Young and Free

 

"You can't expect to be old and wise if you were never young, crazy, and free"

This time I brought to you some English expressions in a short story about what it takes to be successful in a small company that focuses on using idioms in context.

at the drop of a hat means immediately

by leaps and bound means very quickly (used with improvement.

copycat means someone or a company that tries to do things like another person or company.

dog eat dog means very competitive.

drive a hard bargain means making a business deal that is very advantageous for you.

early bird means someone who takes early advantage of a situation.

fit the bill means having the right characteristics for something.

full steam ahead means to continue with full commitment.

get the jump on someone means getting the advantage over someone by starting early.

have one's ears to the ground means paying attention to rumors, news, and industry insiders.

know something inside out means having expert knowledge about something.

pie in the sky means something very hard to achieve, a dream.

play something by ear means to improvise in a situation, react to a situation it occurs.

put one's nose to the grindstone means working hard and put in many hours.

sink or swim means to succeed or fail.

start from scratch means starting from the beginning.

startup means a small company that begins to do business, usually in technology.

strike it rich means to become rich, often by creating a new product or service successfully.

stumbling block means difficulty or hurdle that stands in the way of success

take the bull by the horns means to confront a problem and deal with it. 

Prerequisite for Success

Let's face it: In today's business world you need to be young and free of attachments to strike it rich. It's a dog eat dog world out there and you're going to have to work quite a lot. Of course, not only will you have to work quite a lot, you'll need to be flexible and ready to take advantage of anything. That's where the "free" part comes in.

I've got a young friend, he's only 25, but he fits the bill perfectly. He's single and he's hungry. He's willing to start from scratch and, best of all, he isn't afraid of putting his nose to the grindstone for those 80 hour weeks. He decided to take the bull by the horns by going starting up his own business. He found a software developer who knew the internet inside out. This young man was also very ambitious. He left his safe job at the drop of a hat. They were both reaching for pie in the sky, and they were ready.

They also were lucky. They founded a startup and got into the whole social networking business in 2002. In other words, they were early birds and they were willing to sink or swim. Probably the most important ingredient in their success was that they were willing to play things by ear. They kept their ears to the ground, moved full steam ahead, and drove hard bargains. Soon, their business was growing by leaps and bounds. Of course, they had some stumbling blocks along the way. Who doesn't? Still, they got the jump on the competition and by the year 2008, they were multi-millionaires. This sort of success for the young and free now has copycats around the world.