| A | B |
|---|
| dividends | Distributions of profits to shareholders by corporations |
| incorporate | To set a business up as a corporation. |
| liability | The amount owed to others. |
| sole proprietorship | A business owned exclusively by one person |
| start-up costs | Costs associated with beginning a business. |
| partnership | A business owned by two or more persons. |
| franchise | A legal agreement that gives an individual the right to market a company's products or services in a particular area. |
| business broker | A person who sells businesses for a living. |
| corporation | A business with the legal rights of a person and which may be owned by many people. |
| board of directors | Groups of people who meet several times a year to make important decisions affecting the company. |
| share of stock | A unit of ownership in a corporation. |
| royalty fees | Weekly or monthly payments made by the owner of the franchise to the seller of the franchise. |
| initial franchise fee | Fee the franchise owner pays in return for the right to run the franchise. |
| use-based data | Data that helps you determine how often potential customers use a particular service. |
| direct competition | A business that makes most of its money selling the same or similar products or services to the same market as other businesses. |
| target market | Individuals or companies that are interested in a particular product or service and are willing and able to pay for it. |
| primary data | Information collected for the very first time to fit a specific purpose. |
| competitive analysis | A process of identifying and examining the characteristics of a competing firm. |
| secondary data | Data found in already-published sources. |
| market segment | Groups of customers within a large market who share common characteristics. |
| indirect competition | A business that makes only a small amount of money selling the same or similar products and services to the same market as other businesses. |
| focus group | An in-depth interview with a group of target customers who provide valuable ideas on products or services. |
| survey | A list of questions to ask your customers to find out demographic and psychographic information. |
| psychographics | Data that describes a group of people in terms of their tastes, opinions, personality traits, and lifestyle habits. |
| customer profile | Descritpion of the characteristics of the person or company that is likely to purchase a product or service. |
| market research | A system for collecting, recording, and analyzing information about customers, competitors, goods, and services. |
| demographics | Data that describes a group of people in terms of their age, marital status, family size, ethnicity, gender, profession, education, and income. |
| geographic data | Data that helps you determine where your potential customers live and how far they will travel to do business with you. |
| supply | How much of a good or service a producer is willing to produce at different prices. |
| functions of business | Production, marketing, management, and finance. |
| fixed costs | Costs that must be paid regardless of how much of a good or service is produced. |
| marginal cost | A measurement of the disadvantages of producing one additional unit of a good or service. |
| productivity | Level of output received from each worker. |
| opportunity cost | The cost of choosing one opportunity or investment over another. |
| public good | A good from which everyone receives benefits, not just the individual consuming the good. |
| marginal benefits | A measurement of the advantages of producing one additional unit of a good or service. |
| demand | An individual's need or desire for a product or service at a given price. |
| equilibrium price and quantity | The point at which the supply and demand curves meet. |
| monopoly | One company controls the entire market |
| variable costs | Costs that go up and down depending on the quantity of the good or service produced. |
