debt / bankruptcy / capital / profit / donations / finances / charity / fortune / loan / fund-raising / earnings

1) During the financial crisis, even some large corporations declared ________.

2) If a CEO cannot manage company ________ well, the company is likely to fail.

3) ________ is an essential part of the Red Cross since it depends on charitable ________.

4) I often give money to a ________ like Salvation Army or Red Cross.

5) To keep a business running, companies must have plenty of ________.

6) Credit ________ somehow make it very easy to spend a lot of money.

7) Bill Gates earned a ________on Microsoft.

8) America spends more money than it ears; it is in international ________.

9) The ________ people receive for their work depend on their qualifications.

10) If you borrow money in a bank you take out a ________.

If you’re a young entrepreneur who’s sick of the 9-to-5 rat race, you should start thinking out of the box. You need to find an idea that will allow you to start your own business so that you can choose your hours and even your salary. The challenges are real, but so are the opportunities. It is often amazing to think about how early some of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs began their start-ups and ventures. Many of them simply had a fantastic idea and then just worked extremely hard to make it reality. You can begin the journey to becoming an achiever at any age, and the young entrepreneurs in the list below will prove this to you.

Of course, Mark Zuckerberg must be on the top of the list. Facebook speaks for all the success the man has achieved by launching it when he was only 19 years old. Within a few years of its launch, Facebook became one of the most used social media platforms across the world. An inspiration to a countless number of people, Zuckerberg is estimated to be worth 61.7 billion USD today and continues to progress as an entrepreneur.

Fraser Doherty started his incredible business career at the age of just fourteen. After being taught how to make jam in his Grandmother’s kitchen in Scotland, he came up with a way of making jam 100% from fruit. At sixteen, he presented his brand, SuperJam, to Waitrose and went on to become the youngest ever supplier to a major supermarket. SuperJam has since grown into a company that has sold many millions of jars through thousands of supermarkets around the world and currently has a net worth of 2 million dollars.

Juliette Brindak came up with the idea of what is now “Miss O&Friends” when she was just 10 years old. During a routine family vacation, she created a series of drawings of five girls called “Cool Girls”, the main one of whom was Miss O, inspired by her younger sister Olivia. Everyone liked the characters so much that soon her family joined in to help bring the characters to life, which is how “Miss O and Friends” came into existence. Her entrepreneurial horizons expanded in 2005, when Juliette launched MissOandFriends.com, a by-girls-forgirls site where tweens can go to safely interact, play flash games, receive advice in a supportive community, and get inspired.

At 14 years old Sean Belnick locked himself in his bedroom and 3 days later, Bizchair.com was born! At 20 years old, Sean’s business chair website brought in $38 Million Dollars! He started out with just a few office chairs and eventually one employee, he now sells over 25,000 products and sold chairs to Microsoft, Google, and Abercrombie and Fitch. Since the year Bizchar.com was set up it has turned into a thriving company and continues to expand with an excellent selection of products and customer service.

It’s hard not to feel a bit competitive after reading about all these young entrepreneurs. However, you have to know that anyone can succeed; what you really need to do is to begin. It’s never too late or early to chase your dreams. Anything can happen with a great idea, hard work, and creativity.

become large / bright idea / to appear or arise / follow / creative thinking / distributor / business / ambitious / make a profit / enterprise / set up / develop well / total amount of money saved

1) The main purpose of the article is to encourage young people to be hard-working, determined and innovative.

2) Facebook instantly became a very profitable business.

3) Fraser Doherty became a millionaire using his skill of making jam.

4) “Miss O” is a series of drawing-based characters aimed to be positive role models for young girls and teens.

5) BizChair.com was created in 2001 by its then fourteen-year-old founder Sean Belnick.

7. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first. Use the word(s) in brackets and an infinitive or -ing form. Use between two and four words.

1) My mum said she would pick up my friends and me after the party. (AGREED) My mum ________ my friends and me after the party.

2) I’m not in the mood to cook dinner this evening. (FEEL LIKE) I don’t ________ dinner this evening.

3) It usually takes me an hour to do my homework. (SPEND) I usually ________ my homework.

4) I won’t tell anyone your secret. You can trust me. (PROMISE) I ________ anyone your secret. You can trust me.

5) Do you want to play squash with me tomorrow? (FANCY) Do you ________ squash with me tomorrow?

6) Do you think your son broke the window on purpose? (MEANT) Do you think your son ________ the window?

7) You should put on a coat if you’re going outside. (SUGGEST) I ________ a coat if you’re going outside.

8) She lied and said she was eighteen so she could get into the nightclub. (PRETENDED) She ________ eighteen, so that she could get into the nightclub.

1) He tried ________ (get) a job in a newspaper firm but they wouldn’t hire him.

2) He tried ________ (get) a job in a newspaper firm but he still wasn’t satisfied.

3) We stopped ________ (study) because we were tired.

4) We stopped ________ (have) a rest because we were really sleepy.

5) I forget ________ (lock) the door, I have to call my roommate and ask him to check.

6) Have we studied this before? I’ve forgotten ________ (learn) it.

7) Please remember ________ (bring) your homework. 8) I remembered ________ (bring) your book back! Don’t you remember?

9) I regret ________ (tell) you the train has been delayed.

10) I regret ________ (tell) Julie my secret; now she has told everyone.

9. Complete the following paragraph using the words given below in the correct form of gerund or infinitive (with or without to).

make*3 / solve / know / appreciate / be / write / get / publish*2 / read / work / follow / reach

The job I liked best was 1) _____ cartoon strips for a children’s comic paper called The Superheros, a job I did before I was 22. What I liked most was being creative all day, 2) _____ that young people liked 3) _____ our stories. Using my language skills 4) _____ something new was very satisfying work. It let me 5) _____ an audience of more than 1 million readers. Of course, I didn’t have 6) _____ any big problems or fix anything, I didn’t have 7) _____ dirty in our nice big office, and I didn’t have 8) _____ important decisions or be anyone’s boss. Inside our huge company, I liked 9) _____ as part of a small team of artists and technicians and 10) _____ the production systems 11) _____ The Superheros. After a while, I left that job 12) _____ more money, but I never forgot 13) _____ a small part of the 14) _____ industry in the UK. It made me 15) _____ having freedom and creativity at work.

10. Work either individually or in pairs. Now it’s your turn to be the entrepreneur! So, you have to produce an entrepreneurial business plan. It could be anything you like and could be realistic or totally imaginary. Your business plan should include.

• Business start-up overview: (what do you plan to offer? why and who do you want to sell it to?)

• Strategy: (why do you think people will buy what you want to sell? how do you plan to sell them?)

• Team and personnel: (what are your skills, experience and qualifications? what people will you employ?)

• Operations: (where will you run your business? what equipment and facilities will you need?)

• Forecasts: (how much will you need to get started? how much will you sell the product/service for? how much profit will you make and when? how will you pay investors back?)

11. When your plan is ready, you need to present it to the rest of the class. Every individual/pair will be given 10,000 USD to invest in the business of their choice. The individual/pair with the most investment wins!

12. Think of an entrepreneur you know or research some famous once. Write about their life and achievements. Use the vocabulary you have learned in the lesson.