ESL Podcast 196 – A Business Plan

About a year ago, I came up with an idea that I thought would revolutionize the way people sell their goods on the Internet. After a lot of planning, I decided¹ to try to attract investors³ by developing a business plan. I got some advice from my friend Steve who is a very successful entrepreneur.

First, he told me I needed to figure out my business model. How would my investors make money? How long would it take for the company to be in the black? Steve said that the proposal would need to show revenue projections⁴ for the first five years, and that I should give an estimate of gross sales for that same period.

Steve also said that I should include what I thought was the target market for the new service and my plan for convincing potential buyers that the new service would give them a competitive advantage.

After working on the plan for a few months, I thought it was ready to show to some prospective⁵ investors. All I need is just one big investor² to take a chance on it. Hopefully, this time next year, I’ll be well on my way to building a new business empire.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

5 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。