Joe Belfiore, Microsoft corporate vice president, Operating Systems Group, showcases the new Photos app for Windows 10, Jan. 21, 2015. Microsoft was not a "big gun" in its early days. It "got a break" when IBM selected its operating system for personal computers and grew into a "blue chip" company. (Ron Wurzer/AP Images for Microsoft)
Let's Do Business!
Now, the VOA
Special English program, Words and Their Stories.
There are
many special terms in the world of business.
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.
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.
Still, I
worked hard building up my business. I did not work only a few hour 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This VOA
Special English program, Words and Their Stories, was written by Jill Moss. I’m Faith Lapidus.
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