English

You will develop these skills

• Use ‘if’, ‘unless’, ‘need to’, ‘be able to’, ‘have to’, ‘must’.

• Use the third conditional.

• List the vocabulary of entrepreneurship, costs, production, marketing.

When you complete your education, you will want to get a job. Many of you will be employed in businesses and you will need to understand aspects of business such as production, profits, costs and management.

The business world is very important in any country. It provides people with goods and services that they want to buy. Businesses also provide jobs, for which people get paid. The more businesses there are in a country and the more people have jobs, the more people there are earning wages; these people can buy the goods and services that they desire.

Entrepreneurship

Read about entrepreneurs

An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of making a profit. Entrepreneurship is an important part of our economy. Many small businesses grow and become much larger, creating wealth and new jobs. Many entrepreneurs start off by working for themselves, running a small business informally and then, as the business grows, they are able to take on employees and become part of the formal business sector.

The informal business sector is the part of the economy that is not registered and does not pay tax or comply with regulations. Street hawkers and businesses that run from home are often part of this sector. The formal business sector is the sector that is registered, pays tax and is regulated. Shops, offices and factories are a part of the formal business sector.

In developing countries, many people earn their income through self-employment in the informal business sector. People do not always choose to work in the informal sector. Sometimes their earning opportunities are scarce. They may be unable to find a job in the formal business sector. They may only be able to work a few hours a day through temporary employment for low wages.

To be an entrepreneur, you need to be an innovator. You must be willing to take risks. You should also be able to lead and manage people. You must be a good communicator. Unless you take risks, you will not keep ahead of the market. If you cannot communicate, you will not persuade people to buy your product, or to be productive if they work for you.

Entrepreneurs must deal with a large number of challenges that employees do not have to think about, and in return entrepreneurs expect to make a profit. Entrepreneurs see an opportunity and, at their own financial risk, set up a business to make the most of that opportunity.

Entrepreneurs are very important. They provide employment; many new successful businesses create jobs for people who otherwise might not have found work. They also contribute towards research and development – many new innovations are due to the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs create wealth for countries and for individuals.

Activity 1: Comprehension

After reading the case study above, answer the following questions.

1. Why did Eugene start his own furniture company?

2. What were the disadvantages?

3. What would have happened if Eugene became ill?

4. Why do you think Eugene used other people’s wood to start with?

Grammar focus

Conditional clauses

A conditional clause is one that states that an action can only take place if a certain condition is fulfilled. Conditional clauses make use of ‘if’, ‘unless’, ‘need to’, ‘be able to’, ‘have to’ and ‘must’.

Example:

• If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation. (I cannot send the invitation if I do not find the address.)In the text about entrepreneurs, the following two sentences contain examples of conditional clauses:

• Unless you take risks, you will not keep ahead of the market.

• If you cannot communicate, you will not persuade people.

Activity 2: Complete conditional clauses

Fill in the space with a word that will complete the conditional clause.

1. ______ you come this way, the principal will see you now.

2. I will be back tomorrow ______ my car breaks down.

3. ______ I were a rich man, I would buy a new house.

4. I __________ use my bike to take the produce to market.

5. If you want to go to university, you _______ pass your exams.

Read about the characteristics of an entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs are very special people because they have the courage and willpower to try to start a business. They are not afraid of failure. There are certain characteristic that entrepreneurs need to possess.

• They need to be disciplined. Entrepreneurs are focused on making their enterprises work. Successful entrepreneurs are disciplined enough to take steps every day towards achieving their objectives.

• They need to be confident. The entrepreneur does not ask questions about whether they can succeed or whether they are worthy of success. They have confidence in everything they do.

• They need to be open-minded. Entrepreneurs realise that every event and situation is a business opportunity. They have the ability to look at everything around them and focus it toward their goals.

• They need to be self-starters. Entrepreneurs know that if something needs to be done, they should start it themselves. They are proactive, not waiting for someone to give them permission.

• They need to be competitive. Many companies are formed because an entrepreneur knows that they can do a job better than someone else can.

• They need to be determined. Entrepreneurs are not put off by their defeats. They are determined to make all their efforts succeed, so will try and try again until they succeed.

• They need to have good people skills. The entrepreneur must have excellent communication skills to sell the product and motivate employees.

• They need to have a strong work ethic. The successful entrepreneur will often be the first person to arrive at the office and the last one to leave. They will come in on their days off to make sure that an outcome meets their expectations.

Activity 3: Describe an entrepreneur, using the third conditional

1. Reread the eight characteristics of an entrepreneur above.

2. Using ‘if’, ‘unless’, ‘need to’, ‘be able to’, ‘have to’ or ‘must’ clauses, make a sentence about each characteristic and write it in your exercise book. For example: If an entrepreneur is not disciplined, he or she will not be able to organise a business properly.

Activity 4: Discuss the characteristics of an entrepreneur

1. Read the following case study and discuss which entrepreneurial characteristics would have been most important for Josianne.

2. List the characteristics in order of importance.

3. Compare your list with the rest of the class.

The costs of a business

Being in business is about making a profit. The entrepreneur needs to sell his or her goods for the right price – enough to cover all the costs, but not so much that the customer won’t buy.

Read about the costs of running a business

Businesses aim to produce goods that they sell at a higher price than it cost them to produce. They do this in order to make a profit. If the cost of producing goods is greater that the amount received from selling the goods, the business is running at a loss. Profit is an incentive for entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur can reinvest the profit in the business or take it out for personal use.

Before deciding on the selling price for goods, a business must carefully work out its costs. Some of these costs are fixed, while others are variablecosts. We add these together to get the cost of production. The costs of production can also be divided into material costs and selling costs. Material costs are the costs of tools, materials and shipping. Selling costs are the costs of marketing and distribution.

Fixed costs + Variable costs = Cost of production (Total costs)

Fixed costs are costs that must be paid regardless of how much is produced and sold. Examples of these are rent, monthly salaries, loan repayments and utilities (electricity, water and telephone). Fixed costs are also known as overheads.

Variable costs are costs which change according to how much is produced. Examples of these are materials used in production and hourly wages.

Activity 5: Calculate profit and loss

Work out the following:

1. A farmer is selling trays of fruit and wants to make a profit of RWF 10. The cost price of the product is RWF 15.What must the selling price be?

2. What would happen if the farmer sold his trays of fruit for RWF 9?

3. If the farmer sold the fruit for RWF 9, would he be able to stay in business for very long? Write your answer using an ‘if’ clause.

Activity 6: Write an essay explaining production costs

One of your friends wants to start a small business. Write a short composition of about a page, explaining what production costs are, and why it is important to be able to calculate them.

Drawing up a business plan

Before starting a new business, an entrepreneur must compile a business plan. A business plan is a formal statement of business goals and how the entrepreneur plans to reach these goals. The plan may also contain background information about the organisation or team attempting to reach these goals.

Read about business plans

A business plan contains a description of who runs the business, the market (people who will buy the product or service) and the competition (other businesses offering similar products or services). There is also a financial management section explaining how the business will make a profit and pay off debt.

If an entrepreneur wants people to invest in his/her new business, or wants to borrow money from a bank, then he/she needs to have a business plan. The investors or bank will read the business plan very carefully before deciding whether or not to loan money.

A business plan includes the following sections:

1. Cover page

2. Table of contents

3. Description of the product

4. Goals of the business

5. Description of who owns the business

6. Production plan

7. Marketing plan

8. Financial plan

9. Description of how the business will operate

10. Conclusion.

Activity 7: Summarise a business plan

Write a summary of the contents of a business plan, explaining why each part is important.

Describing production

Read about the production process

Producers make the goods and provide the services that people buy or use. Without production, there would be very little in the shops for you to buy! Production is the process by which inputs (raw materials and semi-finished products) are made into finished goods that can be bought.

An example of a semi-finished product is a roll of cotton cloth used by a clothing factory. The cloth has already been spun from cotton thread in a cloth manufacturing factory. The clothing factory buys the cloth and makes clothes that are sold in a shop. The clothing factory also uses buttons and belts that are produced in other factories.

Proper production systems are a very important part of any manufacturing business. This means that production costs must be controlled so that a profit is made. Production systems also schedule production so that the right number of products are made at the right time, and that the necessary inputs are ordered so that production can go ahead.

The different suppliers of raw materials and semi-finished products that are needed for production are known as the supply chain. Once the finished goods have been made, they must be packaged and distributed to shops, where they can be sold. The different types of distributors that make goods available for consumers to buy are known as the distribution chain. These include factory outlets, warehouses, wholesalers and shops.

Consumers and producers need each other. Consumers need producers to make the goods and services that they buy and use. Producers need consumers to buy the goods and services they want to sell. All businesses produce something: a hairdresser produces hair cuts, a farmer produces agricultural produce.

Activity 8: Describe the production process of a baker

In your group, discuss the production process of a baker producing bread.

1. What time do you think he or she had to get up and start baking bread if you are to have fresh bread for breakfast?

2. What ingredients does the baker have to buy and how does the supply chain work?

3. Make a timeline of the steps involved in getting fresh bread into the shops each day.

4. Compare your timeline with the rest of the class.

5. Write four sentences beginning with ‘if’ to explain what will happen if the baker does not manage the production process. For example: If the baker does not get up early, the bread will be late getting to the shops.

Describing marketing

Read about marketing

It does not matter how excellent the goods and services produced by a business are if no one knows about them. Marketing is about telling the public about your product, attracting potential customers to your product, and keeping these customers as your customer base.

The marketing department of a business must continually be creating and developing marketing strategies to win consumers over to buy their product rather than competing products. Businesses face threats from competitors, and from changes in the political, economic, social and technological environments. All of these factors have to be taken into account when a business tries to reach its goals of selling more goods or services and making a bigger profit.

Marketing includes branding and advertising. Branding means appearing in the media, sponsoring local events and making sure people remember the business’s name. Some businesses design powerful logos that people will recognise. For example, fast food chains and petrol stations have logos that can be recognised from a distance. This helps with marketing because people can identify the brand.

To advertise a product, a firm needs to make use of the media. The media is any form of mass communication and it includes both print and online advertising.There are many different types of media that can be used in advertising such as:

• Print advertising, such as newspapers, magazines and flyers.

• Outdoor advertising, such as billboards and events.

• Broadcast advertising, such as the TV, radio or Internet.

• Covert advertising, which is when an actor uses a product in a movie.

• Celebrity advertising, which is when a famous celebrity uses a product in public.

• Word of mouth is also important, as a bad reputation can easily be spread about a product or service by an unhappy customer.

• Nowadays, many businesses make use of the Internet and social networking (Facebook, Twitter) to advertise their products.

Activity 9: Design a poster for a product

With your group, choose a product and design a large poster to advertise it. You will need a large sheet of card, pencils, coloured pencils, glue, scissors and old magazines. Here are some tips to help you with your design:

1. Use a large piece of paper or cardboard.

2. Design your poster before you make it – plan where each element will go on the page.

3. Use bright colours and preferably one large picture that will attract attention from a distance.

4. Use very few words, but include all the necessary information that will make people want to buy your product.

5. Use large letters for the main points that you are trying to get across.

6. Use a fun design, but keep the poster easy to read.

Grammar focus

The third conditional clause

We can use third conditional clauses to talk about conditions that are impossible because they are in the past and we cannot change what has happened. We make third conditional sentences by using the past perfect tense after ‘if’ and then ‘would have’ and the past participle in the second part of the sentence.

Examples:

• She would have become a teacher if she had gone to university.

• If I had paid more attention in class, I would have understood the lesson.

Activity 10: Use third conditional clauses

Complete the following sentences in the third conditional by using ‘if’ clauses:

1. ___________ , I would have gone to the party.

2. ____________ , we could have had a picnic.

3. ____________ , I would have known it was going to rain.

4. ____________ , she would have said hello.

5. They _____________ accepted your ideas _________ you had explained more clearly.

Describing a business

Businesses can be very small or very large. Many entrepreneurs start a small business due to a crisis in their personal lives, like losing their job or failing at school. Sometimes, these small businesses grow into huge groups, like the Virgin Group of Companies, started by Richard Branson.

Read about a successful entrepreneur

Sir Richard Branson is an English businessman and investor. He is best known as the founder of Virgin Group, which comprises more than 400 companies. He was born in 1950, in Surrey, England.

Richard Branson struggled in school and dropped out at age 16; it was this decision that lead to the creation of Virgin Records.

From his entrepreneurial success with Virgin Records, he went on to create more companies. He is now a billionaire. One of the interesting companies in the Virgin Group is Virgin Galactic, a space-tourism company. Branson is also known for his adventurous spirit and sporting achievements, including crossing oceans in a hot air balloon.

Activity 11: Summarise Richard Branson’s achievements

Activity 12: Talk about a Rwandan business

1. Research and find out about a business in Rwanda. This can be in your own community or elsewhere. 2. Write a report of your findings to share with the rest of the class. Make use of the conditional wherever possible.

Recounting the development of a business

In this unit, we have learned about entrepreneurs and the world of business. We have discovered that entrepreneurs have a very important role to play in our economy. They take risks, which are not always successful. Not all new businesses are successful. Here are the stories of some entrepreneurs.

Read about a business that succeeded

When Daniel left school, he found it difficult to get a job. His father suggested that he earn himself some money by fixing things for their neighbours. Daniel enjoyed working with his hands and liked fixing things, so he agreed. Their neighbours were happy to pay Daniel to fix the broken things around their houses that they did not have time to deal with themselves.

His business continued to grow and today Daniel has a team of ten ‘Mr Fixits’ working with him. He no longer works from home; he has an office and has registered as a private company. Over time, Daniel began to make a name for himself as the local ‘Mr Fixit’ and had more work than he could handle.

He hired someone to help him. Sometimes, he feels sad that he now has a lot of paperwork to do and cannot spend so much time doing the thing he loves – fixing things.

Read about a business that failed

When Seth left school, he found it difficult to get a job. His father suggested that Seth join him in his successful grocery store. All went well for the first year. Seth learned about the business and his father kept tight control of expenditure.

Then disaster struck; Seth’s father had a heart attack and could no longer work. Seth was needed to keep the business going. He decided that the quickest way to grow the business was to move into bigger premises, increase the number of product lines stocked, and take on more staff. He took out a large bank loan to make this happen, but within six months he was bankrupt and the business had to close down. Seth’s parents had to sell their house to pay off the debts.

Activity 13: Discuss the success and failure of businesses

In your pairs, take turns to recount the experiences of Daniel and Seth. Why do you think the one business succeeded while the other one failed?

Corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means the responsibility of big businesses to give back to the communities in which they operate. Large corporations make huge profits, but this should not be at the expense of the people who are employed by businesses or at the expense of the environment in which the business is located.

Corporate social responsibility is about improving the living conditions of local communities and being as eco-friendly as possible. For example, the ICT firm, Dell, once came up with plan to sell more PCs by informing its customers that the company would plant a certain number of trees for each unit bought. The firm knew that trees are crucial in absorbing the greenhouse gasesthat pollute the air and cause global warming.

The Bank of Kigali set up a CSR committee whose main role is to implement the bank’s CSR strategy. The committee, which is made up of six members of the management team, sits at least once a month to evaluate various project proposals brought to the bank, and to discuss how these projects would enhance the bank’s CSR strategy. The Bank of Kigali’s CSR policy is based on four key goals: improving access to education, promoting community health, environmental sustainability and poverty eradication.

Activity 14: Talk about CSR in your district

1. In your groups, suggest CSR projects that would improve the lives of people in your community.

2. Propose CSR projects that would help to protect the environment.

3. Report your findings to the rest of the class.

Vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation

Activity 15: Use your dictionary

Match each word in the left-hand column to its meaning in the right-hand column.

Assessment

1. Define the meanings of the following terms.

a) production

b) marketing

c) business plan (3 marks)

2. Write three sentences about business using either ‘if’, ‘unless’, ‘need to’, ‘be able to’, ‘have to’ or ‘must’ sentences. (3 marks)

3. Complete the following sentences:

a) If you ________ spent more time on the project, you _________ have made fewer mistakes.

b) If I __________ seen him in the office, I __________ have told him to call you. (4 marks)

4. Briefly explain why we need entrepreneurs in Rwanda. (5 marks)

5. Discuss how using the characteristics of an entrepreneur could help you in your daily life.

(5 marks)Total (20)

Glossary