Unit 1 - Business activity and influences of business (1.1 - 1.4)

Tool

A piece of equipment that is useful for doing your job

Premises

Buildings and land used by a shop or business

Business

Organisation that produces goods and services

Organisation

Group, such as a club or business, that has formed for a particular purpose

Goods

Physical products, such as a mobile phone, a packet of crisps or a pair of shoes

Services

Non-physical products, such as banking, car washing and waste disposal

Output

Amount of goods or work produced by a person, machine or factory

Human Resources

In some businesses, the department that deals with employing, training and helping people

Consumer goods

Goods and services sold to ordinary people (consumers) rather than businesses

Producer goods

Goods and services produced by one business for another

Needs

Basic requirements for human survival

Wants

People's desires for goods and service

Infinite

Without limits in space or time

Finite

Having an end or a limit

Scarce

Resources with limited availability

Private sector

Business organisations owned by individuals or groups of individuals

Public sector

Business organisations owned by central or local government

Stakeholder

An individual or group with an interest in the operation of a business

Entrepreneur

Person who takes risks and sets up businesses; individual who organisés the other factors of production and risks their own money in a business venture

Dispute

Serious argument or disagreement

Motivate

Encourage someone to do something

Machinery

Equipment with moving parts that uses power, such as electricity, to do a particular job

EBITDA

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization

Objectives

Goals or targets set by a business

Executives

Managers in an organisation or company who help make important decision

Diversify

If a business, company or country diversifies, it increases the range of goods or services it produces

Financial return

Monetary return

Profit maximisation

Making as much profit as possible in a given time period

Shareholders

Owners of limited companies

Dividends

Share of the profit paid to shareholders in

Profit satisficing

Making enough profit to satisfy the needs of the business owner(s)

Negotiation

Official discussions between the representatives of opposing groups who are trying to reach an agreement, especially in business or politics

Outcome

Result of an action

Evolve

To develop and change gradually over a long period of time

Sustained

Continued for a long time

Legislation

Law or set of laws

Emissions

Gas or other substances that are sent into into the air

Automation

Use of computers and machines instead of people to do a job

Economies of scale

Financial advantages (falling average costs) of producing something in very large quantities

Large business

A business that employs more than 250

Small business

A business that employs fewer than 50 people

Revenue

Money from the sale of goods and services

Sole trader

A single person who owns a business

Partnership

Business owned by two people

Deed of partnership

Binding legal document that states the formal rights of partners

Unlimited liability

When the owner of the business is personally liable for all business debts

Limited liability

When the owner can only lose the original amount of money invested

Limited partnership

When some partners provide capital but take no part in the management of the business. They're called sleeping partners and have limited liability.

Incorporated

Business that has a separate legal identity from that of its owners

Unincorporated

Business where there is no legal difference between the owner and the business

Innovator

Someone who introduces changes and new ideas

Labour

People employed in the business / used in a production

Comply

To do what you have to do or are asked to do

Audits

Official examination of a company's financial records to check that they are correct

Franchise

Structure in which a business (the franchisor) allows another operator (the franchisee) to trade under their name

Merchandise

Goods that are being sold

Accountable

Responsible for the effects of your actions and willing to explain or be criticised from them

Transparent

Language or information that is clear and easy to understand

Social enterprise

Business that aims to improve human or environment well-being, charities for example

Cooperative

Company, factory or organisation in which all the people working there own an equal share of it

Consumer cooperative

Cooperative that is owned by customers

Retail cooperative

Cooperative of retail members, who often work together to assert their purchasing power

Worker cooperative

Cooperative that is owned by its employees

Charities

Organisations that give money, goods or help to people who are poor, sick or in need

Venture capitalists

Specialists investors (individual or companies) who provide money for business purposes often to new businesses.

Sue

To make legal claim against someone, especially for money, because they have harmed you in some way

Limited companies

Business organizations that have a separate legal identity from that of their owners

Limited liability

Shareholders are legally responsible for the debts of a company according to how many shares they own

Chairperson

Someone who is in charge of a meeting or directs the work of a committee or organization.

Certificate of incorporation

Document needed before a new company can start doing a business

Private limited company (Ltd)

A private company limited by shares, which means the liability of the shareholders of creditors of the company is limited to the capital originally invested, a shareholders personal assets are protected, and with ltd or limited after its name

Stock market

Market for shares in plcs

Stake

If you have a stake in a business, you have invested money in it

Public limited company

A limited company whose shares are freely sold and traded, with a minimum share capital of £50000 and the letters plc after its name

Prospectus

Document produced by a company that wants the public to buy its shares.

Regulatory control

Official power to control an activity and to make sure that it is done in a satisfactory way

Flotation

Process of a company 'going public'

Multinational company

Large business with a significant production or service operations in at least two different countries

Issues (shares)

Sale of new shares

Productivity

Rate at which goods are being produced and amt produced, esp in relation to work, time and money needed to produce them

Public corporations

Business organisations owned and controlled by the state/ government

Portfolio

Collection of businesses interests and products

Infrastructure

Basic system and structures that a country or organisation needs in order to work properly

Subsidise

Paying part of the costs (often by the government in business)

Natural monopoly

Market where it is more efficient to have just one organisation meeting total market demand

Privatization

Transfer of public sector resources to private sector

Duplication

Repeat of something

Provision

Providing something that someone needs now or in the future.

Primary sector

Production involving the extraction of raw materials from the earth

Secondary sector

Production involving the conservation of raw materials into finished goods

Tertiary sector

Production of services in the economy

Assembly plant

Factory where parts are put together to make a finished product

De-industrialisation

Decline in manufacturing

Proportion

Part of a number or an amount considered in relation to whole

Relocated

Move to another place

Fracking

The process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks

Brownfield sites

Areas of land that were once used for urban development

greenfield sites

Previously undeveloped areas of land

Congestion

Problem of too much traffic in a place

Refineries

Factories where something such as oil or sugar is made purer