Glossary
Business fundamentals
Consider value, costs and decisions together. Clear foundations for everyday business, with explicitly illustrative calculations.
- Business fundamentalsBreak-even
Learn how break-even analysis connects prices, variable costs and fixed costs, with a clear example and practical checks for small businesses.
- Business fundamentalsBusiness administration
Understand how business administration connects customers, operations, people and money, and use simple questions to make everyday decisions clearer.
- Business fundamentalsBusiness model
Understand how a business model connects customers, value, delivery, revenue and costs. Test the important assumptions before expanding an offer.
- Business fundamentalsCash flow
Understand cash flow, distinguish it from profit and bank balances, and build a useful view of operating, investing and financing movements.
- Business fundamentalsCompetitive advantage
Learn what makes a difference a competitive advantage, how customer needs and operating choices connect, and why advantages need evidence and upkeep.
- Business fundamentalsContribution margin
Understand contribution margin per sale, its difference from profit, and how it helps compare offers, discounts and limited business capacity.
- Business fundamentalsCost-benefit analysis
Understand cost-benefit analysis, define a fair comparison, and examine expected benefits, whole-life costs and uncertainty with a clear example.
- Business fundamentalsCustomer value
Understand customer value through needs, practical outcomes and the effort of using an offer. Learn how to investigate value without assuming every feature helps.
- Business fundamentalsFixed costs
Understand fixed costs, distinguish them from variable and avoidable costs, and review the commitments behind a small business's capacity.
- Business fundamentalsKey performance indicator
Learn what makes a measure a KPI, connect indicators to goals, and avoid misleading definitions, weak comparisons and unintended incentives.
- Business fundamentalsLiquidity
Understand liquidity, distinguish it from profit and assets, and see how a time-based cash forecast reveals gaps that monthly totals can hide.
- Business fundamentalsManagement control
Understand management control, distinguish plans from forecasts, and use a simple review routine to turn business information into useful action.
- Business fundamentalsOpportunity cost
Understand opportunity cost, value scarce time and capacity, and avoid confusing forgone alternatives with cash payments or past spending.
- Business fundamentalsProfitability
Understand profitability ratios, distinguish margins from returns on capital, and assess results without confusing profit with available cash.
- Business fundamentalsReturn on investment
Understand return on investment, check a simple example, and distinguish net return, revenue, invested capital and actual cash movements.
- Business fundamentalsScalability
Understand scalability, identify bottlenecks, and assess whether your offer, operations and technology can handle additional demand reliably.
- Business fundamentalsTotal cost of ownership
Understand total cost of ownership, include setup and running costs, and compare business purchases over a clear and consistent period.
- Business fundamentalsValue creation
Understand value creation in products and services, distinguish it from revenue and profit, and find improvements across the complete delivery process.
- Business fundamentalsValue proposition
Learn how to describe a value proposition with a specific audience, meaningful benefit and credible explanation, then test whether customers understand it.
- Business fundamentalsVariable costs
Learn how variable costs respond to activity, choose the right unit, and connect cost per sale with pricing, contribution and business decisions.