WordVale

Business & Marketing

100 words and expressions, each with a learner-friendly meaning. Tap any term for its page.

• acquisitionone company purchasing control of another
• benchmarka standard against which performance is measured
• brandingshaping how a company is perceived by the public
• churnthe rate at which customers stop using a service
• conversionturning a prospect into a paying customer
• demographicsstatistical characteristics of a population
• differentiationmaking a product stand out from competitors
• engagementhow actively customers interact with a brand
• franchisea license to operate a business under an established brand
• funnelthe staged path from awareness to purchase
• incentivea reward that motivates a desired behavior
• logisticsmanaging the flow of goods from origin to customer
• marginthe difference between cost and selling price
• mergertwo companies combining into one
• nichea small, specialized segment of a market
• outsourcingcontracting work to external providers
• positioninghow a product is placed in customers' minds
• procurementthe process of sourcing and purchasing supplies
• quotaa fixed target or share, as in sales
• retentionkeeping existing customers over time
• revenuethe total income from sales before costs
• segmentationdividing a market into distinct groups of buyers
• stakeholderanyone with an interest in a company's success
• supply chainthe network producing and delivering a product
• synergycombined value greater than the sum of parts
• target audiencethe specific group a product is aimed at
• turnovertotal sales in a period; also staff replacement rate
• valuationan estimate of what a company is worth
• B2Bcommerce between businesses rather than consumers
• disruptioninnovation that displaces established ways of doing business
• due diligencecareful investigation before a business decision
• KPIa measurable value showing progress toward a goal
• monetizeto turn something into a source of income
• onboardingintegrating a new employee or customer
• pivota fundamental change in business strategy
• ROIthe gain from an investment relative to its cost
• unique selling pointthe feature that makes a product distinctly attractive
• verticala market focused on one specific industry
• scalableable to grow without a matching rise in costs
• grassroots marketingpromotion spread by ordinary people, from the bottom up
• barriers to entryobstacles making it hard to enter a market
• bottom linefinal profit or loss; the essential point
• brainstorminggenerating many ideas freely in a group
• break-eventhe point where revenue first covers costs
• burn ratehow fast a company spends its cash reserves
• buyoutpurchasing a controlling share of a company
• cannibalizationa new product eating sales of one's own existing product
• cold callan unsolicited sales approach to a stranger
• competitive advantagewhat lets a firm outperform its rivals
• core competencythe thing a company does best
• cross-sellingselling additional products to an existing customer
• crowdfundingraising money from many small online contributions
• deliverablea concrete item that must be produced by a deadline
• downsizingreducing a workforce to cut costs
• economies of scalecost savings that come with larger production
• entrepreneura person who builds and runs a new business, taking the risk
• escalationmoving an issue to a higher level of authority
• focus groupa small group interviewed to gauge opinions of a product
• forecasta prediction of future sales or performance
• gig economywork organized as short freelance jobs, not employment
• headhuntingrecruiting talented people from other companies
• incubatoran organization that nurtures early-stage startups
• joint venturea business project shared by two or more companies
• layoffdismissing employees for business, not performance, reasons
• low-hanging fruitthe easiest wins available
• market sharea company's portion of total sales in its market
• milestonea significant checkpoint in a project
• mission statementa formal summary of an organization's purpose
• overheadongoing business costs not tied to a specific product
• pain pointa specific problem customers need solved
• price pointthe standard price level of a product in the market
• proof of concepta small test showing an idea can work
• restructuringreorganizing a company to make it more effective
• roadmapa plan showing what will be built and when
• startupa young company built to grow fast
• SWOT analysisassessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
• upsellingpersuading a customer to buy a more expensive option
• word of mouthpromotion through people's personal recommendations
• value propositionthe promise of value a product delivers to customers
• bootstrappingbuilding a company using only its own revenue, no outside funding
• agilea flexible, iterative approach to managing projects
• attritionthe gradual loss of employees or customers over time
• bandwidththe capacity or time available to take on work
• churn ratethe percentage of customers who stop using a product over a period
• capexspending on long-term physical assets; capital expenditure
• dashboarda screen displaying key metrics at a glance
• deadweight losseconomic inefficiency from a misallocation of resources
• elasticityhow much demand changes when price changes
• evergreencontent or a contract that remains continually relevant
• greenwashingmisleading claims about a product's environmental benefits
• headcountthe total number of employees
• liquidity eventa sale or IPO that lets investors cash out
• loss leadera product sold cheaply to attract customers
• opexthe ongoing costs of running a business; operating expenditure
• runwayhow long a company can operate before running out of cash
• stickinessa product's ability to keep users coming back
• throughputthe rate at which work is completed
• touchpointany moment of contact between a customer and a brand
• value chainthe full sequence of activities that create a product
• white labela product made by one company but rebranded by another