Millennials and business - 6 Minute English

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 life – level 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 entrepreneurs – people 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 life – the 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!