我们做生意吧！

There are many special terms in the world of business.

The following story is about a sweetheart deal which I made last week. I made the deal with a friend， and we both made a profit.

I had started a small company several years ago. I worked hard to make it successful. It was a signmaking business. It was a small company， not a blue chip company. It was not known nationally for the quality of its signs. It did not make millions of dollars in profits. And it was private. It was not a public company with shares traded on the stock market.

Still， I worked hard building up my business. I did not work only a few hours each day—no bankers hours for me. Instead I spent many hours each day， seven days a week， trying to grow the company. I never cut corners or tried to save on expenses. I made many cold calls. I called on possible buyers from a list of people I had never seen. Such calls were often hard sells. I had to be very firm.

Sometimes I sold my signs at a loss. I did not make money on my product. When this happened， there were cutbacks. I had to use fewer supplies and reduce the number of workers. But after several years， the company broke even. Profits were equal to expenses. And soon after， I began to gain ground. My signs were selling very quickly. They were selling like hot cakes.

I was happy. The company was moving forward and making real progress. It was in the black， not in the red. The company was making money， not losing it.

My friend knew about my business. He is a leader in the sign-making industry—a real big gun， if you know what I mean. He offered to buy my company. My friend wanted to take it public. He wanted to sell shares in the company to the general public.

My friend believed it was best to strike while the iron is hot. He wanted to take action at the best time possible and not wait. He offered me a ballpark estimate of the amount he would pay to buy my company. But I knew his uneducated guess was low. My company was worth much more. He asked his bean counter to crunch the numbers. That is， he asked his accountant to take a close look at the finances of my company and decide how much it was worth. Then my friend increased his offer.

My friends official offer was finally given to me in black and white. It was written on paper and more than I ever dreamed. I was finally able to get a break. I made a huge profit on my company， and my friend also got a bang for the buck. He got a successful business for the money he spent.

sweetheart deal 意思是私下签订的交易，sweetheart 意为甜心，情人;同时也有“私下签订的”之意。

blue chip company 意思是蓝筹股公司，也就是绩优股公司。

bankers hours 意思是短暂的上班或工作时间。banker是银行家。三十多年前银行开门营业的时间特别短，从早上十点到下午两三点就结束了，所以银行家的上班时间每天只有四五个小时，于是人们就开始流行用bankers hours来特指安逸舒适的工作。

cut corner 意思是走捷径，以简捷的方式做事。

cold call 意思是进行电话推销，即冷不防地向潜在的主顾打电话，也可理解成陌生电话拜访。

hard sell 意思是硬性推销（术），强行推销（术）。

at a loss 意思是亏本地;困惑不解。

cutback 削减，减少;裁员的意思。

break even 得失相当;不盈不亏;收支平衡的意思。

gain ground 有進展，普及，发展的意思。

sell like hot cakes 比喻为非常热卖、非常畅销的意思。

in the black 是财政黑字，指收入大于支出，报表余额是黑色字体，也就是赢利，有盈余的意思。in the red 表示负债，亏损;财政赤字。

big gun 表示重要人物;有势力的人。

strike while the iron is hot 趁热打铁的意思。

ballpark estimate 意思是大致的估算。

bean counter 意思是精打细算的官员（或会计）。bean counter最早出现于20世纪70年代中期的美国，最初指的是“会计师”，特指那些不能容忍废话和闲扯的会计师。1975年，bean counter首次以书面形式出现在《财富》杂志上，用来描述“一个来自肯塔基州的精明、小气、一丝不苟的会计师”。这个词清楚地刻画了一个专注于细节的会计师，他习惯于计算每件东西，哪怕是最小的一粒豆子。

in black and white 白纸黑字，以书面的形式

get a break 交好运;时来运转

bang for the buck 一块钱换来很大的响声，花最少钱得到最大的效果，也就是合算，划算的意思。