ࡱ> 8:7'` R2bjbj"9"92@S@S2 ~~~~~~~  <>>>>>>$h :b~b~~w~~<<~~ Wx <0Q Q "Q ~ bb ~~~~~~ By Jill Moss 15 September, 2012 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.  INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.51voa.com/images/201209/1EDC455A-1494-478D-AC87-C3F7C6F6CD66_w268_r1_cx0_cy3_cw0.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET  Small Business Loans 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 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. 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. (MUSIC) This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.   K \ ~ ' 1  " nzdrEW.9x12hV)jhVhVCJKHOJQJU^J&hVhV5CJKHOJQJ\^J hVhVCJKHOJQJ^J2  2gdV $1$a$gdV$dd1$[$\$a$gdV $1$a$gdV20182P. A!"#$%S  Dd  S Ar1EDC455A-1494-478D-AC87-C3F7C6F6CD66_w268_r1_cx0_cy3_cw0RiXS[EBCyDFiXS[EBCyJFIF``C   '!%"."%()+,+ /3/*2'*+*C  *************************************************** " }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?=B[%$R8/!lP uk~Feq/VMrssÞ%ЃJW~ ST"-:!9||E|)8ߟJͷ5P=G:Αk*idnUK0|Z/.=sJe?iΩm^`33PzחH-f?pr8Ft'Ov6S2)Xͻ}HNgv3\ҹM|$5NZxaW!uZ@]1qf 4΃]4xoc8vW2Y ٚ*O95Jd%XPjɣ.Y6'UB(UֶRr_jkonit|Z]D:WƝ^Od[L:SOMdfy.f7R"Jm~TWķx(*èʞwhQnZ; afOҺ5P;'@@⻃i}"Eq9"9B;%aGTVIg_phZy`rŔ3^Awr澐(t94)+.)/NzWc0}>2H4z ~j!NQVd_ݼHq#$qwpAڪIu4%Z6ѓ۫b? +ch`8 E>d;I(m~pעi~9e }1VetAL$>?\ϠroۡShr 3o ;\#WIؚ,ZY LDҌܴ * "3翫\|PdWJzة1WҮ& }kF C#dcQՄ)R:]4zmB=YG"r2 +RV3=qijwwa@@K&}HfKR,DGaT9'<?xO9MnqH|>p[4jHkj jI%l#bAbxGj9,JtNcOkt,p3޶xܬluΝK}le@: sOidM,M3YžӧߙrTMz*lH'`}6 5eK#cgQ [:}夺V $}})ڝXWAi~[iE;0\;Yaդ+vc{ SWHPXQ%$eGO5g bt M8,+zei;SɈIrK5~ I-'Y#F@l׮M:q_>ݘ4XI.R72v'ܾJn|qu$(䑕w[W:䕇^H/\r̈K\.q{e,sWgծ&v'jW439Vv[vhj+ϚˣhRܠ,6e*ւPۿı9vOV3(У;k#éi^jF{B8cexPy v²2=/ *1nO_][B$c52N;TG^6I&XZi[}j\ĆBNTֲvj|#giij|rOE .O)`EjI#!mI̓4BNgzȰ÷3lN;Y*NDJ N 7EF5^֩A%oH ӏzmqJ)-Aymof \#iֹۻ#-`ymit){gIbѨGsiV{xjoB %$32 |Cs$'#kEƣu$26B nӿ*3ٖKtUoٴ߂F۔\NJ|?P? ěW +42 yk>(‮Ɣ~;S۝3Cݽ |q7'm]'Z,95Mc8d w흢e#}*S֩XɳRcL#ީ[5o5x]wU6WE=<``_wJo:$],gT$`nU5 !Ɋ&oRo8ko'Kd ~Ts$JYap:C?: uqQܼ7:+9Y/^[vF:Ny=9<5aeK+bH4=1>½:vbNY8UQ#$@#ڙzP'.v}6`;s,->案Ԛ䛼RعI1>GP9Sk,xr57a#(H)jXOqUo&X)tpz[l#nn5J 8r\ȱ}IkB$zuLs$if q2BsqWʷ~#h?,mwUO~[F<^m:-Gt!SVQK/܄ bp^F!bB0gnO-"H8<2*IXM܌x9Cyw}GU2+>8.$F09 5K[#5ua\,o(aW$G$sa0=]ּSw R}A) vJgLE#<p' S-!qO_.1<=ԶљI2{ ذXHAoݑKVGp<;t?XXS|йlgϽUJeOPoSpZEiBr yy5,Er0 Qwd皵 ejr.:y?ր+nlH81ǭcF7\zKIԤ{pq8y:Ճ7`^s^L&c?^x~ ry5?S-i},q+gqOj7\?JW{7_3 ־;`X3.\EorQ8R$tK$yy&(׌crdI'5^In=ap=4.ڕĮPHYi 8>NqcYUX?ޥ+kV`Óilj7vW/p$Udwn#]շhR||:{3uk#w!Vqe P9<\Qz ULwnWMY$('Miy[umvWYm2,Z-:5*wocf->irF #pv>z=\kswPX_]o{}G?jG$ dW#ޮ劊&(Lњ n,r|9|cbMPQN [AkbxDS *ymo#YH"+eJ=y1ހZ~Qk~5VhNӂ0;7s|.HLkFG_:\11:_Y2M}+'nl̖|#4e1lj1H2F3SmG} Su ^kJk#s\ZahW"Cz4DI9 Gb:{dfͬQm7 ;hzP]X;-,ZCY0O9To3I*fF埵*y$$7SC$kqO!siI\5 *^ܪLªzGy$,#riV_֚O4pE4vhT4qQޠqcњC@[ у_O\ cx4fU`Xғq<.gׂkl._,?*<{O.01L^isNJ@z߀kxn朴n:ZQ%i6 #=>2L/-BܖsSEKx#[|wlp \.<>MA#d'}ǭsA;4Y=Ru)>>$}ړnʊ)u|Oڊ*Xy mnPs(gka`UmK4QY$ss|-\r8 U+EhST(dE# P(I>QE!Pb(;Q@N@N cke $1$a$$CJKHPJ_HaJmH nHsH tH$A@$ ؞k=W[SOBi@B nfh