11 September, 2001

LI 3.9.25

I've had the week from hell. - У меня была ужасная неделя.
nightmare of a week - кошмарная неделя
I couldn't care less. - Мне совершенно безразлично (наплевать).
He's been really edgy / on edge / snapping at everyone. - Он ужасно раздражителен (готов наброситься на кого угодно без причины).
She threw a wobbly. - Она не в себе.
I had a complete fit. - Меня не на шутку разозлили.
She blew her top. - У нее "крыша" поехала.
Oh, Daniel makes my blood boil. - Даниэль приводит меня в бешенство.

LI 3.9.25

Хорошее у вас настроение или плохое - вы всегда сможете выразить свои чувства, используя разговорные выражения из нашей серии "Живой язык".
Хорошее настроение
I'm really buzzing! - У меня все просто здорово.
I'm having a really peachy time! - Я превосходно провожу время.
I'm walking on air! - Я на седьмом небе от счастья!
I'm on cloud nine! - Это просто блаженство!
I'm totally over the moon. - Я безумно счастлив!
Everything's cool. - Все здорово (отлично)!
I haven't got a care in the world - Меня ничто не тревожит (мне не о чем беспокоиться).

LI 3.9.25

Born in January 1968, Heather Mills McCartney is a Patron of Adopt-A-Minefield and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador who has campaigned for over 14 years to raise funds and awareness to rid the world of landmines.

In August 1993, her life changed for ever when she was involved in a road accident with a police motorcycle and suffered numerous injuries including crushed ribs, a punctured lung, multiple fractures of the pelvis and the loss of her left leg below the knee.

Heather voluntarily counsels people from around the world who have lost limbs in accidents, through illness, natural disasters and terrorist atrocities. Her personal advice, determination and commitment help them and their families realise that they can continue to lead rich and fulfilling lives despite their injuries. She also lectures before audiences ranging in size from 30 to 3,000.

Just one year after her accident, Heather arranged for the first convoy of artificial limbs to be sent to Croatia. Since then thousands of amputees and survivors of landmine explosions around the world have been helped.

Heather’s charity work is particularly focused on the Adopt-A-Minefield campaign to clear landmines and help landmine survivors. She is the Founding Patron of Adopt-A-Minefield UK, and ambassador for the global campaign. Adopt-A-Minefield has raised over $17 million to date, funding clearance of over 21 million square metres of mined land and benefiting more than 400,000 people. Adopt-A-Minefield is now the largest funder of landmine clearance in the world and has funded over 300 minefield clearance and survivor assistance projects.

Heather has won numerous accolades and awards including, recently, the inaugural UNESCO Children in Need Award. The University of California honoured Heather with the Irvine Award and have established a Fellowship in her name. She also received an Open University Doctorate in 2004.

In December 2001, Heather made a return to modelling with a difference. After hearing her speak at the Mothers & Shakers Awards in New York, American clothing company I.N.C. asked Heather to front their International Concepts of Inspiration campaign. The successful campaign raised awareness and funds for Adopt-A-Minefield. To date INC have donated $100,000 to the charity.
Heather has been invited by legendary chat-show host Larry King to guest host two of his shows to date. ‘Larry King Live with Heather Mills McCartney and Paul Newman’ was broadcast worldwide on CNN. She recently covered the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles and is looking forward to doing more presenting in the future.
Heather also recently launched a new campaign to stop the terrible international trade in cat and dog fur. More than two million animals are skinned alive in China each year purely for their pelts, and when Heather was sent a video exposing the cruelty, she felt she had to act. She joined Euro MP Struan Stevenson at the European Parliament in March 2005 to highlight the barbarity of this trade and brought it to the attention of the world’s media in September 2005 with high-profile protests in America in association with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
In October 2002 Heather’s updated autobiography “A Single Step” was released in North America. All of Heather’s earnings from the book are donated to Adopt-A-Minefield.

LI 3.9.25

The World Cup is long over, and any hopes politicians may have had that the euphoria would lead to renewed faith in the government have been dashed. According to a new opinion poll, only one in five Germans think Chancellor Merkel's grand coalition has done a good job.
The government has been grappling with its reform agenda, including a controversial plan to change Germany's healthcare system. But disagreements over how to finance the system have revealed tensions in the government, and the plans have been criticised by unions and consumer groups.
The latest poll, carried out by the Infratest Dimap Institute, showed a majority of Germans are against the proposed health reforms. Business leaders and economists have also attacked the government's plans to raise value added tax next year, claiming the tax increases will drag down growth.
Since last November's election, Chancellor Merkel has presided over an awkward alliance between the Conservatives and Social Democrats, who in the past were traditional political rivals. While Chancellor Merkel has transformed the country's foreign policy, by mending relations with President Bush and playing a key role in the European Union, back home, critics have attacked her domestic policy agenda.
Chancellor Merkel's own popularity ratings have taken a battering. The survey shows Angela Merkel has lost her position as Germany's most popular politician, and her approval rating is down to 56% - the worst record since she was elected last autumn.
reform agenda - план преобразований (в экономической, политической и социальной сферах)
has come unstuck - не осуществился
have been dashed - зд. рухнули
has been grappling - пытается заниматься
controversial - вызывающий массу споров
healthcare system - систему здравоохранения
poll - социологический опрос
value added tax - налог на добавленную стоимость (НДС)
mending relations - улучшая отношения
have taken a battering - резко снизились

LI 3.9.25

English learners have a big advantage over learners of other languages: Hollywood is in America and it makes English-language movies. So, if you know English and you like movies, why don't you watch movies in English? You can have fun and, at the same time, learn a lot of English. If you are a fan of movies, you will notice that they are much better in the original. Watching a dubbed film will never be as good as watching the original version. Why? Because in the original version, the actor's voices are real. Everything is just like the director imagined. Learning English by watching movies is learning by input. First you get lots of correct English sentences into your head. Then you can imitate them and you can make your own sentences. And isn't that why you are learning English - to be able to make your own sentences? That is why watching movies (just like reading books) is such a great way to learn English. Of course, there are important differences between movies and books. With books, you learn how native speakers write in English. With movies, you learn how they speak English. You learn what words they use. When speaking, native speakers use words and phrases that you often won't find in a book. Spoken language is different from "book language". For example:
Book: The price of five dollars was acceptable, and I decided to purchase it.
Spoken: It was, like, five bucks, so I was like "okay".
In many movies, the dialog is like real spoken English. Movies also let you learn informal and slang words which are not yet in English dictionaries. For example, in a movie you might hear: Give me the freaking keys!, but you won't find the word "freaking" in a dictionary. You learn how they say these words. Movies let you improve your pronunciation, not only grammar and vocabulary. If you listen to Americans or Britons speaking English, you can learn to speak like they. You learn to understand spoken language. Movies are made for native speakers, not for learners of English. So the actors talk fast, just like native speakers talk in real life. How to learn as much as possible The difficulty of watching movies. You won't learn anything from the movie if you don't understand it. You probably won't enjoy it, either. :-(
This is one big problem with movies: They are much more difficult to understand than books. If you don't understand a word in a book, you can simply look it up in a dictionary, because the word is written there (you know its spelling). With a movie, you sometimes hear something, but you don't know what it is. Sometimes you don't even know if you've heard one word or two. There are other reasons why listening is more difficult than reading, and they all mean one thing: If you want to understand a movie, you have to know a lot of English words - and not only their spelling, but also their pronunciation. You can greatly improve your vocabulary by reading books, looking up words in your dictionary and repeating them. But even if you read 200 books in English, you would still not understand everything! There will always be some words that you didn't know before. And some of the dialog will be spoken very quickly and unclearly. (You should know that sometimes even Americans can't understand some of the dialog.) What to do when you don't understand something. If you are playing the movie from tape or CD, you can stop it whenever you don't understand a sentence. You can then play the sentence many times and try to look up words in a dictionary (which is not easy, because you have to guess the spelling!). Most CDs let you turn on subtitles. With subtitles, it is easy to look up difficult words in your dictionary, because you know the spelling. Learning techniques. What else can you do to learn from movies more effectively? The same things that you should do when reading books:
Pay attention to interesting things: new words, phrases, and grammar structures. Use your dictionary to learn about these interesting things. You can stop the movie to look up difficult words. You can also write down all the interesting sentences, and look them up later. But do use your dictionary!
Where to get movies in English?
Getting movies in English may be a problem if you are not in an English-speaking country. Most stores will have only movies dubbed in the local language. Dubbed movies help people who do not know English, but if you are an English learner, they are your greatest enemies:
How can you get original versions of movies? Here are some ideas that you can try:

" Your cable or satellite TV may have movie channels in English (for example, HBO is a popular channel which shows a lot of movies; unfortunately, it is not free).
" You can buy CDs or videotapes at specialized sites. (for example at our site.)
" In some countries, movie theaters (cinemas) show films with subtitles in the local language (and not dubbed movies). It is a good idea to watch them, especially if you can avoid reading the subtitles. :-)
















LI 3.9.25

Let me introduce myself. I am…I am from………I was born in…I have been living in this town since my childhood.
Now I am going to tell you about my family. We are a family of five. We are friendly and getting on right.
My father is 45. He works as a surgeon in the hospital. He is neither old nor young, a good looking man,handsome,rather thin with dark hair just beginning to gray hare is a very sociable person. What I don’t like about him is that he is always busy. He works overtime, because he is the only bread-maker in our family. He is keen on tennis and moreover he is fond of going to the country and to deal with our country-cottage.
My mother is three years younger than he. She works as a teacher in the nursery school. My mother is rather slim and pretty, she is always elegant and smart. In short, she is a pleasant-looking woman of about 42.Paying attention to the fact of her being a teacher; she has got a great deal of work to do at home and at school. Sometimes it seems to me that it’s an endless business! Shopping and cooking is nearly half a day’s work for her. But my granny and I are in a habit of giving her a helping hand about the house.
Boris is my older brother. He is 6 years senior to me. So he is 22 already. He has graduated from the University. He is an economist. He is married and his wife is a journalist. They are three in the family. They have got a child – my nephew. He is a small boy with golden hair and dark brown eyes and a spirit that is always bright and happiest a little bit naughty.
And finally just a few words concerning my granny. To tell the truth se is my best friend. She always listens to my endless stories about friends and school life. She is retired on pension now. I must admit, she is really an understanding person.
It’s a custom for our family to discuss things during the meals. I must say that all of us are not alike in tastes, manners and characters. But as a matter of fact we get along with each other. We usually show our interest in what others think and do. We share each other’s joy and sorrow. We never remain indifferent to what happens to others. We exchange our impressions on films or plays we have seen. We are attentive and sincere to each other and all these things unite a family. But we like humor and joking so we argue and tease each other. It does not prevent us from being on friendly terms. Everybody is grateful to our mother, because she keeps the house , she takes care of everybody , she is kind and generous. We try our best to treat mother most kindly.




LI 3.9.25

The origin of the Sovereign as the 'fountain of honour' is an ancient one. Throughout history, monarchs realised the value and necessity of rewarding gallantry in battle and loyal service, often by awarding gifts of land or money, or some sort of title or sign of merit as a mark of distinction. This was particularly the case when the first sovereign of a new dynasty succeeded to or took the throne and therefore needed to ensure that their supporters' loyalty was rewarded. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, William I granted land to his allies in exchange for continuing loyalty and military service; for example, he created feudal earldoms to protect the English border against Welsh raids. Occasionally, land or titles were granted by a king (for example Charles II) in recognition of his illegitimate children, who could not succeed to the throne.
After medieval times, gifts of land, money or weapons which were given as rewards for political or personal service, or help in battle, were replaced by the awarding of knighthood, insignia of Orders of chivalry and other honours. From the reign of Richard II onward, gifts of gold or silver chains to be worn round the neck as a reward for loyal service were frequently given. Chains of honour were given to certain officers of the crown as a special mark of distinction; known as 'collars of the King's Livery', such chains were worn as pledges of loyalty. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century, appointment to the Orders of chivalry in England was restricted to members of the aristocracy and high-ranking military figures. From that period onward, the appointments were drawn from wider backgrounds.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as Parliament's legislative role grew and government by a Cabinet of ministers headed by the Prime Minister evolved, the method of selecting people for honours also changed. As with the Sovereign's other public functions, the king or queen conferred honours on the advice of their ministers, normally the Prime Minister, rather than on their own royal initiative.

Today, as the 'fountain of honour' in the United Kingdom, the Sovereign has the sole right of conferring all titles of honour, including life peerages, knighthoods and gallantry awards. Anybody can make a recommendation for a British national to receive an honour; awards are made in recognition of distinguished service in any form by people from every section of the community. As The Queen confers honours on the advice of the Prime Minister, so recommendations for honours must be sent to the Prime Minister's Office.

Honours for meritorious service are usually conferred and announced twice a year - on the Sovereign's official birthday (early June) and at the New Year, or occasionally on a change of government. Awards for gallantry are published periodically on a separate list. Recipients receive their awards at an Investiture.

Honorary decorations and awards are occasionally granted to people from other countries who have made a significant contribution to relations between the United Kingdom and their own country. These awards are granted on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

However, there are still certain honours in the United Kingdom that the Sovereign confers at his or her own discretion. The only honours for which the Sovereign personally selects recipients are: the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Order of Merit, the Royal Victorian Order and the Royal Victorian Chain, Royal Medals of Honour and Medals for Long Service.

Historically, the exchange of Orders between the Sovereign and overseas heads of state tended to be personal and dynastic - particularly during Queen Victoria's reign, when many dynastic marriages contracted by her large family created a network which closely united the dynasties of Europe in the nineteenth century. Since the mid-twentieth century, the exchange of Orders has become less personal and more formal and diplomatic. The award, return or removal of Orders can still be highly symbolic - as shown by The Queen's conferring the Order of Merit on President Mandela, or her return of the Romanian Order received from President Ceausescu and her instruction to erase the President's name from the Register of the Order of the Bath. Today, Orders bestowed on The Queen, and reciprocal awards to foreign heads of state, can be seen as formal and official awards by which one nation honours another in the person of the head of state.



LI 3.9.25

A long time ago when people lived mostly out-of-doors, they were close to nature. They noticed that plants, mammals, insects and birds sensed the coming of any weather change sooner than people did. So when ancient people saw animals seeking shelter, they did, too.
Nowadays people have much more problems and interferes of weather conditions. Some people are very sensitive to humidity. People who have arthritis are, in a sense, “living hydrometers”. High humidity causes the fluids in their tissues and joints to increase, making movement difficult and painful. That is why many older people say, “it’s going to rain. I can
feel it in my bones”. They actually can. Few people in northern countries enjoy the long, dark nights and cold temperatures of winter. According to scientists, wintery conditions
may be making some people ill. They suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or the winter blues. Sufferers become depressed as the days become shorter but recover rapidly in spring. The symptoms can be very serious and may be mistaken for signs of mental illness. They include sleeping more than usual but never feeling rested, melancholy, listlessness, weight gain
and lack of energy among others. The further you live from the equator, the more likely you are to be affected by SAD. It is believed that up to 20% of the population of
northern countries suffers from SAD and that 5% are chronic cases. But even if you don’t have full-blown SAD, you may still experience a few symptoms, such as increased fatigue and a “down” mood, from the lack of light. So, if you have any of those symptoms it’s better for you to see your doctor, to keep your home and workplace as bright as possible, light
treatment with special bulbs, given under your doctor’s direction, can alleviate and even prevent symptoms It takes a little sleuthing, but once you’ve fingered the source of your blues, and applied the appropriate fix, who knows? You may actually start to enjoy winter for a change!


LI 3.9.25

My name is Ann. I'm 17 and I think life is for me. Every day I can see that there are a lot of different things I should know and learn. I have many interests and hobbies. First of all I must say that I am fond of music, I like all kinds and all tendencies, I really enjoy classical music. When I was 8 years old I started playing the piano, but my dream always was the guitar. Unfortunately I don't have this instrument, but I believe my dream will come one day. When I was a little girl my parents often took me to different concerts. Now a friend of mine and I almost every month visit some concerts or music plays.
I enjoy English too, because, in my opinion, to know a foreign language means to have an opportunity to learn something new from other cultures and traditions. Moreover the principal aim of any language is the communication, and it means new acquaintance new friends. I can't say that I have many friends. in fact there is no need of it. The most important thing is that I can trust my friends. and I know they will always help me.
The happiest day in my life is my birthday, because my parents and my friends give me some presents, flowers, they sing me the song "Happy birthday to you!", and we spend a wonderful day together. I must confess I like cooking best of all when some guests come visit me, then I make something special and very delicious. For my birthday I always make some honey biscuits. After this day I always have only the best impressions.
Some of my friends are fond of collecting postcards, well, I can't say the same about me. But when I was 6 I started collecting postcards, later I stopped enlarging my collection, but my relatives and friends didn't, and if they find an interesting postcards they bring it to me.
Nowadays young people don't like reading, but to tell the truth I do. I believe reading develops our imagination and mental capacity. And it's possible to take from books some good advice recommendations. We have a lot of books at home: different dictionaries, recollections, poetry, memoirs, etceteras.
My friend say I am a very gentle active, sociable and lovely person, but they don't know that sometimes I get very quite and perfect to think than to talk, well, as my mother says it's typical of girls of my age.

LI 3.9.25

1. In the morning she was all over my come.

LI 3.9.25

Foreign students often think that English is a simple language. "Look how easy it is to address somebody in English," they say. "There's only one word - 'you'. In my language it's more difficult.

The fact that the English language has only one form "you" doesn't mean that Englishmen see no difference between friends, people they don't know, people they respect and so on.

For example: "What time is it, John?" can become: "Excuse me, could you tell me the time, please? if addressed to a person you don't know. Here is another example. A woman in a shop suddenly feels unwell and is helped to a chair. Her husband may ask: "Are you all right, dear?" A person who doesn't know her may say: "Are you all right?" And the shop owner may ask: "Are you all right, madam?"

The English address system has intimate, neutral and polite forms.

There are many different intimate vocatives. Among these there is the person's first name. Other intimate vocatives are "dear", "love", "old boy", "old man", etc. The word "old" here doesn't really mean old. It simply shows you're friendly to a person.

It is difficult to give the rules which explain the use of the vocatives. The use of no vocative at all, as in "Are you all right?", is easier to explain. It is neutral.

A polite vocative is used to show some special respect. The polite vocatives are "madam" or "sir" , "Mrs Smith" or "Mr Smith", "ladies and gentlemen". There are many other polite vocatives, for example, professional words such as "Doctor", "Professor" and so on.

So the question of addressing a person in English is not so simple as it seems to be. Pay attention to these vocatives when you are speaking to an Englishman or reading an English dialogue. They are strange words, but are very important for you.


LI 3.9.25

The novelist and short-story writer Jack London was, in his lifetime, one of the most popular authors in the world. After World War I his fame was eclipsed in the United States by a new generation of writers, but he remained popular in many other countries, especially in the Soviet Union, for his romantic tales of adventure mixed with elemental struggles for survival.
John Griffith London was born in San Francisco on Jan. 12, 1876. His family was poor, and he was forced to go to work early in life to support himself. At 17 he sailed to Japan and Siberia on a seal-hunting voyage. He was largely self-taught, reading voluminously in libraries and spending a year at the University of California. In the late 1890s he joined the gold rush to the Klondike. This experience gave him material for his first book, 'The Son of Wolf', published in 1900, and for 'Call of the Wild' (1903), one of his most popular stories. In his writing career of 17 years, London produced 50 books and many short stories. He wrote mostly for money, to meet ever-increasing expenses. His fame as a writer gave him a ready audience as a spokesman for a peculiar and inconsistent blend of socialism and racial superiority. London's works, all hastily written, are of uneven quality. The best books are the Klondike tales, which also include 'White Fang' (1906) and 'Burning Daylight' (1910). His most enduring novel is probably the autobiographical 'Martin Eden' (1909), but the exciting 'Sea Wolf' (1904) continues to have great appeal for young readers. In 1910 London settled near Glen Ellen, Calif., where he intended to build his dream home, "Wolf House." After the house burned down before completion in 1913, he was a broken and sick man. His death on Nov. 22, 1916, from an overdose of drugs, was probably a suicide.


LI 3.9.25

Once upon a time Dracula decided to carry some sort of a competition to see which is the finest bat to stand on his side. So all the bats were honored to take part. The rules were simple. Whichever bat drinks more blood, will be the winner? So the first bat goes and comes back after 10 minutes. Her mouth was full of blood. Dracula says: "Congratulations, how did you do that?" The bat said: "Do you see that tower? Behind it there is a house. I went in and sucked the blood of all the family". "Very good" said Dracula. The second bat goes and comes back after 5 minutes all her face covered in blood. Dracula astonished says, "How did you do that?" The bat replies " Do you see that tower? Behind it there is a school. I went in and drunk the blood of all the children". "Impressive" said Dracula. Now the third bat goes and comes back after three minutes literally covered in blood from top to toe. Dracula is stunned. "How on earth did you do that????" he asked. And the bat replies. "Do you see this tower?" Dracula replies with a yes. And the bat says "Well, I didn't".

LI 3.9.25

The word "love" is difficult to define exactly. The dictionary gives the following definition of this notion: deep affection or fondness; sexual passion. People find their own sacrament meaning in love, they have their own answers to the eternal question. To my mind, love means affection, esteem and confidence to a person, the ability to understand each other. Love is the unity of attraction of mind, soul and body. The best thing to check love is to set up a family. Both husband and wife are to create their happiness together. some people consider youthfulness to be the best age for falling in love. To my mind there is no special age for love. I should mention the importance of responsible attitude to love. It is especially important for young people, because very often they feel themselves physically developed and well informed. But their morality is not so high yet. Authorities on that problem speak about the acceleration development of the young generation today. Their opinion cannot be ignored. One is to remember about such moral values like faithfulness and honesty. Sometimes listening to reason is better than listening to feeling
as for me I have a boy-friend. He is intelligent, generous, has a sense of humor, is always interesting. We hope to build a successful marriage. Each married couple ought to work out on optimal model of behavior.

LI 3.9.25

There are many kinds of television programmes and television channels in our country. The number of them increase constantly to meet all the tastes and needs of the viewers.
Television brings the world in our life. It helps us to understand people from other countries, to know their customs and traditions. One can find TV-programmes for children, teenagers, for sportfans and for people of various professional interests. But television may lead to poor health, through rushed meals, lack of sleep or exercise and eyestrain.
We can watch great events which will pass into history and famous people. Now people can get more information from various sourses, find out different viewpoints, compare the positions and political programmes, and thus they can exercise one of the basic rights — the right to have full information about the events in their country ond abroad. But to my mind people spend a lot of time before the television screens.
Television is the great entertainment and propaganda machine. From one hand it makes a lot to entertain people. On the other hand television can do some harm for certain people by the propaganda.
With the encreasing number of TV-progammes the number of TV-viewers is also regularly encreases. And their tastes are also encrease and change. That is why from time to time some programmes are changing to another programmes. TV-channels try to attract viewers with the help of different shows, conserts or interesting programmes. Apart from their entertainment value, they provide useful topics of conversation. But people begin to forget the art of conversation. They sit glued to the television screens instead of visiting their friends and relatives.
I am fond of different TV-programmes about news, computers or entertaining programmes. But my favourite programme is “Arest and freedom”. It is the new programme of REN-TV. Its author and leader is Dmitry Yakubovskiy. During his two years’ imprisonment he learned Russian legislature and the rights of people. In his programme he speaks about human and civil rights, rights of prisoners and about the duties of militia. This programme is equally interesting for young and old. Some good illustrations and photographs make the author’s text easier to grasp.
For my mind everyone has his own favourite programme and can tell a lot about it.








LI 3.9.25

A friend took me to dinner to pick my brain about her new business. She was excited: she had a great idea, had lined up a strategic partner, and was raring to go. She had visions of raising millions of dollars. I felt terrible telling her that while her ambition was admirable, her business plan was lousy.
Now, that's not to say she can't raise money for her new company. These days it seems like even the craziest idea can raise $100 million. But, it's not enough to have an idea you can convince others to invest in; you have to have the basis for a solid, real business.
No matter how much money you can raise for a company, at some point, real customers are going to decide whether they want to buy your product or service. Even if customers are willing to buy, you need to have a business operation that enables you to make sufficient profit to survive.
So what were the problems - and there were many of them - with my friend's idea?
First, like many novice entrepreneurs, her idea was too grandiose. She had too many services, serving to diverse a market, to be able to successfully develop anyone aspect. The single biggest problem facing entrepreneurs is lack of focus. It's a big enough challenge to stay focused on even a narrowly defined market with a clearly delineated product; when you take on too much, especially in the early days of a company, you almost guarantee defeat. My friend's business could have easily been broken up into two or three businesses, any one of which might possibly succeed. But she was committed to serving the whole market.
Many entrepreneurs, of course, fall to the other extreme: their business idea is so narrowly defined that it's actually the basis for just one product - or just one feature of a product - rather than a whole business. This is particularly true in two categories: consumer products and technology. Let's say, for example, that you have a great recipe for a new kind of sauce. One sauce, no matter how terrific, might not be enough to build a whole company around; you might need to come up with a line of sauces.
When your business idea is too limited, you may not be able to get big enough to survive. Even if you are successful, you're vulnerable if a larger company later decides to mimic your idea. The good news - and this particularly happens in technology or if you can develop a cultlike following of customers - is that your company becomes an excellent candidate to be acquired by a company that wants to include your product as part of their offerings. You won't be your own boss, but you might get a pile of cash.
The next biggest dilemma in my friend's business was she hadn't considered the real costs of delivering her proposed services. One of rules is "Things take longer and cost more than planned." To be successful, my friend's company depended on achieving lower costs than her competitors. She thought she could do this just because she was operating on the Internet. Get real! An Internet business is just like a land-based company: you still need customer service, employees, and substantial marketing efforts. If you're depending on cost savings for a competitive advantage, prove that such savings can actually be achieved and sustained.
Finally, my friend's biggest problem was my friend. She's stubborn, unwilling to listen, insistent on getting and keeping control. (So why is she my friend? That's another column.:) It's not enough to have a great idea, or even great operations. A company needs leadership and management. You can't build a business without building a team. You have to work with people; not just have them work for you.
It's not always easy to scale back your vision or your need to be in charge. But if you want to grow a company, not just make yourself a job, you've got to consider whether your good idea can really be a good business.


LI 3.9.25

A man asked his wife what she'd like for her birthday. "I'd love to be eight again." she replied. On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Coco Pops, and then took her off to the local theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, every thing there was. Five hours later she staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. Right away, they journeyed to a McDonald's where her loving husband ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake. Then it was off to the movies: the latest Star Wars epic, a hot dog, popcorn, all the Coke she could drink, and her favorite lolly and M&M's. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his precious wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, Well, Dear, what was it like being eight again?" Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. "I meant my dress size!!!!!!!
The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he's gonna get it wrong.


LI 3.9.25