2026-07-25 Business Talk: Startups, Big Companies, and Getting Down to Business

Session Overview

Participants shared personal stories about entrepreneurship, job dreams, and career paths — from reselling furniture in a shipping container to dreaming of a coffee cart. The group debated the pros and cons of working for large versus small companies, and discussed whether children should gain early business experience. The session also touched on workplace dress codes and how office attire has grown more casual over time.

💬 Idioms

“get down to business”

to stop chatting or delaying and start focusing on the real task at hand

• We only have an hour for this meeting, so let’s get down to business.
• The teacher told the students to stop talking and get down to business.

“ballpark figure”

a rough, approximate estimate rather than an exact number

• I don’t have the final cost yet, but a ballpark figure would be around three thousand dollars.
• Can you give me a ballpark figure for how long the renovation will take?

“red tape”

excessive bureaucratic rules, paperwork, or procedures that slow progress down

• We wanted to open a small café, but there was so much red tape that it took a year just to get the permits.
• Starting a business abroad can be frustrating because of all the red tape involved.

“not my cup of tea”

something you do not enjoy or have no interest in

• Managing a spreadsheet every day is not my cup of tea — I much prefer talking to people.
• She said that owning a business was not her cup of tea, but she deeply admired those who tried.

📚 Vocabulary to Remember

• savory — a flavor that is salty or meaty — the opposite of sweet
  • I ordered a savory crepe filled with ham and cheese instead of the sweet chocolate one.
• mock interview — a practice job interview done before the real one, usually with a coach or a friend
  • Doing a mock interview with her mentor helped her feel calm on the actual interview day.
• refurbish — to clean, repair, or improve an old object so it looks or works like new again
  • He bought a damaged wooden chair at a thrift store and refurbished it over the weekend.
• resell — to sell something you have bought, usually at a higher price, in order to make a profit
  • She finds branded clothes at garage sales and resells them online for a higher price.
• business-minded — naturally good at thinking about profit, strategy, and how to run a business
  • Even as a student, he was very business-minded and was always looking for ways to earn extra money.
• incremental — happening in small, steady steps rather than all at once
  • The company focused on incremental growth each year instead of trying to expand too fast.
• startup — a newly created business, often in technology, built around a new idea or product
  • Most of her classmates had ideas for a startup, but she preferred to work for an established company first.
• dress code — a set of rules about what clothing is acceptable in a particular place or situation
  • The office has a relaxed dress code, so most people wear jeans and casual shirts.

🔧 Say It Better

1. ❌ I learns how to wax floors. ✅ I learned how to wax floors. 💡 Use simple past ’learned’ for a completed action; ’learns’ is third-person present singular and doesn’t match ‘I.’
2. ❌ You don’t have to be a rocket science. ✅ You don’t have to be a rocket scientist. 💡 The fixed expression refers to the person (‘rocket scientist’), not the field (‘rocket science’).
3. ❌ We had to do a lot of kind of bread tape. ✅ We had to deal with a lot of red tape. 💡 The idiom is ‘red tape’ (bureaucratic obstacles), not ‘bread tape’; ‘deal with’ is the natural verb to pair with it.
4. ❌ I firstly made a new site for TikTok time. ✅ I recently created a new website for Talk Time. 💡 ‘Firstly’ introduces the first item in a list; use ‘recently’ or ‘just’ to mean ’not long ago.’
5. ❌ I think maybe pass the 1st round. ✅ I think I may have passed the first round. 💡 The subject ‘I’ is missing, and ‘may have passed’ is needed to express uncertainty about something that happened in the past.
6. ❌ It was surprised to me that all my classmates had startup ideas. ✅ I was surprised to find that all my classmates had startup ideas. 💡 The person feels the emotion, not the situation: say ‘I was surprised,’ not ‘it was surprised to me.’
7. ❌ Every person who have a business, he is a hero, for my opinion. ✅ Every person who has a business is a hero, in my opinion. 💡 Use ‘has’ after ‘who’ (singular); the subject already covers everyone, so no extra ‘he’ is needed; say ‘in my opinion,’ not ‘for my opinion.’
8. ❌ I do be late today. ✅ I was late today. 💡 ‘Do be’ is not used in standard English for simple statements; the simple past ‘was’ is correct here.
9. ❌ My imaginal crepe is sweet one. ✅ The crepe I had imagined was a sweet one. 💡 ‘Imaginal’ is not a standard English word; use a relative clause like ’the crepe I had imagined’ instead.
10. ❌ I apply for some other jobs like cashier or retail associate. ✅ I’m applying for some other jobs, like cashier or retail associate. 💡 Use the present progressive (‘I’m applying’) for an action that is in progress right now, not the simple present.

✅ Check Yourself

Q1. We’ve been chatting for twenty minutes — it’s time to ____ and go over the budget.

• get down to business
• ballpark figure
• not my cup of tea

Q2. I haven’t counted all the receipts yet, but my ____ is around four hundred dollars.

• ballpark figure
• dress code
• startup

Q3. Early morning meetings are really ____; I work much better in the afternoon.

• not my cup of tea
• red tape
• ballpark figure

Q4. Opening a food truck required so much ____ — permits, inspections, and endless forms.

• red tape
• mock interview
• savory

Q5. She asked a friend to help her with a ____ so she could practice answering tough questions.

• mock interview
• dress code
• startup

Q6. The managers preferred ____ improvements each quarter over trying to double the company in one year.

• incremental
• savory
• business-minded

✍️ Mini Diary

Today I walked past a small shop near my neighborhood and spotted a scratched-up wooden chair in the window. The owner told me she likes to refurbish old furniture and resell it online — something I had never thought of trying myself. I nearly spent an hour just chatting with her, but eventually reminded myself to get down to business and ask the real question: how much for the chair? She couldn’t name an exact price on the spot, but offered a ballpark figure of about forty dollars. I paid, thanked her, and carried the chair home, already imagining how good it would look beside my desk.