6. II. Sole proprietorship

1. Read the dialogue and guess the meaning of the words in bold.

• Hi, Alice. How are you?

• Fine, as usual, thanks. Jim, what about you?

• I’m O.K. It’s nice to see you.

• Me too. I’m glad you are not in a hurry and we have time to talk today.

• Sure.

• Can you give me a piece of advice?

• Well, I’ll try.

• You know I’ve been always good at cooking. It interests me. I’m thinking of starting my own business – café.

• It might be a good idea.

• I guess I must learn about the responsibilities of going into business.

• Are going into business by yourself?

• Exactly. I want to have a café with my name on it where I make the decisions and where I can control the profits.

• I’ll try to help you. If you go into business alone, it is called a sole proprietorship. In such case you needn’t consult a lawyer to form a business. You can start or stop it whenever you like.

• It sounds encouraging. What else can you tell me?

• There is no need to consult partners or a Board of Directors. So you can put policies into effect quickly. You decide on your vacations, hours, salary, hiring and firing.

• Well, that is not bad.

• Wait a moment. I believe I have to tell you about the risk involved.

• What do you mean?

• First of all, the most important risk is that you have unlimited liability. It means that you are responsible for all your business debts.

• So if the business fails I have to declare personal bankruptcy, don’t I?

• That’s what I mean. You can lose your personal assets.

• Well, it’s rather disappointing. What other things should I know?

• You won’t get tax benefits which partnerships and corporations can get.

• I know about it. By the way do you know a well-qualified accountant to do my taxes?

• Of course. You’ll have to hire a skilled bookkeeper if you can’t do your books yourself.

• I can’t say anything definite about that. I have to think it over. What else, Jim?

• Well, I’m a bit hungry, why do not we have a snack together and discuss the things in the café.

• You are right as usual. Let’s go.

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

to give a piece of advice responsibility

to make a decision to be good at

to control the profit Board of Directors

to start one’s own business to decide on

to go into business alone vacations

to consult a lawyer hours

to form a business hiring

to put policies into effect quickly to hire

unlimited liability firing

to be responsible for to fire

to declare personal bankruptcy to involve

to get tax benefits debts

to do books accountant

to think over bookkeeper

to discuss skilled

to go bankrupt salary

to employ

employer

employee

EXERCISES ON VOCABULARY

1. Find the synonyms among the words which are below.

to start a business accountant to make a decision to sack

to run a business to include to go bankrupt administration to put policies in to effect surplus to employ

to fail bookkeeper to go in to business to involve profit to hire to fire board of directors to rule a business

to think over to be successful

2. Choose any word from the active vocabulary and explain it without naming.

3. Fill in the gaps choosing the most suitable word from the list below. Put them into the correct form where necessary.

profit to decide on unlimited liability

a piece of advice responsible to fail personal assets to declare bankruptcy to go bankrupt

firing policies tax benefits to do books

1. Some years ago my friend started his own business but, unfortunately, the firm _____.

2. It was difficult for me to make a right decision, so I asked for _____.

3. A director ______ salary, hiring and _____.

4. The main disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is _____.

5. He is not ______ for business debts.

6. A skilled accountant could _____ better than you.

7. When you go into business you should remember about the risk to loose your _____.

8. Special knowledge in economics can help you to put _____ in to effect.

9. When he _____ he had to consult a lawyer.

10. Many companies get _____.

11. If you were not successful in business and it failed you have _____

personal_____.

12. The aim of any business is to get _____.

4. Translate from Russian into English.

1. Имея частную собственность, вы сами будите контролировать прибыль, принимать все решения.

2. Его фирма прогорела, и ему пришлось выплачивать долги.

3. Он обратился за советом к юристу, когда решил начать свой бизнес.

4. Самым большим недостатком в частном бизнесе является неограниченная юридическая ответственность.

5. Компания обанкротилась, а ее владелец потерял все свое имущество.

6. Этот менеджер отвечает за наем и увольнение.

7. Квалифицированный бухгалтер помог ему быстро достичь хороших результатов.

8. Если вы не хотите, чтобы ваш бизнес потерпел неудачу, вам нужно научиться вести правильно счета.

9. Она получает высокую зарплату, т.к. является хорошим работником.

10. Его фирма получила льготы по налогообложению.

11. Перед тем как начать свое дело, он хорошо все обдумал.

12. Тебе придется уволить своего бухгалтера, потому что он совсем не умеет вести счета.

EXERCISES ON THE TEXT

1. Answer the questions using the information from the text.

1. What does a sole proprietorship mean?

2. Who makes decisions and controls the profit in a sole proprietorship?

3. Does the owner of a sole proprietorship have partners?

4. Who rules a sole proprietorship?

5. Can a sole proprietorship be ruled by a Board of Directors?

6. Who can help you to put policies into effect quickly if you have your own business?

7. What must you decide on when you start your business?

8. What is unlimited liability?

9. What have you to do if your business fails?

2. Working in groups, make the list of advantages and disadvantages of having a sole proprietorship.

3. Agree or disagree with the following statements:

• Nowadays many people in Russia prefer to start their own business.

• It is very difficult and risky to have your own business.

• When you start your business it is necessary to know that you will have a lot of responsibilities.

• It is hard to run your own business in Russia.

• It is impossible to do business alone.

• When you have your own business you should have different special knowledge if you want to put policies into effect.

4. Make up a dialogue to the situation.

You are going to start your business but you have some questions and you need an advice how to do that. You address to your experienced friend who is successful in a private business.