Business Acumen: Sales, Startups, & Modern Logistics

Posted on Aug 16, 2025 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

Business Operations & Payment Status

  • The order has just been delivered.

The order has already been delivered.

Have these invoices already been paid?

These invoices have just been paid.

These invoices have already been paid.

Innovations in Logistics: Autonomous Vehicles

  • A self-driving lorry has already been designed by ZF, the German car parts maker.

New technology that has been developed for lorries in recent years hasn’t been developed yet.

In a self-driving lorry, the driver can usually rest while goods are taken off and then are put on the lorry.

A new battery-powered delivery van has just been revealed by Daimler.

Core Concepts for Business & Startups

  • When you pitch a business idea, you say things to persuade people to buy something, do something, or accept the idea.
  1. If you make a profit, you gain money by doing business, after your costs have been paid.
  2. Half of all startups in the UK go out of business within five years.
  3. A business angel is someone who gives new businesses money, often in exchange for a share of the company.
  4. Money that is provided by an organization for a particular purpose is funding.
  5. A company’s target market is the customers that the product or service is aimed at.

Entrepreneurial Insights & Business Questions

  • Where do you think is the best place to go for advice about starting a business?
  1. Do you know the names of the founders of Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft?
  2. What are some of the difficulties of the fast growth of a startup like Fairphone?
  3. Apart from crowdfunding, where else can entrepreneurs go for financial backing?
  4. Do you think that Fairphone is a good investment for the company’s backers? Why? / Why not?
  5. Do you think entrepreneurial talent is unique to some people?

Mastering Sales Negotiation Dialogue

Put the dialogue between a salesperson and a client into the correct order (1–9). Two lines have been done for you.

  1. Client: I don’t know. It’s a lot of money.
  2. Salesperson: I appreciate that this product is top of the range. When you say a lot of money, what sort of price did you have in mind?
  3. Client: Well, you see, we’ve spent a lot on office equipment this year. And we can’t afford to spend more on it this year.
  4. Salesperson: Sorry, the most important thing is your budget for equipment this financial year?
  5. Client: Yes, that’s right. We can’t afford to buy it right now.
  6. Salesperson: That doesn’t have to be a problem. You could pay in installments to spread the cost. Say 10 percent a month?
  7. Client: Is that interest-free?
  8. Salesperson: Yes, if I arrange that, do we have a deal?
  9. Client: It sounds good. Yes, we do!

Effective Business Presentation Phrases: Part 1

Complete the expressions from the recording in Exercise 3B with the words in each box below. If necessary, use the audioscript on page 149 to help you. Part 1: The Overview

  1. In this next part of my presentation, I’m going to tell you more about [the target market].
  2. On this slide you can see [three charts].
  3. This pie chart shows [us the age demographic of our target customers].
  4. You can see [which ages the colors refer to] on the right.
  5. You’ll notice that [the 18–25-year-old age group is our biggest target group].
  6. Next, you can see [the growth of our market …] on this line graph.
  7. Finally, on this bar chart, you can see [the stock levels we have].
  8. I’d now like to hand over to [my colleague], who will give you more detail.

Effective Business Presentation Phrases: Part 2

Part 2:

  1. It is significant that [the growth of the tablet product line has been slow].
  2. These details confirm that [mobile devices, in general, are outselling tablets].
  3. I’d also like to show you [something on the customer age demographic pie chart].
  4. It’s interesting to see that [almost half of our customers are in the 18–25 age group].
  5. This fact proves that [our cases are highly desirable for this age group].
  6. The last thing I want you to think about is [our current stock levels].
  7. Looking more closely at the bar chart, you can see that [we have underestimated …].