UNIT 5

SUCCESS

What makes a company successful?To begin with, of course, a successful company has to make a profit. That means that it has to keep costs as low as possible – the cost of manufacturing, for example. Secondly, you need to make big sales so there has to be a demand for your products. And of course, you want to be competitive. If your competitor brings out a better product, you can lose customers. The most successful companies control market. That means they have a bigger percentage of sales and a bigger market share than their competitors. Their product is market leader. It sells more than any other product in that sector.Another factor for success is growth. No company wants to stand still. Successful companies are always finding new markets and new opportunities to grow.

Listening 1 p. 42

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profit

demand

control

market share

market leader

grow

Keep cost as low as possible

You can lose customers.

Companies want to grow, find new markets and

new opportunities.

Passion into profit

1. Harry Cragoe first tried a fruit smoothie in California in the early 1990s. He had no idea then that he was on the road to corporate success. Now he heads in multi-million-pound company – and it’s all because of his passion for healthy.

2. ‘When I arrived in Los Angeles, I rented an apartment near the beach,’ he remembers. ‘I was very English, very white and overweight. Everyone was focused on looking good and being healthy. There were juice bars that sold drinks called smoothies and I loved them.

3. When he returned to Britain, he found they weren’t available. ‘All you could find were cartons of apple or orange juice. I could see there was a real opportunity.

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4. Cragoe sold his flat, car and investments and flew back to California. He returned with a cool box packed with frozen drinks and persuaded a friend, Patrick Folkes, to help him import and sell them.

5. They founded PJ Smoothies I 1994. Initially, the firm imported frozen smoothies from America, but the business grew quickly and they didn’t have the stock to meet demand. ‘Up to then, we just imported the finished product,’ Cragoe says. ‘If a store ordered 200 bottles, we began defrosting.

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6. In 1996 Cragoe decided to set up production in Britain. He found a factory site in Nottingham, equipped it and began production. Since then, PJ Smoothies has gone from strength to strength. The company is now Britain’s market leader in the fresh drinks sector, controlling just under 50% of the market. Cragoe sells more than 250,000 drinks a week in summer to big supermarket.

7. There have been problems along the way. Cragoe lost £30,000 when his distributor went bankrupt, leaving him with hundreds of boxes of juice to distribute. But he has never lost confidence in his concept.

8. ‘Most of all, you’ve got to have fun,’ he says. ‘You must feel really passionate about what you’re doing.

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It’s successful because the CEO saw an opportunity to market a successful US product in the UK, and because he is passionate about succeeding.

1. In the early 1990s

2. In 1994

3. From 1994 to 1996

4. In 1996

They were good for health.

They weren’t available in the UK.

He sold his flat, car and investments.

The business grew quickly and they didn’t have the stock to meet demand.

Just under 50 %

Big supermarkets

His distributor went bankrupt.

No- ‘…you’ve got to have fun… You must feel really passionate about what you’re doing.’

success

overweight

grew

strength

lost

solddistribute

equipped

cool

set uporder

bankrupt

heads the company

lose money

meet demand

rent an apartmenthave fun

Listening 2 p. 45

Alan Martin

Well the first step, of course, is to develop a new product idea. Many people decide to start a business because they have a good idea.

But you have to remember that about 80 per cent of new business ideas fail. Usually it’s because people don’t understand the market. So the second step is to conduct market research. Your research should answer two key questions. First, is there a demand for your product or services? Second, who are your competitor?

When you know you have a market, the next step is to prepare a good business plan. Your business plan helps you to focus on what you want to do. It also helps with the fourth step: getting finance.

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You have to decide what type of business you want to have, your goals, your product or service and its key selling points. In the plan, you also need to show that you can run the business. So you include information about staff, management, production, marketing and, of course, finance.

But the most important step is the fifth one: to build a customer base. You need a number of regular customers who come back to you year after year. A strong customer base is key to making a success of your business.

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and get finance4

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a new product idea

market research

good business plan

finance

customer base

80 per cent

Usually because people don’t understand the market

Is there a demand for your product or service? Who are your competitors?

Focus on what you want to do; get finance

Details of the type of business; goals; product or service; key selling points; how you want to run the business; staff, management, production marketing, finance

Build a customer base– you need regular customers to come back year after year

Infinitive of the verb + ed

Did + infinitive +verb

Didn’t + infinitive of the verb

in

from…to..

on

on

at

in

From 1996 to 2001, he distributed crisps to local retailers by van.

On August 1st, a customer cancelled his order because Willis didn’t sell 50 grams packs. Willis thought about starting up his own brand of crisps.

In December 2002, Willis started production of the first Salty Dog crisps using 50 gram packs.

In the first year, sales grew fast.

In November 2003, the first international order arrived.

On February 14th 2004, Willis exported the first packs to Germany.

In March 2004, he received enquiries from the US and China.

Listening 3 p. 47

Ben Hope

After graduating, I joined a design company. It was a god job and I enjoyed it. But only two years later, the company went bankrupt and I lost my job. I looked for other jobs, but couldn’t find anything interesting. So what did I do? I decided to start my own business. To begin with, it was very hard work. But after about a year, I got my first big contract; to design the new offices of a local company. The company liked what I did and I got more work. Then came economic problems. It was a difficult time for all businesses in the region. But after awhile the economy improved again and my business started to grow. And now, I employ 12 people and we work in luxury offices in the city center.

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Track 22

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