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Which do you think are the best industries for startups at this time? Discuss these questions: 1 IBISWorld has drawn up a list of the best industries for startups this year. What do you think the industries have in common? 2 What major advantages do you think 2013 offers startups? 3 According to business analysts, why could 2013 be a good year for startups? 4 Why should entrepreneurs not wait too long if they are going to set up a startup? Read the first part of the article and check your ideas. have in common? Each is fragmented, has low barriers to entry, and each offers March 2013 strong revenue growth, says Kevin Boyland, an IBISWorld The Best Industries analyst. Strong growth in a fragmented industry to Start a Business indicates growing demand This Year in a market in which no Thinking of taking the one player has a significant entrepreneurial leap this foothold. Because barriers year in an industry that would to entry are low, a start-up pay off? IBISWorlds recent has the potential to capture list of the best industries for a share of this growing startups is a good place to market. begin your research. One major advantage in What do these industries 2013 is buying and selling

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goods online. This option allows small firms to compete on a national level with little additional effort. Boyland says 2013 could be a good year for startups because were moving farther away from the recession and the political uncertainty that followed the presidential election, allowing for a more predictable business environment. If entrepreneurs wait too long, they could miss the window for breaking into these industries.

Discussion Which industries do you think offer the strongest revenue growth where you live? Is the business environment becoming more predictable in your country? The first industry mentioned is Cloud Services. What is this and why is it a good area for startups? Read the next part of the article and check your ideas. Cloud Services Also called virtual data rooms, cloud services are growing quickly, with industry revenue expected to hit $728M this year, a 16-percent increase from 2012. The industry has seen an annualized growth rate of 15.8 percent since 2008. Fueling the growth is the global push toward online services. The growth of access-limited document sharing infrastructures and programmers has enabled the industry to flourish without huge investments, notes IBISWorld. As the number of new enterprises increases, industry revenue is forecast to grow at an annualized rate of 14.2 percent over five years. The amount of data being collected by humans and machines is growing exponentially, says Neal. Startups are rushing to find solutions to capitalize on this.

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Vocabulary focus 1 Find synonyms in the section you just read that mean the following: 1 ____________ income, especially when of a company and of a substantial nature 2 ____________ money put into financial schemes with the expectation of achieving a profit 3 ____________ a business or company Overall, the travel agency industry has not fared well during the recession. But one specific area has. What do you think that is? Read the next part of the article and find out. Online Travel Agencies Overall, the travel agency industry hasnt fared well during the recession, but IBISWorld estimates revenue among online agencies grew at an average rate of 3.9 percent over the past five years, and expects revenue to grow another 6.1 percent in 2013. Storefront travel agencies are being replaced by online services, which offer a relatively high-profit, low-cost way to handle transactions.

Major operators have been acquiring global, regional and local websites to improve revenue and capture a larger market share. How do you think this will affect startups both negatively and positively? Read the next part of the article and find out. But major operators have been acquiring global, regional and local websites to improve revenue and capture a larger market share, which presents both a risk and an opportunity for startups. As major operators grow through economies of scale, competition and barriers to entry in the industry increase. On the other hand, new entrants that have a successful site can leverage their success to secure an attractive deal with a larger firm. While IBISWorld expects industry growth in the next five years, they forecast an annualized rate of only 2.2 percent.

Vocabulary focus 2 Write a definition for these expressions from the last section you read: economies of scale leverage Read the next part of the article and suggest words for the gaps. Social Network Game Development This industry has grown 184.3 percent per year on average over the past 5 years, driven by internet traffic and social networks, especially Facebook. As broadbandenabled smart phones and tablets have proliferated, __________________ have also increasingly been able to access social networks 24/7, placing gaming within reach for most computer users. _________________ is expected to grow 31.9 percent to $6 billion in 2013 according to IBISWorld. The Entertainment Software Association helps new ____________ by providing market research to the most in-demand products. One caveat, says Doug Neal of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan: Social gaming is extremely competitive and saturated. Ronald Goettler, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Simon School of Business at Rochester University, recommends that __________ first develop low-cost versions to test their concepts.

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Discussion Have you ever used a social network game? Read the next part of the article and ask the appropriate questions to obtain the missing information. consideration: __________ is critical, which creates a bootstrapping problem for startups. Entrants may find themselves having to offer their services at lower prices relative to established IT firms until they build a solid reputation. Translation Services The growth of the global market has benefited this industry. Industry revenue has increased at a rate of 2.4 percent in the past five years to $3.2 billion in 2012. The ______________ has been instrumental in increasing demand for translators as businesses expand into new countries and require services to adapt websites and marketing materials to the new region. Industry revenue may increase 3.4 percent in 2013, though IBISWorld points to some challenges. Translation services remain relatively labor intensive, and some competition exists through software programs and free internet websites (though most fail to provide _____________________).

IT Security Consulting With data security breaches in the headlines, this industry is on steroids. In the past five years, IBISWorld says revenue in this industry increased at an annualized rate of 9.8 percent to $5.3B and projects it will grow ____ percent each year over the next 5 years. Goettler University at Rochester offers a key

This is an advert for the last industry mentioned in the article. What do you think the business actually involves? Read the final part of the article below and check your ideas.

TV & Home Theater Installation Services IBISWorld says this industry is highly fragmented and has a very low level of capital

intensity, affording firms with transportation and proper tools good opportunity. About 98 percent of todays U.S. households have at least

one TV, 84 percent have a DVD player or recorder, and 25 percent have a home theater, according to the Consumer Electronics

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Association. Revenue is growing an annualized 4.1 percent to $12.2 billion over the five years to 2013. But cable subscriptions are falling one report says paid subscriptions will be down 6 percent by 2017. To succeed, startups must keep up with the rapid pace of technology. One concern with theater installation services is the difficulty of identifying and reaching consumers without paying significant commissions or referral fees to consumer electronics retailers, says Goettler.

Discussion Which of the startups do you think would be successful where you live? Which do you think is the most reflective of the times we live in?

Language focus Look at this extract from the article:

...which creates a bootstrapping problem for startups. What does bootstrapping mean?
There are other footwear-related idioms. What do you think these mean? 1 fill someones shoes 4 on the heels of 2 in someone elses shoes 5 give someone the boot 3 well-heeled 6 too big for ones boots

Match the idioms to these definitions: ____ to fire someone ____ following closely after ____ wealthy ____ arrogant ____ seeing or experiencing something from someone elses point of view ____ to take the place of some other person and do that persons work satisfactorily Practice Complete these sentences with the idioms above: 1 John _____________ his assistant _________________ when he caught him stealing. 2 Fifth Avenue is where _______________________ New Yorkers shop. 3 When he was made CEO Peter got __________________________ and made a lot of enemies in the company. 4 The merger of the two companies came ___________________ another major merger in the sector, in fact, only two weeks later. 5 The public asked the politicians to put themselves ____________________ when thinking about spending cuts. 6 Its going to be very difficult for the next leader of Venezuela to ________ Chvezs ______________. He was a major figure on the world stage.