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  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. French to English
  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

vendre le premier

English translation: to make your first sale

15:56 Sep 22, 2017
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Bus/Financial - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
French term or phrase: vendre le premier
This is from an interview with a person who trains disadvantaged youth to become entrepreneurs:

Être entrepreneur ne se résume pas à gagner une fortune en vendant des milliers de produits, c’est d’abord adopter la bonne attitude qui permettra de vendre le premier !

I'm not quite sure I'm understanding him right, so I welcome your input!
tatyana000
Local time: 05:06
English translation:to make your first sale
Explanation:
I think this would sound most natural in English

50 Ways to Make Your First Sale - Shopify
https://www.shopify.co.uk/blog/11415817-50-ways-to-make-your...
You've got a product. You've taken product photos and written product descriptions. You've set up your online store, populated it with great content and launche.
Selected response from:

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:06
Grading comment
Thank you! This makes the most sense and sounds right in English.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5to make your first sale
AllegroTrans
5 +1what sells first (is having the right attitude)
Lorraine Dubuc
4 +1sell the first (one).
philgoddard
3first to sell
Kartik Isaac


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
first to sell


Explanation:
This is how I understand it: Being an entrepreneur is not just about earning a fortune by selling thousands of products, it is first of all about adopting the right attitude that will permit you to sell first.

Kartik Isaac
Switzerland
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: That would be "être le premier à vendre" - and I don't think "being the first to sell" makes sense. The first to sell what?
3 mins
disagree  Lorraine Dubuc: Not the right meaning in my opinion. It is about having a winner attitude that allows to sell your first product.
25 mins
neutral  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: At first sight, this is how I read it. I now consider that "le premier" clearly means "le premier" of the "milliers de produits".
57 mins
agree  writeaway: to cancel out the disagree. this is not dead wrong.
3 hrs
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
sell the first (one).


Explanation:
Being an entrepreneur is not just about making a fortune by selling thousands of products. It's about having the right attitude [or perhaps the courage] to sell the first one.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 mins (2017-09-22 16:10:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The implication perhaps being that once you've sold one product, all the others will follow.

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 175

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: the first one of what? I don't see any 'en' in the French/faire quelque chose le premier. it's not unusual French
4 mins
  -> I don't think you need an "en".
agree  Lorraine Dubuc: The first product.
22 mins
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18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
what sells first (is having the right attitude)


Explanation:
suggestion. What is winner, what attracts before anything else...

Lorraine Dubuc
Canada
Local time: 23:06
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  nweatherdon: to sell things that can be sold without requiring mastery of manipulating and deluding people. Otherwise referred to as "selling something you can believe in".
58 mins
  -> Thank you! Merci!
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51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
to make your first sale


Explanation:
I think this would sound most natural in English

50 Ways to Make Your First Sale - Shopify
https://www.shopify.co.uk/blog/11415817-50-ways-to-make-your...
You've got a product. You've taken product photos and written product descriptions. You've set up your online store, populated it with great content and launche.

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:06
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 115
Grading comment
Thank you! This makes the most sense and sounds right in English.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michele Fauble
1 hr
  -> Thank you
agree  writeaway
2 hrs
  -> Thank you
agree  Rachel Fell
2 hrs
  -> Thank you
agree  Verginia Ophof
6 hrs
  -> Thank you
agree  Lara Barnett: If this is actually the correct meaning of the term then I would go with this variation. The expression sounds very English spoken-style, which is important for an interview IMO.
20 hrs
  -> Thank you
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