BEC剑桥英语高级 Test 3, Reading Part 4

Part 4 About expanding a retail business

Choosing to expand your business by opening a second location can be one of the best decisions you'll ever made, or one of the worst. Before you arrive at a decision, there are several things you should check to see if you are ready to take this big step towards expansion.

通过开第二家分支作为扩大你的业务是你将做的最好的选择之一，或者是最糟糕的选择。在你做这个决定之前，有几件事情你应该检查一下，看是否你已经准备好朝着扩张迈出这一大步。

Firstly- your cash flow. Like starting up any business, a second location involvesa large initial investment and usually takes a long time to turn a profit. Look at your firm's accounts carefully. If these indicate that you cannot afford a long-term drain on your financial resources, then it is probably better to wait.

首先-现金流。像启动任何一个生意一样，第二个分支涉及到一笔巨大的起始投资，并且通常需要很长时间获得利润。仔细的核实你公司的财务报表。如果这些财务报表显示你不能承担长期资金流失，你可能最好再等等。

Secondly-your personnel and systems. If you don't have a management team in place already, you should probably think about establishing one before opening a second branch. The same applies in the case of operating systems and controls. The better organised your business now, the better organised your second location will be, too.

其次-人员和系统。如果你没有一个管理团队已经到位，你可能应该在开第二个分支之前应该建立一个团队。同样的应用到运营体系和控制中。你现在组织运营你的业务越好，你开的第二家分支也会运营的越好。

Also, you need to think about your market. Is your current site doing as much business as it can handle, or are there ways you could grow without opening a second branch? Try expanding internally first. Similarly, don't assume that just because your business is successful in one town, it will immediately succeed in a neighbouring community. Research your potential markets before setting up shop, and design your new branch to answer the specific needs of these markets.

同样，你需要考虑你的市场。你现在的公司是否已经做的和他能处理的足够多的业务了吗，还是如果不开第二家分支你能够有新的增长？首先试着内部进行扩张。同样，不要假设因为你的业务在一个镇上成功，那就立即在隔壁的社区也能成功。在你开分支前研究你潜在的市场，然后设计你新的分支来满足这些市场里特殊的需求。

Finally, be realistic about the time you need to invest to make a second location work. You don't want to take on so much work that you can't honour your commitments.

最后,现实的面对你需要开第二家分支工作需要投入的时间。你不想要承担太多你不能履行你承诺的工作.