Learn entrepreneurship and the joys and pains of owning your own business
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| Keith: Hi, I’m Keith. |
| Sadia: Hey, and I’m Sadia. The focus of this lesson is the buzzword, |
| "entrepreneur." |
| Keith: Well, what do you do for a living? If you're like any of the |
| millions of people in America who run their own |
| businesses, you're an entrepreneur. |
| Sadia: And, if you’re French, the word entrepreneur should |
| sound familiar—entrepreneur is actually a French loanword |
| that originated sometime in the early 19th century. So, it’s not a new Buzzword, but it gets thrown around a lot these days, I think. And an entrepreneur describes a person who decides to start and run his or her own |
| company. |
| Keith: Most entrepreneurs --- Sadia, can we have that one more time, slowly? |
| Sadia: Entrepreneur. |
| Keith: Thank you. Most entrepreneurs |
| are small business owners. For |
| example, the hot dog and pretzel vendors you see on |
| the streets of New York are entrepreneurs. |
| Sadia: So are convenience store owners, clothing store |
| proprietors, restaurant owners, freelance writers, and |
| all the other brave people who spend lots of time, and money, |
| and energy on making their business dreams |
| into reality. |
| Keith: Some entrepreneurs, however, lead large |
| companies-- many of which started as small |
| businesses but grew as they became more and more |
| successful. |
| Sadia: Very true. Some of the most well-known American |
| entrepreneurs are Steve Jobs, who started Apple, and who |
| else? |
| Keith: Well, there's Bill Gates, who started Microsoft. |
| Sadia: And my girl, Martha Stewart, who's famous for sharing her |
| lifestyle tips on a TV show, in a magazine, and |
| through other media outlets. And you learned about media outlets in an earlier lesson. |
| Keith: Well, Listeners, have you |
| heard of any of these people? Who are some of the "big name" entrepreneurs in |
| your country? Are they well-known worldwide? Let |
| us know and leave us a comment! |
| Sadia: Anyway, while the chance to be one's own boss and |
| have control not only over your schedule, but over |
| every part of your business is very attractive - it can be very enticing -- you probably want to do it if you don’t already -- |
| entrepreneurship is actually really hard! |
| Keith: Oh, there is no doubt about that! One challenge that it poses |
| is a demand on your time; if you’re an entrepreneur or you want to be an entrepreneur, be prepared to spend |
| many, many, many working hours from your office, store, your home, your bed, anywhere. |
| Sadia: Yep, wherever your business is located, so you won't have nearly as much "free time" as |
| you would if you worked a regular office job, and |
| your personal relationships may suffer. |
| Keith: Another challenge being an entrepreneur might pose |
| is that you may not make as much money as you |
| would working a standard job. |
| Sadia: For sure. And it may actually take years for your |
| business to start making money. And even after your |
| business starts to generate a profit, which means, “to make money,” much of that |
| money will have to be used not for the vacation |
| you've been wanting to take or for the car you want |
| to buy, but for business expenses. |
| Keith: So, it's a tough road to choose, entrepreneurship! But |
| more power to you if you do! |
| Sadia: It's funny because despite the challenges that |
| running one's own business can present, |
| entrepreneurship has become especially popular |
| lately as people are laid off-- or, let go-- |
| from their 9-5 jobs. Right, Keith? |
| Keith: Yeah. With some extra time on |
| their hands, thousands of people have decided that |
| maybe now is the best time to make good on a |
| business idea that they've always dreamed of pursuing. |
| Sadia: That's true. You can read a lot these days about |
| people taking their unemployment, their lack of a job, as an opportunity |
| to start a business-- in hopes, of course, that eventually the |
| economy will get better and that when it does, they'll |
| be up and running. |
| Keith: And young people are especially attracted to |
| entrepreneurship because it appeals to their sense of |
| adventure and the power of possibility. |
| Sadia: Right, power, adventure, possibility. Deciding to run your own business is risky |
| -- one that young people don’t mind taking because they’ve got years ahead of them and, you know, if their businesses fail, which a lot do, they’ve got some time to pick themselves up and start over again. |
| Keith: Oh, for sure. When you're young, you feel |
| invincible-- and invincible means that nothing can stop you! Especially |
| because you don't have much to lose if things don't |
| work out! |
| Keith: Yeah, so, if you’re young, go for it. Start your own business. Are you an entrepreneur, listener? If not, would you want to |
| be? Do you know any entrepreneurs? |
| Keith: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Sadia: business [natural native speed] |
| Keith: activity of exchanging money by buying and selling |
| goods or services |
| Sadia: business [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: business [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: entrepreneur [natural native speed] |
| Keith: person who risks losing money in order to start his or |
| her own business |
| Sadia: entrepreneur [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: entrepreneur [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: score [natural native speed] |
| Keith: group of twenty of something |
| Sadia: score [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: score [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: be laid off [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to stop employing someone because there is not enough |
| work |
| Sadia: be laid off [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: be laid off [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: dream [natural native speed] |
| Keith: something someone has wanted to do for a long time |
| Sadia: dream [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: dream [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: pursue [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to try to do over a long time, to chase |
| Sadia: pursue [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: pursue [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: loanword [natural native speed] |
| Keith: word taken from one language and used in another |
| Sadia: loanword [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: loanword [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: focus [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to direct one's attention or effort on something specific |
| Sadia: focus [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: focus [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: enterprise [natural native speed] |
| Keith: project or business that involves many people and is |
| difficult |
| Sadia: enterprise [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: enterprise [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: challenging [natural native speed] |
| Keith: difficult to do but interesting |
| Sadia: challenging [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: challenging [natural native speed] |
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