This IELTS speaking practice example shows how to answer the Part 2 question: Describe a successful small business that you know, with a well developed answer.
Similar Questions
Sometimes, the exact wording on the cue card may vary from one test to another, but the topic (and idea) is the same.
For example, the prompt may start with "Talk about a..." instaed of "Describe a...".
Below are some more examples of question variants.
- Describe a small company that you think is successful
- Describe a successful small business that you know about
- Describe a successful small company or business that you know
- Describe a small and successful company you know
Describe a successful small business that you know in your hometown
You should say:- what company it is (the name of this company)
- what this company produces (or does)
- how you know about this company
Sample Answer - Describe a successful small business that you know
I’ll talk about my friend’s company because I know something about it and how he started it. He began it when we were students at university. He had always been interested in investing and the stock market and he started to trade stocks and currency in FOREX, you know, electronic trading on the internet. He spent about a year or maybe more playing around and experimenting with it, but not taking it very seriously.
However, after he graduated he couldn't find a full time job immediately so he spent more and more of his time learning about FOREX, technical analysis, fundamentals, currency markets and stocks and shares and began to take it seriously. At first he made some money, but then he lost it on some bad trades. But he didn't give up. After about another six months he was working at trading almost full time and studying even more, trying to perfect his trading strategies and always learning more and more.
He read lots of books and watched tutorials on You Tube and he even attended some FOREX seminars to learn from some experts about things to do and things to avoid when trading. I think it was in the second half of that year that he really began to produce consistent and real profits every month. Initially it wasn't a lot of money, but he wasn't investing a lot of money at that time, I think he was using what they call a micro account for the first two years. I can’t remember when exactly, but soon after that he decided to dedicate all his time to trading FOREX and eventually stopped looking for a full time job.
That was about 5 years ago and he’s been doing it ever since. He formed a company; it’s called Alpha Trading and registered it at the local chamber of commerce. Every year he earns more and more and I believe he now earns more than me and most of our friends who graduated at the same time. He has now employed another trader and has begun to train her how to trade FOREX so that he can duplicate his efforts and earn more money.
Looking at his business now, it seems almost perfect in many ways, and it’s certainly successful. He doesn't have to produce any physical products, he doesn't have to carry a large inventory of products to sell, and he doesn't have to rent an office or factory. The business is based on his knowledge and expertise, and what he earns he keeps or reinvests in more training and I think he plans to hire another trader to help him at the end of this year.
Follow-up question
Do many people know about this company?
No, I don’t think so. Obviously we (his friends) know what he does for a living and his family knows too, but it’s not like he has a store or office on the high street so unless you know him as a person you would probably have no idea that the company exists. I think it’s amazing how he has converted what was like a hobby for him some years ago into a successful FOREX trading business. He certainly seems to be doing very well for himself nowadays.
How would you answer this IELTS speaking Part2 question about descibe a small and successful company you know?
- Which business would you choose?
- How would you describe it?
- Could you talk for 2 minutes about a small business you know?