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  • Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning

  • English. I'm Rob.

  • And I'm Sam.

  • Have you got a 'business brain', Sam?

  • Would you like to start you own business?

  • It sounds good, Rob. I like the idea of being

  • my own boss.

  • Well, that's the dream for many millennials

  • - the name given to the current generation

  • of young people aged between 24 and 38.

  • Some of the millennial generation are dissatisfied

  • with the old ways of doing things, for example

  • how big business uses data from social media

  • and the negative impact of companies on society

  • and the environment.

  • In today's programme, we'll look at why

  • millennials are so attracted to starting their

  • own businesses and asking whether this really

  • is the way to make the world a better place.

  • And of course, we'll be learning some new

  • vocabulary on the way.

  • But first, it's time for today's quiz

  • question.

  • At 79 years old, Muhammad Yunus

  • is hardly a millennial but he's a hero to

  • many young business people. In 2006 he won

  • the Nobel Peace Prize, but what for? Was it for:

  • a) offering microfinance to low-income businesses,

  • b) starting the first business to earn £1m

  • in under a week, or

  • c) developing a progressive model of taxation.

  • Hmmm, I know millennials like starting businesses

  • so I'll say, b) earning £1 million in under

  • a week.

  • OK. We'll find out the later if you were

  • right. Now, whether it's TV shows like 'The

  • Apprentice' or the big success of companies

  • in California's Silicon Valley, the last

  • decade saw a huge growth in 20 and 30-year-olds

  • starting their own businesses. BBC World Service

  • programme The Why Factor asked

  • business professor,

  • Ethan Mollick to explain how this situation

  • came about

  • There's all these platforms that let you

  • built entrepreneureal ventures much more easily.

  • The growth of things like crowdfunding have

  • helped make entrepreneurship more accessible,

  • led to tons of new start-ups. So there's

  • a lot of new methods for launching businesses

  • and the cost of launching new businesses dropped

  • at the same time.

  • Ethan lists some of the reasons why it's

  • now easier to become an entrepreneur -

  • someone who starts their own business, often

  • after seeing a new opportunity.

  • Entrepreneurs see opportunities for products

  • and services not being supplied by existing

  • companies, so they create start-ups - newly

  • formed businesses intended to grow rapidly

  • by providing for a particular market gap.

  • One of the main problems to starting up your

  • own business used to be getting the large

  • amounts of money needed, but nowadays this

  • can be solved with crowdfunding - getting

  • the funding for a new business by asking a

  • large number of people to give small amounts

  • of money, usually via the internet.

  • But while start-up success stories have made

  • going into business a good option, for many

  • millennials it's not just about making money

  • but also about being socially responsible

  • and doing good. However, others argue that

  • most big changes for the better have come

  • from governments not millennial businesses.

  • Here, former World Bank economist, Charles

  • Kenny, cautions against over-emphasising individual

  • business over governments

  • If you are working in a place with a corrupt

  • and inefficient government, one of the best

  • ways you can push development in your country

  • is to try and make that problem a little bit

  • better. It's not something that any one

  • individual can do, it has to be a collective

  • effort, but the more we have young, committed,

  • smart people who want to make the world a

  • better place working in government, the more

  • likely government is to start delivering the

  • kind of services we need in order to ensure

  • a high quality of life in that country.

  • So, Charles mentions the problem that

  • governments can be corrupt - act in

  • morally wrong or illegal

  • ways, often in return for money or power.

  • The talent and passion that millennials put

  • into starting their own business could instead

  • be used to improve governments through collective

  • effort - a group of people acting together

  • to achieve a common goal.

  • It's this working together than can raise

  • people's quality of lifelevel of personal

  • satisfaction and comfort.

  • Something that Muhammad Yunus was doing.

  • Ah yes, that's today's quiz question.

  • I asked you why Muhammad Yunus won

  • the Nobel Prize in 2006.

  • I said that, b) he started the first business

  • to earn £1m in under a week.

  • But in fact it was a) offering microfinance

  • to low-income businesses – a way for anyone,

  • rich or poor, to run a business in a positive way.

  • Today, we've been talking about why young

  • people in the millennial generation want to

  • be entrepreneurspeople who start their

  • own business.

  • Many millennials create start-ups - newly

  • formed businesses intended to grow rapidly

  • using a method called crowdfunding - getting

  • the funding for their new business by asking

  • large numbers of people on the internet to

  • each give a little bit of money.

  • But it's not only about making profits.

  • Millennials start-ups can help solve many

  • of the developing world's problems, instead

  • of governments which may be corrupt - acting

  • immorally or illegally for money or power.

  • What's needed more than individual businessmen

  • and women is collective effort - a group of

  • people acting together to achieve a common

  • goal.

  • And one important goal is to improve the quality

  • of lifethe level of satisfaction and

  • comfort that a person or group enjoys.

  • That's all from us today. But remember to

  • join us again soon for more topical discussion

  • and vocabulary. Bye for now!

  • Bye!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning

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A2 初級

千禧一代與商業:6分鐘英語。 (Millennials and business: 6 Minute English)

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    林宜悉 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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