80 1Tianscriptsa2PartrDeborahNi ceto seeyouagai n,MrsOsborne.Busi nessi sgood,I hope?Mi yoNotbad,notbad,thankyou.I can' tcompl ai n.DeborahNowyoumenti onedonthephone that youwantedto consul tmeonthequesti onofchangi ngthestructureofyourbusi ness.HowexactlycanI helpyou?Mi yoWel l I' mthi nki ngof getti ngi ntosomethi ngnewwi thmybusi nessandl ' d ti keto di scussthetegal i mpti cati onswi thyou.DeborohUpti ttnowyou' vebeenoperati ngasa sol etradersi nceyoustartedi n zoor,haven' tyou?MiyoThat'sright.When| firstmovedherefroml apan, I wassetti ngJapanese goodsfrommyownhome.Thebusi nesshasdonereatl ywel landI wantto exoandi ntofurni tureandtextiles.I feetthegrowthpotentialthereisgreater thanin thefoodandclothingsector.DeborohI can' tseeanyprobtemswi thdoi ngthatwi thyourbusi nessasi t i s.Orareyouthi nki ngofformi nga separatecompanyspeci al i zi ngi nfurni tureandtexti l es?Mi yaWett,thathadcrossedmymi nd.ButI amtheonl yownerandmanageratthemoment,sol ' mthi nki ngof offeri ngoneortwoofthepeopl ewhoworkwi thme,somesortofpositionaswe[[.That'sfairlystraightforward,i sn' ti t?DeborahWell,it certaintydoesn'thaveto becompl i cated.I thi nkyoushoul dtettmea bi tmoreaboutyourpl ansandaboutthepeopl eyouwantto bri ngi ntothebusi ness.Mi yaFi ne.Themai nthi ngi sthatI thi nkwe' regoi ngto needmorecapi tal i nordertoexpandthebusi neSsandthi si swhereI needyour advi ce.PartzMiyaLetmeexplain.EveryyearsinceI started,myprofitshavegoneup andI haveusedthoseprofi tsto expandthebusi ness.l ' ve i ust usedprofi tsandsomemoneyof myownthatI hadi nthebank.I' mreal l yproudthatI haven' thadto askanyoneel seformoneyandevennowthebusi nesshasnodebtat al t.Theprobl emi sthatwenowneedto expand.Weneednewpremi sesforourshowroom,weneednewstoragespace , we needto investi n newl Tequi pment...1' veheardaboutanofficein a greatpartof townandlcouldeasi l yconverti t i ntoa shop.l t' sgotal tthestoragespacewe needtoo.Wecan'taffordto mi ssthi schanceandwehave j ust enoughcashin thebankto makeanofferforit rightaway.DeborahHmmm..I woul dn' trecommenddoi ngthatwi thoutknowi nga bi tmore.Yousai di t' sanoffi cebui tdi ngatthemoment?Wel t,i t' spossi btethatyou' tl needpermi ssi onfromthel ocaIcounci l to changetheuseofthebui tdi ngandi f youdon' tgetthepermi ssi on,you won' tbeabl eto usei t asa retai l outl et.It' tt j ust bestandi ngempty.Inmyvi ewi t' stoo muchof a riskto makeanofferfor it atthi sstage:canyoufi ndoutanymoreaboutit?MiyoMmm.lt's notactuallyon themarketyet...butl ' l l tryandfi ndouta bi tmore.DeborohGood.l'd stronglysuggesttalkingto apropertyl awyeraboutthi s.I canasksomeonefromourpropertydepartmenttogi veyoua cal l abouti t. l sthatOK?MiyaYes,I'd appreciatethat.DeborahAndwhatabout yourcolleagues?Yousaidearl i erthatyouwantedto bri ngoneortwopeopl ei ntothebusi ness?MiyaYes.Firstly,l'm reallykeento rewardthetoyattyof twoof mystaff.They'vestayedwithmesi ncethebegi nni ngandeventurneddown j ob offersfromothercompani esi norderto makethi sbusi nesssucceed.I wantto gi ve thema sharei nthebusi ness.Secondly,in a yearor twofromnowI mightwantto gi vethesetwopeopl esomesayi nthemanagementofthebusi ness.They' vesupportedmefromthebegi nni ngandsoIcoul dperhapsmakethemdi rectorsofthenewcompany.Thi rdl y,asI sai d,thebusi nessneedsto expand,andforthatweneeda l i ttl emoremoney.Myaccountantputmei ntouchwi tha possi bl ei nvestorwhocoul dcontri butetheamountthatweneed.DeborohI see.Soforminga companyreallydoesseemto bethebestoptionforyou.Certaintyi f youwantto bri ngi na newi nvestor,I' dsuggesti ncorporati ngthebusi ness,andthei nvestorwi tl probabtysuggestdoi ngthatanyway.MiyaExactly.I assumethattheassetsofthebusi nesswi l [betransferredfrommepersonal l yi ntothenewcompany,oncei t' ssetuo.AndthenI' tthavesharesi nthecompany,togetherwiththetwostaff,andthenewinvestor.lsthatright?DeborahYes,that'sit. Butdoyouhaveanymoredetai l saboutthei nvestor?Andhadyouthoughtwhatwoul dhappeni fyouandhecoutdn' tagree?Whatwoul dyoudoforfundsthen?Mi yaThenI supposei t woul dmeangoi ngto thebankfora l oan.ButI reattyhopei t won' tcometo that...I' veheardthatthebankcoutdaskmeto guaranteethel oanpersonal l y,andmaybeevenaskfor myhouseassecurity.DeborahYes,exactly.Thetoanwouldbeto thecompany,butthepersonguaranteei ngthel oanwoul dbeyou.Youhavel i mi tedl i abi l i tyasa sharehol deri nthecompany,butunti mi tedl i abi ti tyasa personal guarantor ofthel oan.That' snormatl ywhatbanksaskforatTranscriptsi n t hi s si t uat i on, andyes, ul t i mat el yyourhomei s atri sk.Mi yaThenl et ' shopet hatwe canpersuadet hei nvest ort o i nvest i n uslIt hi nk Iwoul dbehappi eri fyou coul dcomet o t he nextmeet i ngwi t h hi m.Deborah l ' d be happyt o.But canIj ustcomebackt ot he f ormat i onoft he companyi t set PTherearequi t ea f ew t hi ngst hatIwi t t needt ocheckwi t h you bef orewe cansetup t hecompany. CanIsuggest t hatIset al lt hi s outi n an emai l , andt hen maybewhenyou' vehada chancet o readt hroughal lt hei nf ormat i on, we coul dmeet agai n. Doest hatsoundOKf romyour poi nt of vi ew?Mi yoYes, t hatsoundsf i ne.Thi erry. . . t he rst of l anuary. Fi ne. So, I ' t t put t hatstartingdate into your contract.Beforewef i ni sh, MrsO' Bri en, you ment i onedon t hephonel ast Fri dayt hatt herearea f ew t hi ngsi n yourcont ract youd t i ket o di scussbef oresi gni ngi t .Cot hyWel l , yes. Thereare j usta f ew poi nt st hatl dt i ket o cl ari f ywi t h you.fhierryNo problem.Whatwould you like to know?cat hyWel l , i n ct auser,paragraphz,i tsayst hatt henormal worki ngt i mewi l lbe 38 hoursa week.But i tdoesn' t sayanywheret hatt he normalworki ngweeki s Mondayt o Fri day.Thi erryWet t , usuat t yi ti s, butoccasi onat t yoursof t ware peopt ehavet o comei n att heweekendi ft here' san i moort ant deadt i net omeet or someot herdi f f i cut t y. So, It hi nkt hat ' swhy t he wordi ngi s as i ti s.Woul dn' ti t be possi bl e to addsomethi ngtothateffect?Forexampl e,thenormatworki ngweeki sMondayto Fri daybutsometi mesi twi l l benecessary...Somethi ngl i kethat?I' msurethat' ttbeOK.Fi ne.AndthenI' vegot a questi onaboutannual l eave.Err...Yes,herei t i s.Accordi ngto cl ause6,i f I can' ttakeal l myhol i day,I canhavefi nanci al compensati onforupto r5daysof i t.ThierryYes,that' s right. lf there is a lot of work andyou aren' t abl et o t akeyourf u[ [ l eaveent i t l ement , we don' t want yout o l oseout .That ' st he reasonf or t hi s oart i cul arcl ause.Cot hyIunderst and. But i f t hi s happens, can' t Icarryr5 days' hot i dayi nt ot he next worki ngyear?Thi erry|suppose, i n t heoryyou coul d. We' ve i ustneverreal l yf el ti twasnecessaryt o wri t ei tdown. And, i n anycase, empt oyeesareusuat t y qui t ehappyt o recei vet he ext rapayi ft heycan' t t akesomeoft hei rhol i day. Anot herprobl em, ofcourse, i s t hati n t he f ol t owi ngyearsomeonemi ght be ent i t l edt o 3o days'pt usr5 days' annual l eave. That ' sa l otofhot i day!cathyWell,as you know from my lob interview,Ihavea youngf ami l yand Ireal l ywout dpref ert o havesomet hi ngi n my cont ract t hatguarant eesme my f ul Ihot i dayent i t l ement .Eveni fi tmeanscarryi ngl eavei nt ot hef ol l owi ngyear.TranscriptsThi erryMmm. . . l d l i ket o checkt hi swi t h our l awyer.Ican' t i magi net hatt herewoul dbe anyl egaldi f f i cut t i eshere; i t ' s morea quest i on ofcompanypot i cywi t h respect t o seni orst af f .Let me getbackt o you on t hat one. Idon' twant t o makeany promi sesatt hi s st agebutI ' msurewe' t l be abt et o f i ndsomeki ndofcompr omi seon t hi s.cat hy0K. . . Andt here' s i ustone moret hi ng. l t ' scl ause 4,paragraph 5.l tsayst hat . . . ' Therei sno cl ai mt o compensat i onf or overt i me,weekendor hol i daywork. 'ThierryYes,that' s quite standardfor seniorstaffcont ract s. 0fcourse, i n t he caseofempl oyeeswho areearni ngst andarduni onpayrat eswe havet o payovert i meor gi vet heempt oyeest he t i me back.Cot hvIsee. But . asa seni orst af f memberIThierryCothyThierrywoul dn' t beent i t t edt o any payf or overt i me.That' sright.But doesi tal someant hatIwoul dn' t beent i t l edt o haveanyoft hi s t i me back, ei t her?Notnecessari l y. It hi nkyou' t l f i ndt hatseni orst af f usual l ysort somet hi ngoutwi t h t hei rl i nemanagers. l tal t dependson howmuchworkt herei s atanvonet i me.Cat hyIsee. I ' m j ustwonderi ngi fat l t hi s coul dbest at eda bi tmorecl earl yi n t he cont ract . Can' twe adda paragrapht hatsayssomet hi ngl i ke. . . er . . . ' Overt i memaybe t akenas f reet i me.But t hi s must be wi t h t he agreement oft hel i nemanager. ' ?Orsomet hi ngl i ket hat ?Thi erryI ' massumi ngt herewon' tbe anyl egalcompt i cat i onshere. But , agai n, I ' l lhavet ocheckwi t h our l awyeron t hi s.CathyOK.That' severything.The rest of the contractseemst o be f i ne-Thi erryGood. I ' t l sendat l t hi s of ft o t he l awyerandI ' t l mai t youi n t he next dayor t wo t o l etyouknowwhathet hi nks.Cot hyGreat . I ' l t expect t o hearf romyou soon, t hen.Andt hankyouf or t aki ngt he t i met o di scussat l t heset hi ngswi t h me. I ' l l getbackt o myf l athunt i ngnowThi erryWel l , goodl uckwi t h t hat .l fyou run i nt oanydi f f i cul t i es, do l etme know. Thecompanywoul dbe abl et o organi zesomeaccommodat i onf or you f or t wo or t hreemont hs, i fnecessary.Cot hyI ' l I cert ai nl ybearyourof f eri n mi nd, MrSchwarz. Thankyou onceagai nf or yourt i me.Bve.^4ory...thematterof MrsO' Bri en' sresi gnati on.Now,I' vehada l ookat al l thedocumentsyousentme,Mr Fl annaganand...wel l thefi rstthi ngI' venoti cedi sMrsO' Bri en' sactualtetterof resi gnati on.Yousee,accordi ngtohercontract.shei sn' tenti ttedto starthernew j ob asearl yastherstofJanuary -unl ess,ofcourse,you' rehappyto l ethergoearly.Yes,I' dnoti cedthat,too.Butthati sn' treal l ywhatI' mworri edabout,Mybi ggestconcerni sthatthecompanyshe' spl anni ngto goto i sSoftti ne.l ela4CathyThierryCothy