Essential financial terminology:
Profitability metrics:
- ROI (Return on Investment) = profit compared to cost
- profit margin = percentage of revenue that becomes profit
- revenue = total money coming in
- expenses = money going out
- break-even point = when revenue equals costs
- cash flow = movement of money in and out of business
Business strategy vocabulary:
- market share = percentage of total market sales
- competitive advantage = what makes you better than competitors
- scalability = ability to grow without proportional cost increases
- diversification = expanding into new products/markets
- disruptive innovation = new technology that changes an industry
- value proposition = unique value you offer customers
- stakeholders = anyone affected by business decisions
Key business expressions:
Discussing performance:
- "We've exceeded our targets by 20%"
- "Sales have plateaued in Q3"
- "We're experiencing diminishing returns"
- "The market is saturated"
Strategy discussions:
- "We need to pivot our business model"
- "Let's capitalize on this opportunity"
- "This aligns with our core competencies"
- "We're moving upstream/downstream in the value chain"
- "We need to think outside the box"
- "Let's leverage our existing resources"
Risk & challenges:
- "We need to mitigate these risks"
- "What are the potential bottlenecks?"
- "We should conduct a cost-benefit analysis"
- "There are significant barriers to entry"