Business

• Action Plan

  A plan that outlines the actions required to achieve particular aims and objectives and provides a way of monitoring progress
• Agenda

  A list of items that will be discussed at a forthcoming meeting
• Annual General Meeting (AGM)

  A yearly meeting of shareholders that a limited company is usually legally required to hold
• Brand

  A name, symbol, logo and/or an image in customers' minds that clearly distinguishes one product from another
• Brand Loyalty

  The degree to which consumer buy a particular brand of a product in preference to another brand
• Branding

  The strategy of differentiating the products of one enterprise from those of another through emphasizing an identifiable image
• Budget

  A financial statement of income and expenditure prior to a particular period of time
• Budget Variance


  The different between a budgeted or anticipated figure and the actual figure
• Business and Enterprise Network

  A means of bringing together people to share, and learn from, their experiences in business and enterprise
• Business Organisation

  An organisation that has been established with the purpose of producing and selling particular goods and services
• Business Plan

  A document that summarises the main objectives of an enterprise and how these objectives are to be achieved
• Capital


  Human made aids to production
• Cash Flow

  The flow of money into (inflow) and the flow of money out of (outflow) an enterprise
• Cash Flow Budget

  An overview of expected income and expenditure over a particular period of time
• Commercial Bank

  A commercial institution, usually owned by its shareholders, that receives deposits and provides loans and other forms of financial support
• Consumer Sovereignty

  The importance of changes in consumer preferences in determining the allocation of scarce resources in an economy
• Contingency Fund

  An amount of money held by an enterprise in reserve in case it is faced by financial difficulties brought about by unexpected and unplanned circumstances beyond its control
• Co-operatives

  A type of business organisation owned by its customers or its employees
• Copyright

  The legal ownership by a person or an enterprise of certain kinds of materials e.g. musical or artistic work
• Corporate Social Responsibility

  The willingness of an enterprise to accept responsibility for its actions and how they may have an impact on a variety of stakeholders
• Credit


  A sum of money that an enterprise allows customers before requiring payment
• Credit Union

  A financial institution that receives deposits and provided loans and other forms of financial support; it is usually owned by its members, and so is a mutual organisation, but it tends to be limited to particular areas of a country or to particular groups of workers
• Creditor

  A person or organisation that is owed money
• Customer Satisfaction

  The degree to which the products supplied by an enterprise, and the quality of the service provided in selling those products meet or exceed the expectations of customers
• Debt

  A sum of money that is owed by a person or organisation
• Debtor

  A person or organisation that owes money
• Deficit

  The amount by which an enterprise's or an individual's expenditure or spending exceeds the income over a particular period of time
• Delegation

  Where responsibility is passed down to others in an enterprise
• Direct or Variable costs

  Costs that vary directly with changes in the level of output
• Diversification

  An investment strategy that aims to reduce risk by combining a variety of different investments that are unlikely all to suffer losses at the same time
• Enterprise

  A business organised and run by an entrepreneur who makes decisions and takes risks
• Enterprising

  The showing of initiative, imagination, energy and resourcefulness
• Ethical Principles

  A way of doing something according to a set of moral principles, values and beliefs
• Existing Customer

  A customer who has bought a product from an enterprise at some point
• Expenditure

  (or Spending) All outgoings over a specific period of time
• Fixed Costs

  (or Indirect costs) The costs of an enterprise that do not vary directly with changes in level of output
• Formal Communication


  The official channels of communication used in an enterprise
• Franchise

  An arrangement whereby one company gives the right to another company to supply its products
• Franchisee

  The company allowed by another company to conduct business using the other company's name and brand
• Franchisor

  The company that allows another company to conduct business using its name and brand