VOA慢速英语2015 与商业有关的用语（在线收听）

与商业有关的用语

Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.

这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故。

There are many special terms in the world of business.

商业世界中有很多特殊用语。

The following story is about a sweetheart deal which I made last week. I made the deal with a friend, and we both made a profit.

下面的故事是我和朋友上周达成的一项私下交易，我们两个都赚了钱。

I had started a small company several years ago. I worked hard to make it successful. It was a sign-making business. It was a small company, not a blue chip company. It was not known nationally for the quality of its signs. It did not make millions of dollars in profits. And it was private. It was not a public company with shares traded on the stock market.

我几年前开了一家小公司，我努力经营以求成功，这是一家广告牌制作公司，是个小公司，不是蓝筹公司，还没有因广告牌的质量而全国知名，也没有赚得数百万美元的利润，这是一家私企，不是股份在股票市场交易的股份市场。

Still, I worked hard building up my business. I did not work only a few hours each day -- no banker's hours for me. Instead I spent many hours each day, seven days a week, trying to grow the company. I never cut corners or tried to save on expenses. I made many cold calls. I called on possible buyers from a list of people I had never seen. Such calls were often hard sells. I had to be very firm.

不过我努力工作壮大业务，不是每天只工作几小时，而是每天工作很长时间，一周七天都工作，希望能让公司壮大起来。我从未走捷径或试图节省开支，给很多潜在买家打了推销电话，这样的电话叫电话推销，我必须非常坚定。

Sometimes I sold my signs at a loss. I did not make money on my product. When this happened, there were cut backs. I had to use fewer supplies and reduce the number of workers. But after several years, the company broke even. Profits were equal to expenses. And soon after, I began to gain ground. My signs were selling very quickly. They were selling like hotcakes.

有时我亏本卖广告牌，没有从销售中赚到钱。这时只能降低成本，用更少的原材料并削减员工人数。但在几年后，公司收支平衡了。不久后，很快我就慢慢起步了，我的广告牌卖得很快，非常抢手。

I was happy. The company was moving forward and making real progress. It was in the black, not in the red. The company was making money, not losing it.

我很开心，这家公司开始稳步前进，开始盈利而不是出现赤字，公司挣了钱，没有亏损。

My friend knew about my business. He is a leader in the sign-making industry – a real big gun, if you know what I mean. He offered to buy my company. My friend wanted to take it public. He wanted to sell shares in the company to the general public.

我朋友了解我的公司，他是一家广告牌制作行业的领军人物。他想出价买我的公司，我朋友想让公司上市，他想将公司股份卖给大众。

My friend believed it was best to strike while the iron is hot. He wanted to take action at the best time possible and not wait. He offered me a ball park estimate of the amount he would pay to buy my company. But I knew his uneducated guess was low. My company was worth much more. He asked his bean-counter to crunch the numbers. That is, he asked his accountant to take a close look at the finances of my company and decide how much it was worth. Then my friend increased his offer.

我朋友认为最好趁热打铁，他想在时机最佳时行动，不想等待。他就给我的公司提了大概的报价，但我觉得他的估值太低了，我的公司价值比这个高。他要求他的会计师核算并估价。随后我的朋友提高了报价。

My friend's official offer was finally given to me in black and white. It was written on paper and more than I ever dreamed. I was finally able to get a break. I made a huge profit on my company, and my friend also got a bang for the buck. He got a successful business for the money he spent.

我朋友的最终报价终于黑纸白字的交到我手里，我最终时来运转，而我的朋友做的交易也物有所值。