Business Key Terms

• Advertising


  How a business promotes the products and services that it sells to its customers
• Aims


  The large goals that a business intends to achieve
• Attributes


  Qualities that individuals naturally have, for example being good at communicating with a range of people
• Brand


  How a business is identified by others such as its customers and its competitors
• Break-even


  The level of output at which total costs equal total revenue. This is the point at which a business makes no profit or loss
• Crowdfunding


  When groups of investors join together to offer finance to a business
• Customer base


  The existing or new customers that a business attracts to purchase its products or services
• Demand


  The number of products customers are wanting to purchase
• Market share


  The section of a market controlled by a particular business
• Marketing mix


  The 4 Ps of marketing are Product, Price, Place and Promotion
• Mass market


  A large, wide-ranging market, usually with high sales and many competitors, for which a business will produce products on a large scale
• Motivation


  A reason for acting or behaving in a certain way
• Niche market


  A small, specialist market, usually with low sales and fewer competitors, for which a business will produce specialised products on a small scale
• Objectives


  Precise and measurable steps to complete the goals set by the business
• Outsourcing


  When one business obtains services from another business outside of the organisation
• Quality assurance


  A business will maintain a certain level of quality for every product or service that it produces and sells. Usually this means that it focuses on every stage of the production and delivery processes
• Quality control


  The process a business uses to ensure that goods produced meet the standard that is expected
• Quantitative data


  Fact-based and statistical information that is often presented in graphs or charts
• Revenue


  The total amount of money a business earns from selling its goods or services
• Sales promotions


  Discounts that a business offers to encourage more sales
• Short-term funding


  Short-term funding is available to businesses for a short period of time, which is normally less than one year, and is a short-term solution
• Skills


  Particular abilities that a person will learn through their work, training, life and education
• Target market


  A particular group of customers at which a good or a service is aimed
• Unlimited liability


  When the business owners are personally liable for the debts of the business in the event that the business cannot pay them
• VAT (Value Added Tax)


  An indirect tax paid on goods and services when purchased
• Partnership


  A business that is owned and controlled by two or more individuals
• Pricing strategy


  A method that a business uses to attract customers to a particular product
• Primary research


  Research that is completed by a business for its own research purposes
• Producer


  A producer produces the product to distribute to the wholesaler, agent, retailer or customer
• Profit


  A financial gain calculated as the amount of money earned from sales after all the expenses are deducted
• Qualitative data


  States the opinions of a number of individuals and is usually presented in a report
• Sole trader


  A business that is owned and controlled by one person
• Spans of control


  The number of employees that report to a manager
• Stages of recruitment


  The different processes that a business goes through to ensure it employs the right person for an advertised job role
• Stakeholder engagement


  The involvement of all personnel in the decision-making process of an organisation
• Supply


  The number of products a supplier can produce in order to meet the orders that have been placed by customers
• Target customers


  A group of customers with similar tastes at whom a business enterprise aims its products