Ex. 1 Study the vocabulary.

Ex. 2 Read and translate the text. Using a dictionary, translate paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 23  in writing.

1.A business (also known as enterprise or firm) is an organization involved in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. A commercial enterprise is any undertaking that seeks to engage in a profitmaking (i.e. commercial) activities. Not-for-profit businesses include social enterprises, non-profit organisations and government organisations. Any enterprise that exists for a reason other than commercial exploitation cannot be considered a commercial enterprise. Businesses may also be state-owned. These are organisations owned by the state. They are funded in a number of ways, including: government grants and subsidies, license fees and charges for supplying their service. A Board of Governors rather than a Board of Directors usually controls public corporations. If their income is greater than their costs they make a ‘surplus’ rather than a profit.

The origins of enterprise

2. Firms start when entrepreneurs organise resources and take risks in the expectation of earning a profit. More specifically, enterprises tend to be set up for one or more of the following reasons:

ü Some firms originate to solve a problem faced by consumers, by other firms, or by government. For example, internet comparison websites solve the problem faced by consumers of having limited time to research the whole market for the best current deals.

ü Many firms start in order to exploit an original idea or an invention. If the invention can be turned into a good or service which adds value, it can command a price, and earn a profit. For example, Dyson plc (Dyson Group plc) was established by James Dyson to exploit his inventions and designs created and produced when he was in his early twenties.

ü Some firms start because the entrepreneur identifies a gap in an existing or emerging market, such as online delivery businesses, like Amazon.

ü Many firms enter a market because to produce an existing product more cheaply, or more effectively, than existing firms in the market. For example, Tesco plc started in 1919 when co-founder Jack Cohen sold cheap groceries from a single stall in London’s East End.

ü Many firms exploit information that is not readily available, such as estate agents and travel agents, like Kuoni.

3. In all cases, entrepreneurs anticipate that they will be successful and earn themselves a profit for their personal risk-taking and entrepreneurial skill. Private firms can only survive if they satisfy consumer demand effectively.

Financing enterprise

4.Entrepreneurs need finance to test, produce, and distribute their products. Finance can be obtained from a number of sources, including:

Ø The entrepreneur’s own funds, called private equity;

Ø Selling shares in their business, called share capital;

Ø Borrowing from individuals, banks via loans and mortgages, or from other firms;

Ø Credit from suppliers, which is similar to a loan in its effect

Although forms of business ownership vary by jurisdiction, several common forms exist:

5.Sole proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person for-profit. Sole traders are the life-blood of a market economy. Sole traders are common in retailing and local services like plumbing and catering. The owner may operate the business alone or may employ others. The sole trader owns the assets of the business, makes all the business decisions, takes all the risks, and, of course, retains all the profits. He has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business.

6.Partnership: A partnership is a business owned and usually managed, by a small number of partners (two or more), each of whom can specialise in a particular aspect of the business. Decisions will be jointly arrived at, and the risks and rewards will be spread between the partners. In certain types of partnership, not all partners take equal risks, and some partners may have a limited liability for debts incurred by the businesses. The three typical classifications of for-profit partnerships are general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.

Partnerships are common in professional and financial services such as: solicitors, accountants and estate agents.

7.Corporation: A corporation is a limited liability business that has a separate legal personality from its members. Corporations can be either government-owned or privately owned, and corporations can organize either for-profit or not-for-profit. A privately owned, for-profit corporation is owned by shareholders who elect a board of directors to direct the corporation and hire its managerial staff. A privately owned, for-profit corporation can be either privately held or publicly held.

8.Cooperative: Often referred to as a "co-op", a cooperative is a limited liability business that can organize for-profit or not-for-profit. A cooperative differs from a for-profit corporation in that it has members, as opposed to shareholders, who share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are typically classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives. Cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy.

But there are also such types of commercial enterprises as:

9.Private Limited Companies (Ltd): Limited companies are legally ‘incorporated’ firms, which means that they have their own legal identity, and are owned by shareholders who have limited liability for the firm’s debts.

10.Unlike sole traders and ordinary partnerships, limited, or joint-stock companies, are set up to take advantage of the principle of limited liability. The rapid development of limited companies in the 18th Century provided a stimulus to the growth of private enterprise and the spread of free-market capitalism. This was because limited liability encouraged ordinary individuals to part their savings, and so provide finance for small or growing enterprises, without the risk of losing any more than the initial outlay. Today, private limited companies are common in all areas of economic activity in all sectors of the economy; from screenwriters and film producers, to restaurants and hotels.

11.In a limited company, shareholders appoint directors to take the key business decisions, though often the directors are also shareholders. Directors make decisions collectively as members of the Board of Directors.Most of the significant risk taking is made by the Board of Directors, though day-to-day decision-making is devolved to professional managers.

12.Public Limited Companies (plc): Like private limited companies, public limited companies are also legally incorporated and are owned by shareholders who have limited liability for the firm’s debts, the difference being that ‘public’ companies are allowed to sell shares to the general public.

23.Wholesaling is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services. In general, it is the sale of goods to anyone other than a standard consumer. In the United Kingdom, the Cash and Carry is a term used to describe a wholesale warehouse, particularly those that are open to the general public on payment of a subscription. Wholesaling usually, but not necessarily, involves sales in quantity and at a cost that is significantly lower than the average retail price. Wholesalers frequently physically assemble, sort and grade goods in large lots, break bulk, repack and redistribute in smaller lots. While wholesalers of most products usually operate from independent premises, wholesale marketing for foodstuffs can take place at specific wholesale markets where all traders are congregated.

24.There are three main categories of wholesalers:

ð merchant wholesalers;

ð manufacturers’ sales branches;

ð  merchandise agents and brokers.

25.The most important are the merchant wholesalers. These independent businesses buy merchandise in large quantities from manufacturers, process and store that merchandise, and redistribute it to retailers and others. Traditionally, wholesalers were closer to the markets they supplied than the source from which they got the products. However, with the advent of the internet and E-procurement there are an increasing number of wholesalers located nearer manufacturing bases in China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. For example, Chinavasion, Ankaka, Ownta, Salehoo, and Modbom. These companies offer drop shipping services to companies and individuals.

26.Manufacturers’ sales branches are businesses established by manufacturers to sell directly to retailers. They tend to be established by large companies which modify their products frequently and to whom rapid, accurate information on sales and suggestions for improvement are especially valuable.

27.Merchandise agents and brokers sell complementary products of several manufacturers. Unlike merchant wholesalers and manufacturers’ sales branches they ordinarily do not take title to the merchandise they handle. Rather, they simply arrange for shelf space and the display of merchandise of the manufacturers they represent.

Ex. 3 Give the English equivalents to the words and words-combinations:

ü Брати в борг/брать в долг;

ü Необмежена відповідальність/неограниченная ответственность; 

ü Самостійна правосуб’єктність/самостоятельная правосубъектность;

ü Право приймати рішення/право принимать решения;

ü Віддавати заощадження/отдавать сбережения;

ü первинний платіж/первоначальный платеж;

ü ланцюжок постачань, мережа постачальників/цепочка поставок, сеть поставщиков;

ü роздрібна торгівля розносячи/розничная торговля вразнос;

ü розглядання вітрин/разглядывание витрин;

ü звичайний споживач/обычный потребитель;

ü стикатися з проблемою/сталкиваться с проблемой.

Ex.4 Find the synonyms in the text to the following words:

Non-commercial organization, differ, to accept a risk, employ, commodities, foot passenger, utilize, to meet a need, a device, to alter often, useful.