Business Channel 2006-10-20&22

The idea of “play big” is that a lot of the advantages that big businesses once held over smaller companies no longer exists, and it's easier than ever for small businesses to look and act like big companies, offering some of the same kinds of professionalism and sophistication that once were only available to big businesses. We were interested in Edgar Blazona when we found out about him because he seems a perfect illustration of this phenomenon. He was able to work with manufacturers all over Asia, incredibly cheaply and in real time. Because these services are so low cost now, and because collaboration¹ has become so cheap and easy, er, even someone operating as his backyard can now essentially² run a multinational³ manufacturing corporation.

We've got dah three employees as well as we use a number of outsourcing companies. We try to stay kind of lean and mean, ah, in order to create a profitable business. We utilize⁴ technology as a way to, to look larger. We use WebEx quite a bit. It's a great way to communicate. It cuts down on our traveling. The Internet obviously plays a huge part. Err⁵, we, you know, through our, our phone lines and the Internet, you know, we can really do a lot of business, so for us, err, we believe that that dah smaller is better, and ah we'll continue to find technology er, that will help support that.

What we are going to see is that nobody is really going to care, err, whether something is being offered by small businesses or big businesses. It's not really gonna matter any more. All of a sudden, anybody with an idea can start a business. You don't need the access to capital that you, that you once needed. And that's going to be a, a big leveler, I think. Suddenly, it's not gonna be about who has these entrenched⁶ relationships and it's not gonna be about who has the ear of the seizer, investment bankers or what have you. It's going to be about who has the energy and the idea to start a company. And I think that's a very promising⁷, err, prospect⁸ for a lot of small businesses.

For more information on play big, go to cnnmoney.com/fsb.

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entrenched--adj. established firmly and securely; "the entrenched power of the nobility"

1 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

4 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

5 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

6 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

7 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

8 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。