You will hear Mark Finch, a well-known business consultant, speaking to a gro

Part Three. Questions 23 to 30.
You will hear Mark Finch, a well-known business consultant, speaking to a group of business people at a seminar.
For each question, 23-30, mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.
After you have listened once, replay the recording.
You now have 45 seconds to read through the questions.
[pause]
Now listen, and mark A, B or C.
[pause]
Woman: I’m very glad to introduce Mark Finch. I’m sure you’ve all been looking forward to meeting such a well-respected consultant. Before we take some other questions, could I begin by asking you what general advice you would give to people planning to start a new business?
Mark: Business is about three things. The first thing is people. You need to make sure that you’re going to work with people who’ve got the right attitude. Commitment outweighs paper qualifications. The second thing is money. You can read a lot of books about exactly how much capital you need to get you through the first couple of years, and so on, but how much that matters depends on which particular kind of business you’re going into. The third thing is time. Nothing is more vital than taking time to plan properly. Check out your idea with friends and contacts, look at your local competitors, study costs and prices. That’s the most useful thing you can do.
Woman: I see. Now, a lot of people worry about the dangers of business.
Mark: Business is not a safe world: it’s full of risks. It’s always going to be a gamble. You must be prepared to work long hours and to keep doing that until the business becomes successful, however long that might happen to take. Even then you can’t relax as, especially if you’re providing a service, you have to deal with the often very quick fluctuations in the market.
Woman: Thank you. Now let’s take a question from the audience. Jane?
Jane: In my company, we’re having problems dealing with complaints. Would you recommend a computerised system?
Mark: A few years ago, I worked with an energy company on this problem. They had computerised their complaints processing because they were receiving so many complaints. But the staff who had to input the data hadn’t had enough help with using computers, so the process wasn’t working well at all.
Jane: So what would you recommend to managers?
Mark: I would say to managers from that example that a computer system in itself will not deal with your problems. Don’t just tell your staff to do things, listen to what they have to say about what they need.
Woman: And the next question, Bill?
Bill: My company’s worried about our high staff turnover. Can you give me some advice?
Mark: I’ve recently been working with a car repair company who go out to people’s cars, rather than customers bringing their cars to them. But they were having problems with their mechanics. The managers were sending out a newsletter every month full of future plans and aims, but very few of the workers were actually reading it. When I talked to the workers, I found what they really needed was to be appreciated for what they did, to feel that management took an interest. So, I helped the company to bring management and workers closer together, to understand each other better.
Bill: And that helped to reduce the turnover of staff?
Mark: Yes, happier staff meant they stopped leaving. This reduction had various benefits, especially improving customer satisfaction so that less publicity was required. With a more constant staff of mechanics, the need for training was significantly reduced.
Woman: One more question. Pamela?
Pamela We’ve recently launched a new product, but it’s not selling well, and this is causing a lot of stress throughout the company. Is this a common problem?
Mark: Well, ok, I’m working with a kitchen equipment manufacturer at the moment. Obviously, I can’t give too much detail, but they came up with a new kind of toaster last year. They developed it themselves, and it certainly is a good product, which could really help that company’s profitability. They asked me if I thought the problem was delivery costs and times, but I told them to bring in a proper sales manager to upgrade their ability in actually selling the toaster.
Woman: So we’re not alone in this?
Mark: Oh no, stress is a common problem, and the solution depends on your situation. There are many causes of stress in business. Personally, rather than trying to prevent it, I think you should embrace it. Successfully managed stress can actually make you work more effectively.
Woman: Mark, thank you very much.