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Describe a small business you know.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What is it?
  • How do you know about it?
  • Why is it successful?
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30 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 30 answers

Cue 1:What is it?

  • Begin by clearly stating the name and type of the business.
  • Provide a brief description of what products or services it offers.

Example

The small business I want to talk about is a local bakery called 'Sweet Delights'. It specializes in freshly baked bread, pastries, and cakes. The aroma of baked goods wafts through the air, making it a popular spot for both locals and visitors.

Cue 2:How do you know about it?

  • Share how you first discovered the business, whether through friends, social media, or passing by.
  • Mention any personal experiences you have had with the business.

Example

I first came across 'Sweet Delights' while walking through my neighborhood. A friend recommended it to me, saying their chocolate cake was the best in town. Intrigued, I decided to visit, and since then, I have been a regular customer.

Cue 3:Why is it successful?

  • Discuss the unique qualities that set this business apart from others.
  • Mention customer service, product quality, or community involvement as factors contributing to its success.

Example

The success of 'Sweet Delights' can be attributed to its commitment to quality and customer service. They use organic ingredients, which appeals to health-conscious customers. Additionally, the owner often interacts with customers, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere that keeps people coming back.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the key points you discussed about the business.
  • Express your personal feelings about the business and its impact on the community.

Example

In conclusion, 'Sweet Delights' is not just a bakery; it’s a cherished part of our community. Its dedication to quality and customer satisfaction makes it a standout small business that I wholeheartedly support.

Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

Tips to answer this Cue Card

1: Vague Descriptions

Using vague language can make your answer unclear. It’s important to provide specific details about the business to engage the listener and demonstrate your vocabulary.

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Tip

Use specific examples and details, such as the type of products sold or the services offered, to create a clearer picture of the business.

2: Lack of Personal Connection

Failing to explain how you know about the business can make your answer feel disconnected. Personal experiences can make your response more relatable and interesting.

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Tip

Share a personal story or experience related to the business, such as a memorable visit or interaction, to strengthen your answer.

Ignoring Success Factors

Not addressing why the business is successful can leave your answer incomplete. Understanding the reasons behind its success shows critical thinking and analysis.

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Tip

Discuss specific factors like customer service, unique products, or effective marketing strategies that contribute to the business's success.

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IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

Answer

I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.
Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

Answer

The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.
Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

Answer

As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.
Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

Answer

When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.
Describe a book you recently read
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

Answer

It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

All Answers

Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

Band 6-7

So talking about small businesses, I think so small businesses are an essential part of a country's economy. I think so that these businesses help the larger businesses to grow as they keep the money flowing in the country's economy. One of the examples can be the business of my dad. He deals in the ladies garments, those can be suits, gowns, Ferraras and many more things. He sells those suits through his shop which is in a market called Chawra Bazaar in my city. Mostly he does trading, what trading means here is that he buys his items from the Delhi market and sells them here. And personally my dad is a very hard working person and he is a very chill guy. And talking about the success, yes he is very successful but still rather than settling it up for it, he still is always in the search for newer opportunities. He always talks with new generation to expand his business like myself. I think so my dad is a perfect example of rags to riches. When he was a child, they were not very rich. My grandfather had a decent job but my dad was always in the thrive of earning more but ethically. I think so that my dad is a very very successful person because he is also a religious person. His small business is not a result of his hard working nature only but rather he believes it's by God's grace.

Band 6-7

Over these years, I have heard different business ideas that people have tried, which has resulted in either success or failure. Me myself, not being fascinated about business and entrepreneurship, I have never thought about getting into a business or starting up a new company or no sort of such activities. But anyhow, during my course of masters, I have come across certain ideas and one of which was very successful. So while I was doing master's program in physics, we were required to design a project in electronics in such a way that it will be helpful for the society. So the project that we as a team decided was the incorporation of RC module in electronics for weighing excess food waste so that we can get a control of the food being wasted each year. And also a survey was taken initially to know the amount of food being wasted in hostels or colleges daily. And we were taking both a review and the project was being carried out. So initially the project was like a blessing in disguise for me because we faced a lot of struggles in between, but ultimately it turned out to be very good because it was awarded with the best research project for innovation of science. And ultimately, the reason it became successful was its practical application. The idea was elaborated with the help of an industry and it was trialed in certain hostels and colleges and these places exhibited good results where the incorporation of this module resulted in less wastage of food. So as a result, it was effective.

Band 6-7

So, the small business I am going to talk about is producing ornaments or accessories which are used by girls or even boys using cute miniature charms which would be used in the strings of bracelets, chains or earrings or even phone cases and many more. So yeah, it is a ready made charm, a cute little charm that could be added to these above mentioned items and I got to know about the information through social media and I guess it is successful because of its varied popularity by usage of many.

Band 6-7

Actually I only own, like we only have a small business related to agriculture, agriculture product. Last year we started with a project of essential oil and that basically we have one plant named geranium out of which we extract oil, essential oil. We have a distillation unit as well at our farm in our village. Last year we started it and it was not an ideal thing to do because we faced many problems. We didn't get a sufficient amount of rain in that particular season as well as the rates of the oil also were fluctuating. When we decided to start it, the rates were around 11,000 to 12,000 but eventually it dropped to 8,000 which made it very hard for us to maintain the cost and make some profit. We ended up having a loss last year. We hope that this upcoming year will be great for us as we proceed because we have got a lot of rain season last year, this year particularly. We are hoping for good and the rates are now stable as well. That's the good news we have from the international market as well because most of the oil which we produce or which is produced in India is exported outside to the pharmaceutical companies because it has medicinal as well as cosmetic use.

Band 6-7

So, as the world is moving towards digitalization, many things have become online available for us with the help of Amazon and all. But there is also one section of clothing. So, many small businesses about clothing has also been, also getting boost nowadays like the new designs. There are many new designs you can see. Like basically, I know my friend who has been in this business. So, he takes raw material in the clothes, raw material, applies them as new designs and then sell it online. And it is a very beautiful business, means the earning is very well. And also, there is a, what can I say, there is a many new designs, new ideas and due to which, and you also have this Instagram page in which he also sells new ideas and create new reels and stories which help him to boost his clothing brand. And the sales are also increasing.

Band 6

so the business is one-stop car solution business recently I'm scrolling the reels and found out that many people are facing the problems like some people facing the problem like they want to change the tires they want to change the accessories of the car and etc etc but I have thought that let's make this a business so I have come with a business like one-stop car solution where you come with your car and you upgrade all the things like from the accessories detailing

Band 6

Selling the all the toys in the low price like as 10 rupees 20 rupees even in India this toys cost like Price is 500 something that time I on that time. I got the idea after that I start to this small business With the help of this business all the person call me as a toy man This is small business is in my countryside so with the help of this business I also gain a lot of profit with the help of this business. I also make my fulfill my ambitions With the help of this business. I also Start we can say that about it. I can get each and everything so in my life because we've on that day I even I was facing Before the this small business. I was living Under the cat and dog life, but now I'm feel over the moon With the help of this small business even this small business also gave me like popularity Because I also become like a famous person in my countryside Even all the person know was my name like as red toy shop Which is but is very small, but and nothing is a Small and big, but it's main things about that how we get success in our life, so I Get success with the help this small business

Band 6

One small business that I recently came across is a crochet business that is owned by my childhood friend. I got to know about it when I was looking up for crochet decorators that are cute, tiny and affordable. Then, my friend's crochet business' advertisement popped up. I was initially surprised at my friend's confidence and courage to start a startup on her own. I went through her Instagram handle and I was taken aback by her sheer dedication and determination on making good products for her customers. It is a small business that is not known to many people yet, but I hope her business is going to be really successful.

Band 5-6

So to talk about a small business that I know is preparing a homemade pickles and to selling to people that to very close to a very close friends and then it leads to a large number of peoples. So I know about this business is because that my aunt is leading this business. She had a small homemade pickles like with her in her home itself. My the main intention of her business was that people who are leaving their home like far away from home like for studying for working for anything. They're they're leaving their home. They might miss the home taste or they may be missing the flavorful dishes, which is which was prepared in their home or something like that. So for those people, it is actually a great benefit and they can store it for a lot of days while they are taking it as their food. So that is one of the main reason that it become a successful business and I am I will I am the I am one of her most favorite. I am one of the one of her most and I'm also one of her important client like I also used to purchase homemade pickles from her while I came back from my home to the work while I came back from home to Rajasthan over here for my work. So yeah, so that is the main reason behind the success in her business and homemade pickles and some kind of these are will actually.

Band 5-6

So, today I would like to talk about one small business which is very famous in my village is none other than but a lady who earns money through the designs. She is my best friend and she start their business before couple of months and she is very hard working girl and she always bring their customer through their design. So, she always interact with their customer very nicely so because of that she get lots of orders and from that numerous customers are there and due to that she can easily rejuvenate and after that she also like to spend their money on their family members and because of one small business she started before months now is a huge business now a days moreover I would also like to talk about her hard work and her potential to bring such business in the village life and in that in this time she get success is a very great thing to her and down in the dumps to say that so many people also like to bargaining on that prize.
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