describe your customers? Circle the answers adventurous fashionable fit calm conventional physically inactive creative narrow-minded pet lover animal hater supportive self-centred concerned about food aware of global issues junk food consumer indifferent about problems h) How are you going to sell your product or provide your services? Circle the answers door-to-door in shops home delivery telesales on the Internet in a catalogue fairs and expositions i) How would you like to advertise your product or service? Circle the answers on the Internet on the radio leaflets in magazines and newspaper on hoardings on local TV bus shelter advertisements bus backs public relations officer attend local business groups’ meetings offer discount coupons on fliers email marketing Yellow Pages local fairs j) If you need to employ more people in the future, what qualities they need? Circle the most important easy-going funny serious responsible imaginative creative sympathetic caring entrepreneur friendly loving intelligent competent cooperative trustworthy hardworking It’s time to make a presentation of your business to the rest of the class Remember to include all the points in the questionnaire You could present your company using these phrases and any other ideas you can come up with Hello We are Our business is called and we started it on What we is We intend to Our products/services are aimed at We think that our customers are We would like to sell In the future, we are planning to advertise our company If we ever need more employees, they must be We think our business will be successful because Imagine that you have to record an advertisement for a local radio station to advertise your small company that has just started running In your advertisement, you should include: - Name of the company - Product/service you offer - The customers who the product/service is aimed at Why you think people should buy/use your product/service Mention why it is so good Address, phone number or website where customers can find you