IELTS Cue Cards – Describe a small business you want to start

What business it would be?
When you want to start it?
Why you have not you started it yet?

and explain why you want to start this business.

Possible answer 1 for the above speaking cue cards

I am really lucky to have this candidate task card topic as it is something I would be able to talk about from my heart. I am 32 and a doting father of a 4 years old daughter. Both I and my wife work and I have been planning for a while to quit my day time job and start a small business. I personally thank you for letting me talk about it.

The small business that I have in my mind is establishing a cyber cafe in our area. The cyber cafe I have planned for would be an exclusive one and primarily target the foreign tourists who visit our area. Though there are already three cyber cafes in our locality, most tourists do not feel comfortable there as they do not have a world class environment and high-speed internet connections. My cyber cafe would have a large zone for browsing the internet, a small cafeteria, a book selling point and definitely a very classy environment. If I can make my cyber cafe popular, I would then plan to expand it in other tourists spots in my city.

Frankly speaking, I and my wife want to start it right now! However, from a practical point of view, it would take us another year to start it. The budget we would need to manage to launch this cyber cafe is yet to be managed and we want to start it from the savings we have without taking a loan from a bank or family members. Moreover, we would need to resign from our current jobs and then arrange a suitable location and a great interior designer for our cafe. We will also need to hire 7-8 staff members to run this business. These all seems time-consuming to me and up until last January, we were not absolutely convinced that the time has come for us to start something of our own. Probably this is the main reason we are yet to start it.

Why do we want to start it? Well, I am not satisfied with my current job. Though I get a steady amount of money per month from my job, I have little time to spend with my family, take vacations and enjoy things I fee passionate about. The office consumes more than 50 hours weekly and most of my energy and this is why I often feel stressed out. I can not take vacations and manage time to visit my relatives. ‘Freedom’ – I guess is the reason I would like to start this business. I also want to stay close to my family and work as a free-lance journalist for a local daily newspaper. I have got only one life and I want to enjoy it and explore more possibilities.

Possible answer 2 for the above speaking cue cards

This is a great topic to discuss and thank you for allowing me on the issue. Photography is an art but not everyone is the artist here. It requires some specific set of skills and expertise to capture a moment nicely. Besides, this is a very good business as well. So, I want to start a photography as a small business for me.

Photography is now one of the most impressive ways to earn and a type of small business for individual level. Since I am a student of graduate level, I think the earning would be enough for me. Besides, it would not hamper on my academic activities as well. A large number of people, particularly students are engaged in this profession while most of them have no professional certifications on photography. But my six-month long course on photography has made me skilled enough to undertake this scheme. In fact, this is the small business where you do not need to invest a huge amount of money to start with.

I am planning to start the business from next year. I live with my parents and this is a joint family in India. So, it often becomes difficult for the family heads to run the family expenses. My father is to pay a notable amount of his income after my education at a private university here in Delhi. So, I want to start the business as soon as possible. I have also arranged for enough money to buy a top quality digital camera. If everything goes right with me, I am planning to advertise for my business. I have also planned to arrange for an office room at the ground floor of the house we live in. I have to pay the rent of the room though it belongs to my family.

I had long been planning to do something for myself so that I could bear my own expenses. Hence, the idea of photography appeared on my mind and I started a thorough research. Actually, I wanted to be a professional photographer in all terms and thus I planned the entire scheme into different parts. As part of the plan, I had to complete a professional photography course. Then I learnt photo editing. These activities took around one year to complete. Basically, people seek the skilled photographers with the latest device and technical know-how about photo editing. Without the preparation, I would be unable to satisfy my potential clients. So, I could not start the business earlier.

Photography is a hobby to many but this is a business scheme to me to bear my own expenses. It has potentials to grow. I took several professional training to be a notable photographer and take the right shot at the right moment. There are certain categories but I have mastered almost all the skills. So, I think I would be a versatile photographer and someday will be a reputed one. I have planned to start it now and gradually I will grow. I also dream to open a professional photography institute in the long run but to fulfil the dream I have to survive. Initially, the income I will generate will be sufficient to meet my expenses and also I would be able to contribute to my family income as well. Considering all the issues, I want to start photography as my own small business that will grow to the extreme in future.

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