The glossary for business terms is huge. Most business owners tend to use business terms interchangeably. Here is a list of 28 most commonly misunderstood terms that you should be careful about. http://blog.logodesignguru.com/misunderstood-business-terms/

1. PLANNING
A theory which states 20% of
effort yield 80%.
80/20 RULE
A term which means consider all your options before making a decision.
A plan which charts details of all aspects of a current or proposed
business including vision, product/services, goals, projected results,
marketing, and customer market.
A plan which outlines the marketing strategy, promotional activities,
tactics, and how to offer products or services to customers.
Becoming a business owner involves more than just throwing
money and ideas on the table. It requires understanding of the
industry dynamics; how the corporate environment operates and
interacting with some pretty scary (financial) people. To prevent
you from appearing clueless, we’ve listed some terms which
are often misunderstood or misinterpreted by business owners,
and professionals alike in the field.
A company which supplies office space, marketing services, etc. for
startups in exchange for payment.
A company which acts as a support to startups to help them develop and
grow sometimes at a nominal fee.
GENERATION X
MILLENENIALS
A term for people born during the 1960s and 1970s and often described
as disaffected and irresponsible.
Also known as Gen Y, it’s a term for people born between 1982 and 2004
following Generation X.
GLOCALIZATION
LOCALIZATION
A term used for a global company which adapts its management and
production practices to suit local conditions.
The process of adapting a product or marketing activities to a specific
local market.
MARKETING
The first stage of testing a
new product, service or software
in uncontrolled environment.
ALPHA TEST
BETA TEST
The second test of a product, service or software under controlled actual
usage before the final version is released.
Something or someone which makes people think of a particular product.
BRAND ASSOCIATION
BRAND LOYALTY
A public announcement to attract attention with the purpose of selling
products or services to potential customers.
ADVERTISING
MARKETING
A set of planned activities that is associated with selling a product or
service to potential customers including advertising, PR, and promotion.
A less personal way of marketing and advertising through mass-media
such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, Internet etc.
ATL (ABOVE THE LINE)
BTL (BELOW THE LINE)
A personalized approach using non-media marketing tactics such as
direct-mail, e-mail, exhibitions, incentives, brochures, and PR etc.
BRAND IDENTITY
LOGO
A graphical mark used by a company to identify its organization,
product or brand. This can be a symbol, lettermark, logotype, or
combination of them.
The practice of supplying
official products through
unofficial channels.
GRAY MARKET
BLACK MARKET
Unauthorized business transactions
which occur outside the government’s
sanctioned channels or jurisdictions.
MANAGING
Business transactions or activities
among businesses only e.g. auto parts
manufacturers.
B2B (BUSINESS TO BUSINESS)
The transactions or selling activities
from businesses to consumers. E.g.
retailers
B2C (BUSINESS TO CONSUMER)
Selling activities which involve from
consumer TO consumer e.g. car boot
sales.
C2C (CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER)
A trade agreement which involves two
parties, companies, countries, etc.
BILATERAL AGREEMENT
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
A trade agreement among countries which have no price controls in the
form of quotas or tariffs.
In the UK, the owners of a limited company have limited liability if the
company gets into debt.
LIMITED COMPANY
LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
In the US the owners and/or shareholders of a limited company is not
liable for the company’s debts.
When a management team from outside a company buys more than
50% of the company with the motive to manage it through majority
shareholding.
MANAGEMENT BUY-IN
MANAGEMENT BUY-OUT
When all or part of a company is bought by the company's
existing managers.
An organization or individual delegating a task to a large number of
professionals via the Internet with the aim of getting the task done,
usually without pay.
CROWDSOURCING
OUTSOURCING
The act of purchasing a service from an outside vendor instead of an
internal resource with the aim to reduce organizational cost.
A company that is controlled partly or completely by a holding or
parent company.
DAUGHTER COMPANY
SISTER COMPANY
A subsidiary company that is related by virtue of being owned by
the same parent company and can be independent in operation.
DEBRIEFING
DELEGATION
An assignment of responsibility or task, usually by a manager, to a
subordinate.
A meeting or interview in which a person or group of people report
about a task or mission just completed or attempted.
The strategy of growing a business or brand by growing its range of
products, services, investments, into new markets.
DIVERSIFICATION
DIVERSITY
Refers to employment policy or terms within an organization to
include a mix of employees from different ethnicity, age group, race,
gender, and/or religion.
FINANCING
When the employees of the company is allowed to purchase 50% or
more of the company’s shares and gain control of the company.
EMPLOYEE BUYOUT
EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP
A business model in which employees hold a majority of shares of
the company; this encourages loyalty, fairness in management.
An investor who works with a group
of investors to provide pooled capital
for startups and small business.
VENTURE CAPITALIST
ANGEL INVESTOR
An investor who privately funds and ready to invest in startups and small
enterprises.
ACCRUAL
Real costs, sales, etc., that have occurred, rather than estimations or
expectations.
The accumulation of payments or benefits over time.
ACTUALS
Tangible and intangible items owned by an individual, company,
organization, etc.
ASSETS
The net worth of a business, including assets, cash, property, etc.,
minus liabilities.
CAPITAL
Overhead costs which are incurred by a business regardless
whether it is generating income or not. E.g. gas, water, rent etc.
FIXED COSTS
Costs which are directly proportionate to the production output and
which may increase or decrease depending on demand. e.g. wages,
packaging, etc.
VARIABLE COSTS
A steady source of income which is the main earning stream for
the business.
CASH COW
The movement of liquid cash into and out of a company.
CASH FLOW
The process of controlling expenditures in a company to ensure the
organization does not exceed its budget.
COST CONTROL
The act of reducing costs by reducing expenditures.
COST CUTTING
SOURCES:
http://www.businessballs.com/business-dictionary.htm
http://articles.bplans.com/business-term-glossary/
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/angelinvestor.asp
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/company/logodesignguru
A brand identity is a company’s visual perception of what it stands for.
It includes logo, color, stationery, typeface etc.
When a consumer repeatedly buys a particular brand of product and is
reluctant to switch to another brand.
PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technology) is an analytical
framework for analyzing a business within its political, economic, social
and technological trends and environment.
PEST ANALYSIS
SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is analytical
framework for identifying organizational weaknesses and growth
opportunities.
The operating income less taxes and interest.
NET PROFIT
The percentage of what is left from a company's sales after cost of
goods sold is paid out.
GROSS PROFIT MARGIN