Business Dictionary

The process of strengthening a business by acquiring another business (such as a competitor or supplier).

The tendency to use an initial piece of information as the basis for making later judgments.

Relying on easily available information, rather than investigating more deeply.

Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. BATNAs are alternative options that you can pursue if the negotiation does not meet your expectations.

A financial statement relating to the value and type of assets your business owns and controls. It shows how all your business’s finances (including investments, debts, and sales) are connected at a particular moment in time – typically annually.

A technique of interviewing which seeks to identify a candidate’s likely future performance. Questions are asked that elicit information on past performance, rather than on hypothetical or predictive outcomes.

The grouping of potential customers based on their actions.

Progressive and forward-looking ideas. They offer an innovative and novel approach to customer pain points or a progressive move in a sector.

Public support and recommendation for your brand.

Links that develop in a customer's mind between your brand and certain qualities or characteristics.

The degree that customers are familiar with your particular brand and its qualities or characteristics.

The process of evaluating your brand and deciding the extent to which it meets a customer's needs.

The degree to which your brand stands out from the competition.

The likelihood of a customer making repeat purchases of your product or service.

The degree to which your brand offering is similar to those of competitors in terms of quality and features.

How your brand is viewed in comparison to competitors (for example, as a premium or mass market offering).

The degree to which a customer prefers one brand over others.

A pricing strategy which encourages customers to purchase more products or services than they would otherwise consider. This involves providing a discount when a set number of items are purchased at the same time.

A detailed, formal plan of an intended growth opportunity.

Wealth or other assets owned by an individual or an organization.

A month-by-month projection of money coming in and out of your business.

The movement of cash through your business, i.e. going out to suppliers, and being used to purchase or produce inventory, before returning from customers.

The unique value that your business can offer customers over its competitors.

Gathering information about competitors, including their market share and what differentiates them in the eyes of customers.

The tendency to only seek information that supports pre-existing beliefs or assumptions.

These describe what is most important to you, and the traits you respect in others.

Delivering the same benefits as competitors, but at a lower cost.

A pricing strategy which defines a price by calculating the costs of making the product or delivering the service. It adds a set mark-up to generate a profit.

An investigation into the current values, assumptions, and practices that make up the culture of your business today.

The decision-making process that customers take before purchasing a product or service.

Grouping customers in different ways based on key shared characteristics.

A detailed statement which defines exactly who needs a product or service, and exactly how it meets those needs.

A customer need or demand which a new product or service will meet.

Products or services focused on meeting customer pain points and responding to their needs.

A pricing strategy which involves individual price agreements with customers based on their exact needs and context.

A funding approach where a business takes out a loan, either from a bank or any other financial institution. The debt needs to be repaid at a future date, usually with interest.

Moving departments or functions of a business away from a single control point to multiple control points.

A method of coaching that aims to support the growth of the whole person, rather than the attainment of a skill or competence in isolation.

An interactive exercise that provides a ‘diagnosis’ and personalized feedback based on responses to the questions or activities set.

Delivering benefits that are better or more appealing than those offered by competitors.

The analysis of digital data, and the information resulting from the analysis of digital data.

A factor which facilitates something happening (for example, motivational drivers shape a business vision).

The value a product or service can offer by meeting a customer's emotional needs.

Business growth that is unpredictable and fluctuating.

A funding approach where equity investors get ownership or equity in the business and get a share of the earnings of the business every year. This is calculated in proportion to the amount they have invested.

A document assessing the viability of a proposed new business concept.

The information that can be gathered about your business’s finances by others.

A comparison of how two or more financial measures have moved relative to one another. This comparison is generally more useful than individual numbers when assessing financial performance. Different ratios are used to analyze different elements of your business. For further detail of these ratios, refer to the Financial Terms Glossary in the finance courses.

Gathering an in-depth understanding of target customers, and producing specific offerings for this niche market.

A pricing strategy which allows a potential customer to use a product or service for free, but charges a premium for additional features or services.

The ways in which a product or service can make a customer's life easier (for example, through reduced cost). Also known as commercial value.

Safe and incremental ideas, the logical next step in growth.

A fact or circumstance that contributes to business growth.

Focused on the intention to significantly grow and develop a business.

A financial statement focused on revenues and costs over a chosen period of time. Also known as the Profit and Loss Statement, and Statement of Revenue and Expense.

Periods of rapid growth followed by periods of plateau.

A business increasingly operating across national boundaries.

Indicates the outcome or output of a process or activity. These are sometimes called outcome measures.

Indicates how closely a planned process has been followed. These are sometimes called activity measures.

The manner and approach used in providing strategic direction, motivation, and decision-making within a business.

Potential customers who may be interested in buying your product or service.

Value that connects to a customer's long-term goals, or increases their motivation.

The detailed organization and implementation of a business and its actions.

The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price.

A demand for a particular product or service.

Steps that are crucial to the process, but do not add value for customers.

Rules on how to effectively and respectfully communicate and behave online.

A small, specialized market for a specific product or service.

An approach which deliberately ignores conventional restrictions to enable innovative thinking.

Steps that drain business resources and time, while providing no value to the product or service.

Activities involved in the day-to-day functions of a business conducted for the purpose of generating profits.

A communication of the strengths of operational processes, both to external stakeholders and to team members.

An exercise which will help you assess the feasibility of a growth opportunity for your business.

A summary of your Opportunity Feasibility Checklist.

A clear and concise expression of a new business opportunity, which covers how the opportunity meets key criteria for success.

A means of identifying processes and sub-systems that could be introduced to change your culture and performance, and grow your business.

A plan of personal development activities (for example, training/mentoring), that a business leader intends to complete in a defined period of time.

A period of zero or very limited growth.

A pricing strategy which involves looking at your offering as a whole, pricing some items low to attract customers and generating greater profits on other items.

A visual representation of a process, which details every component step. It also includes any smaller processes (or sub-processes) that form part of a larger overall process.

Potential customers who are very likely to buy your product or service.

Criteria that come from any stage of the Customer Buying Process to influence a customer’s decision-making process. This includes factors such as quality, price, and convenience of delivery.

A steep and consistent rise in turnover over a short period of time.

A pricing strategy which uses the standard market pricing for a product or service as a reference for defining a price.

The ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.

A visualization of the conversion process from leads to prospects, and prospects to customers.

A large group of the economy (for example, the financial sector).

The value a product or service can offer related to the local or global community (for example, by having a positive impact on sustainability and diversity).

Ideas that are significantly more ambitious than Grounded or Blue Sky ideas. They are larger in scale, but are not necessarily achievable in the short term.

People with an interest or concern in the business.

The existing state or condition (for example, how things are normally approached or achieved).

Growth which can be sufficiently maintained in the long term. A limit to resources, customers, or funding may make growth unsustainable.

The amount of money generated by a business during a particular period (for example, a financial quarter or a calendar year).

Steps that enhance a product or service by meeting customers’ needs.

A pricing strategy that uses the perceived value target customers place on a product or service (in comparison to a competitor’s offering) to define a price.

A pricing strategy where prices for products or services are changed based on a range of different factors (for example, peak and off-peak air fares).

An efficient, effective and compelling expression of aspirations for your business, and how employees fit that picture.

A business offering something (X) as a Service.

Zone of Possible Agreement. The conceptual range of agreement between two negotiators' preferred outcomes.