management: (v.)the organization and coordination of a business in order to achieve set objectives. Example 1: The primary job of the CEO is the effective management of their company. (n.) Management also refers to the people in charge of this task (CEOs, Presidents, Officers, Executives, Managers). Example 2: The management has done a wonderful job of turning the company around.
business: an organization, economic system or commercial activity in which goods or services are exchanged for money.
marketing: the process of choosing, developing and producing a product, it’s price, market, distribution channel and promotion to the consumer.
profit: the total surplus remaining after all costs have been deducted.
telecommuting: Attending to one’s work duties at home via virtual telecommunication instead of in-person office work. All virtualassistants telecommute to work. Example: Ever since I started telecommuting, I’ve been able to spend so much more quality time with my children.
downsizing: intentional reduction in workforce size to cut costs, become competitive or prepare for a buyout.
outsourcing: the contracting out of tasks by a company to usually lower cost regions or firms. Example: Now that I outsource most of my administrative work, I can focus on building my core business.
headquarters: a company’s main office or administrative center. Example: The meeting today will be held at company headquarters.
market: (n.) a place where the forces of supply and demand operate and buyers and sellers interact to trade goods, capital or services. Example 1: There just aren’t any buyers in the stock market today, so prices are falling. The market (n.)for a particular item is made up of potential and existing customers who have the ability and desire to pay for it. Example 2:We gave up on the idea of selling ice in the winter because there was no market for it. Market can also be a (v.), which means to increase market share. Example 3: We need to market our products more aggressively.
R&D: research and development – activity aimed at discovering solutions to problems or producing innovation or new products.
budget: the amount of capital a business or organization has at its disposal for a specific or general purpose for a usually specific amount of time. Example: Our budget for October is $250,000, so we can afford to order more pumpkins.
bonus: additional pay after salary given for performance reward or incentive.
personnel: the people or staff that are employed by a firm.
quarter: one of four three month intervals that comprise a company’s fiscal year. Example: Our third fiscal quarter this year was by far our best one yet.
promotion: a position advancement within a company
asset: an item which holds value or produces income. Example: The Lotus Tower is one of our company’s most valuable assets.
recruitment: the process of finding and hiring the best quality candidate for a position, either from outside a company or within. Example: Microsoft is hosting a recruitment event this weekend to hire staff for it’s new office.
sales department: department in a company responsible for finding new customers and making sales.
liability: in finance, a claim against a company’s assets. In accounting, liabilities are what a company owes to its creditors and employees. In law, liability refers to the responsibility for the consequences of a party’s actions.
presentation: a usually formal prepared demonstration of data, analysis, protocol or information delivered to a group of people
meeting: formal or informal gatherings of people or businesspeople with a collective purpose
end user: the person or entity which actually uses a product or service
party: entity or person that takes part or is involved in an agreement, lawsuit or transaction. Example: We are waiting for the party to approve the sale of the company.
objective: a specific result or intended goal. Example: Our team’s objective is to sell 100,000 umbrellas every week.
entrepreneur: an individual business founder and owner who often funds, develops and produces a product or service themselves. Example: Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand, is one of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs.
contract: a legally binding agreement between parties, either written, spoken or implied.
commercial: a paid advertisement on radio, television, or the internet.
VC: venture capital. Startup or growth equity capital or loan capital provided by private investors or specialized financial institutions.
investment: money committed or property acquired for future income.
credit: (n.) in banking, credit refers to the ability of banks to create purchasing power from leveraging fractional reserves. Example: During the recent credit crunch, banks were reluctant to lend, which only compounded the problem. In accounting, (n.) credits are positive additions to the balance sheet, usually in the form of revenues or asset acquisitions. Example: After adding in all credits and subtracting any debits, we’re managed to make a small profit. In commerce, (n.) credit refers to a trust-based exchange of goods or services for money promised in the future. Example: My supplier extended my line of credit so that we could scale up for our launch.
opportunity cost: a benefit, value or profit that must be given up in order to attain or pursue another opportunity. Example: Losing my job was the opportunity cost for spending too much time building my own business.
logistics: management (including planning, analyzing, procuring, moving, etc.) of inventory that is in motion or at rest. Example: Before becoming CEO of Apple, Tim Cook was its top logistics expert.
agreement: an arrangement between two or more people, a contract.
shareholder: an individual, group or organization that has an equity stake in a company.
stakeholder: an individual, group, or organization that has an interest or concern in an organization.
interest: (n.) in finance, a fee paid for the use of another party’s money (interest is the cost of borrowing and the income from lending). Example 1: I don’t earn alot of interest keeping my money in my bank account. In law, a claim, right or title (n.). Example 2: My client’s interest in the estate is considerable.
customerservice department: the segment of a company that handles interactions between customers and the firm
inventory: the assets, materials or products that a company owns or holds with the intentions of selling. Example: We didn’t sell all of the couches last summer, so we are sitting on excess inventory.
terms: conditions or stipulations that regulate or determine the nature of a contract, agreement or transaction
loan: an agreement for the temporary transfer of capital between one or more parties and other(s), usually with interest.
lien: a creditor’s conditional right of ownership against a debtor’s asset or property that bars its sale or transfer without paying off the creditor. Example: The bank holding the lien foreclosed on the property last week.
manager: the head of a specific company department, an executive officer. Example: I was promoted as the manager of international operations.
board of directors: the governing body of a firm, elected by the shareholders of the company to represent their interests.
accounting: process of financial record keeping, interpreting and communicating in business.
staff: the entire group of employees who work at a company, or a specific group of employees working under a supervisor. Example: Our company staff are all former lawyers.
HR: human resources – the department which oversees hiring and manages the employees of a company. Example: I was hired by Paula from HR
capital: wealth in the form of money or assets, or money invested in a business to generate income. Example: We need to do another round of fundraising to get enough capital.
industry: economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and factory manufacturing, or a particular branch of specific economic activity. Example: I used to work in the hotel industry.
disruption: an innovation of technology or practice that transforms the way business, manufacturing or other traditional processes occur by displacing other methods. Example: 3-D printing could be one of the most disruptive innovations of our time.
networking: creating, maintaining and using connections with acquaintances and associates to both share and receive help with business, partnership or job opportunities. Example: If it wasn’t for the networking I did last summer, I never would have got this internship.
launch: the process of introducing a new product or service into the marketplace. Example: We are launching our new app next week.
consumer: an end user or purchaser of goods along the supply chain
supply chain: a network of interlinked entities or businesses that contribute to delivering a product to the end user
startup: a newly formed company that, usually through technological innovation, seeks to find a repeatable and scalable business model and disrupt an industry. Example: Perhaps the most famous startup is Apple, which was founded in a garage by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs
branding: the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the mind of the consumer, chiefly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Example: The popularity of Ronald McDonald with children is a result of effective branding by McDonald’s.
overhead: an integral cost to the production of goods or services. Example: Our overheads are so high that we can’t make a profit.
point of sale: the actual place where a product or service is sold to the end user
cost of sales: the total sum of all expenses required to produce a product for sale, including labor, rent, materials, equipment, etc.
wholesale: bulk sales, rather than smaller individual retail sales. Example: We discovered that by becoming wholesale producers of rice that we could double our profits and cut our labor output by half.
company: a commercial business. Example: I work for a multinational company that specializes in automotive production.
revenue: the amount of money that a company receives in a given period. Example: Our company’s annual revenue is $10 million.
salary: a usually fixed amount of money paid by a company to an employee in exchange for their services.
account: a record of the money a company pays out. Example: Our accounts are currently up to date.
grant: a usually conditional gift or endowment of money by a company or organization for a specific use.
NPO: non profit organization; an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals rather than distribute them as profits or dividends.
operations: jobs or tasks with one or more subtasks that transform data or resources into desired good, services or results.
CEO: the chief executive officer, or head of a company. Example: Steve Jobs was the CEO of Apple.
equity: (n.) ownership of an asset, above and beyond debt considerations. Example 1: I was granted a loan because of the equity I have in my house. Stocks are also known as equities (n.), since they represent ownership stake in a company. Example 2: My portfolio is diversified between equities, bonds and cash.
competitor: a rival business interest which competes for the same market as another business. Example: PepsiCo is CocaCola’s biggest competitor.
merger: the voluntary amalgamation of two companies into a new, singular legal entity.
acquisition: the purchasing of an asset or firm by a party or company. Example: After merger talks failed, we were eventually acquired by our competitor.
partnership: a business organization in which two or more people pool their money, work and resources and share collectively in the profits and losses.
agenda: an ordered sequence of items discussed in a formal meeting. Example: Today’s agenda includes a review of our customer service policy.
status report: a business report that summarizes a particular situation as of a certain time and place. Example: Joan delivers a status report on hotel occupancy to her manager every morning.
margin: in commerce, the difference between the price of selling something and the cost of producing it. In equities trading, margin refers to the amount of money loan by a brokerage to a trader to place on trades beyond his regular balance.
sponsor: firm that provides financial assistance to a company in exchange for advertising and promotional rights or space.
income statement: a financial statement that measures a company’s performance over a specific accounting period.
balance sheet: a summary of the financial balances of a corporation or business organization.
cash flow statement: a financial statement that shows how changes in balance sheet accounts and income affect the cash and cash equivalents of a company.
C/O: care of, used in letters or packages delivered to people at a place other than their home address.
platform: a place or means for expression or operation; a framework for the operation of computer software.
web 2.0 (web two-point-0): a collective term for the the application of internet platforms including blogs, social networking sites, wikis, video sharing services, etc. which operate on principles of sharing and interaction rather than mere content delivery.
social media: new media, especially mobile media, which relies on consumer interaction and content sharing. Example: Facebook is the world’s most recognized social media platform.
project: a planned set of interrelated tasks that to be executed within a specific timeframe.
multitask: to do numerous, often unrelated jobs simultaneously
reach a consensus: achieve a unanimously agreed upon decision either within a group or between parties. Example: After nine hours of negotiations, we finally reached a consensus to merge our companies.
resign: to quit a job or position; to voluntarily leave employment with a firm.
CV: curriculum vitae. Also known as a resume, the CV is a summary of a job applicants professional experience, educational background, references and other relavent information.
conference call: also known as an analyst call, the conference call is a teleconferenced or live hosted event featuring presentations by the management and executives of a company and the company’s investors and analysts.
exchange rate: the price at which the currency of one country can be traded for the currency of another country’s. Example: the dollar per yen exchange rate dropped over forty percent in the last six months after massive easing by the Japanese government.
transaction: usually a commercial exchange involving the swapping of good or services for capital.
viral marketing: explosive, rapid growth of a market or product/service sales, usually achieved through word of mouth advertising. Example: In the first days of Facebook, Harvard student adoption was so great that a surprised Mark Zuckerberg exclaimed “It’s gone viral.”
monetization: the conversion of or implementation of revenue generating mechanisms into websites, usually through advertising. Example: I was tempted to monetize my blog when I first started it, but it would have hurt web traffic.
scalable: a quality of certain systems that enable them to rapidly expand or contract business operations to meet the demands of a market. Example: One quality of startups is that, because they rely on IT, are often nimbly scalable.
strategy: a method or plan designed to bring about a specific outcome. Example: Our business strategy is more focused on long term user adaption rather than immediate monetization.
IT: information technology. A set of tools, processes, methodologies, data communications and the like employed to collect, process and present information.
trademark: a specific symbol, logo or design used by firms for branding and identification purposes
CBA: cost benefit analysis. A process in which all costs associated with a specific project or endeavor are calculated and analyzed.
business plan: a written blueprint of financial, operational, production and administrative tasks required for business in its future
deadline: the final time that a certain task must be completed by. Example: Rose worked all night to meet her eight o’clock deadline the next morning.
