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Describe A Small Business You Want To Start: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What business would it be?
  • When do you want to start it?
  • Why have you not started it yet?
Show all 33 answers

Cue 1:What business would it be?

  • Begin by clearly stating the type of small business you want to start, such as a café, online store, or tutoring service.
  • Explain what makes this business unique or appealing to you, and how it relates to your interests or skills.

Example

I would like to start a small café that specializes in serving traditional Indian snacks and beverages. I have always been passionate about cooking and sharing my family recipes, and I believe that a cozy café would be a great way to connect with my community while promoting our rich culinary heritage.

Cue 2:When do you want to start it?

  • Mention a specific timeline for when you plan to launch the business, such as in the next few months or after completing your studies.
  • Discuss any preparations or steps you need to take before starting, which can help clarify your timeline.

Example

I hope to start my café within the next six months. I am currently working on developing a business plan and saving some money to invest in the initial setup. I also want to take a short course on business management to ensure I have the necessary skills to run it successfully.

Cue 3:Why have you not started it yet?

  • Be honest about the reasons for the delay, such as financial constraints, lack of experience, or personal commitments.
  • Emphasize your determination to overcome these challenges and your commitment to starting the business in the future.

Example

I haven't started my café yet mainly due to financial constraints. I want to ensure I have enough funds to create a welcoming environment and offer quality products. Additionally, I am currently focused on my studies, which takes up a lot of my time. However, I am determined to overcome these challenges and make my dream a reality.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, starting a small café is a dream of mine that I am passionate about. While I face some challenges, I am committed to preparing myself and taking the necessary steps to launch it in the near future. I believe that with hard work and dedication, I can turn this dream into a successful business.

    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 Business Ideas

    Being unclear about the business idea can confuse the listener. It's important to provide specific details about what the business is and how it operates.

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    Tip

    Clearly outline the business concept, including its purpose and target market, to make your answer more engaging and informative.

    2: Lack of Timeline

    Not mentioning when you plan to start the business can make your response seem incomplete. A timeline adds depth to your answer.

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    Tip

    Include a specific timeframe for when you want to start the business, and explain any steps you plan to take to reach that goal.

    Ignoring Challenges

    Failing to address why you haven't started the business yet can make your answer seem unrealistic. Acknowledging challenges shows thoughtfulness.

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    Tip

    Discuss any obstacles you face and how you plan to overcome them, which demonstrates your commitment and planning skills.

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    All Answers

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

    Band 6-7

    I am a person who wants to set up a small business apart from my job. I think business is a second income source to me. It helps me financially, it helps in economic part for my every month installments. The business I want to set up is a food business. I closely observe the food business which I have seen. What are the difficulties they face? What is the source of income? What is the source of income? How much do I invest? Where do I get profit after some time? I will set up in future a large and good ambience. It should be in a puzzle and puzzle area which many people have. I want to serve good quality of food to the people who work throughout the day with affordable prices. The main motive of me is to serve food for the hard working men.

    Band 6-7

    A small business that I want to start is a restaurant in my city, holding different types of cuisines which are not available widely. The restaurant will include different types of cuisines from Pan Asian to Chinese and also Thai cuisine because people in my city are very curious about trying new food and are very enthusiastic to explore new type of varieties in food sector. So my restaurant will not be expensive but will more focus on quality rather than quantity. So this idea of restaurant comes from my mother as she is very interested in cooking and holds a degree in hotel management. She cooks really amazing food that we can build more extravagantly in our own kitchen at the restaurant and serve the people. The amazing taste that my mom serves for us will be served to people from all over the area. So my restaurant will hold at least 60 people at one time and also it will include some complimentary drinks to the people who are coming and serving them with our food. Complimentary drink will allow them to get refreshed because by coming there, they will face huge traffic. So the restaurant will be on the main street.

    Band 6-7

    okay a small business I want to start is a candle business it's a very booming and it's a very booming business which I have recently seen on social media but there are many influencers talking about candles and they market candles in a very unique way it has an aesthetic appearance and very soothing smell so it appeals the customers a lot candles are used in every households and in many occasions like birthdays anniversaries or just a casual with just a casual visit during our to some other to our get to our relatives home so candles are often often treated as great gifting options so there moreover they have a very economic friendly or they're very cost friendly so they are easily affordable so this makes candles a very candles a part of growing business nowadays I additionally I would like to start my I would wish to start it in my next summer vacation because I get a lot of time to market the goods or to market the goods or kind of open a page a social media page for candles and sell sell them online I have not yet started my candle business because I lack some funds it needs significant amount of funds so I am down in the dumps to that I'm down in the dumps that I couldn't collect so much

    Band 6-7

    I would love to run a gaming parlour in my area itself. The reason for starting gaming parlour is because I had a passion for gaming for the past 4-5 years and some of the time I have even competed professionally in gaming. I know that the gaming industry will be booming in the coming 5-10 years. So I feel we should be encouraging it.

    Band 6-7

    I'd like to open up a scrunchie business because I've always been intrigued by the colors and shapes and the lot of intricate patterns it comes with. Given the tight schedule that I have with regards to my profession and work I haven't started the business yet but I'm planning to start the business in another two years which would be from the time of me graduating and I'm aware that it involves a lot of physical and demanding work such as sorting the fabrics, getting a tailoring machine, moreover it has a lot of other tasks included such as learning new patterns and this creativity that I can put in. I would most definitely get ideas and feedbacks from my friends and family in the beginning to test my product. However one of the other reasons why I haven't started this business yet is I do not have the necessary funds at the moment because at the moment because I only just started my postgraduate degree and I believe it's perfect or it would be appropriate to focus on my studies at the moment while I work on my side business. Overall I am looking forward to starting my own business to help me with my finance and it's like a little boost to my creativity and passion. Thank you

    Band 6-7

    As I am Indian, I know a lot of Indian dishes and I am quite perfectionist in Indian cuisine and I love to cook since my childhood and during that time I usually help my mother to make good foods or sweets and if I ever get chance to start any small business, I definitely start a sweet shop and I know how to make ladoos and other sweets which represent Indian culture and there are lot of sweet dishes which display Indian tradition and their culture and if I ever start any small business, my top dishes would be motichool ladoo and carrot pudding in India we say gajar ka halwa and the third one is gulab jamun which is brown in color little bit harder on outside and softer inside and is full with sweet liquid in this shop I definitely use different ideas related to the culture

    Band 6-7

    I like to consider myself as a very good cook. In my family, all the members, my mother, my father, my brother and many of my cousins are very well versed in cooking. So I always add this, my very light idea that I should start a business, particularly a small restaurant somewhere near my place, of course in Gundipet. Gundipet is an area where many of the tourists often visit. So it would be a very good opportunity to build a restaurant or any, I would think, farmhouse where we can offer a variety of foods, indigenous, Indian style cooking. So I think the restaurant would be a great idea but I never give it a thought when or how I should begin this adventure. The main, not only the main hurdles are the funding but the time management. Now currently I'm trying to pursue my post-graduation. Maybe I think I should wait for some more time to take up this. Furthermore, I would say I should, I should gather some amount of money to start this or get a loan from bank because even if to start a very small business with minimal investment, at least I should have 10 lakhs for the, to develop the infrastructure and to hire labourers to do the job. We need many cooks and such other ingredients that required to set up a business. So I would say.

    Band 6

    Starting my own small business is always my dream and it is always favoured by my parents. They respect my decision. So the business that I would definitely wanted to start is a small clothing business. I love stitching. In my free time I usually try to make some new different type of dresses. I love knitting. I love to embroidery work. I know my qualities. I can stitch very well. And I really want to start my own business of stitching or small clothing brand. I want to see my parents feel proud. For that I am also opting a study now of fashion designer. I am seeking this study and going abroad for that. I am preparing for my IELTS exam. After this I am shifting abroad. Hopefully I am shifting abroad. I will graduate in fashion designer. I will opt the degree of that. Then I will start my small own business of clothing. It has been dream for me since my childhood and I definitely wanted to do so. So I haven't started yet due to the lack of knowledge and lack of experience. So for that I will study further and proceed it in my future. The one thing I love the most about this is it was dream of my mother. My mother always wanted to start her own small business which she got from my grandmother. But they can't do so with many financial circumstances. So I wanted to fulfill their dream with my dream. So yeah that's all.

    Band 6

    My topic is, describe a small business you want to start. A thing about me is that I love fragrances, I love to smell good and while thinking of that I got an idea of starting a fragrance company, a company where I can manufacture which I can wear and people can wear to smell good and feel happy, smelling good. I want to start this business in the near coming future but I wasn't able to start it right now because of my educational, basically because of my education I couldn't start it right now as I want to go out abroad to study, I am doing things for that, I didn't get time to start a business like this but in the near coming future I will start a business of fragrances because there is no person on this planet who don't like to smell good.

    Band 6

    I want to start a small business just like startups because I want to become an entrepreneur and my skills, hobbies and talent are an excellent match for this position. I started this type of business with my friends because they will provide me great satisfaction and they will give me the confidence as well as their nature and their talent play a great impact on my business. That's why I just want to start this startup with my friends. I have 5 friends and they are very enthusiastic to start a new startup. Startup is that we are seeing that many persons are planning for going to another place or trip that they are booking many types of cabs, many types of tickets. We are providing these tickets in a very small rates and our target audience is our youth. Because youth are so enthusiastic to traveling from one place to another and they want to explore some different places and they want to explore some different natures. So our startup is just like that.
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