Business A to Z

Every trade has words it uses without explaining. In business the cost of not knowing one is real: some of them are ordinary jargon and some of them are a decision that can take a house.

Please note: This page explains what a term means. It is general information, not legal, financial, tax or investment advice, and it does not know anything about your business. Before you sign, file or commit to anything, check it with an accountant, a solicitor, or the official guidance we link to.

Studying business? We write GCSE revision songs, and there is one for business studies. Listen to the revision playlist.

500 terms, showing 431–440 (page 44 of 50).

S

Standard operating procedure in practice

Getting procedures written and actually used. The gap between having them and running on them.

Standardisation

Reducing variety deliberately. Fewer options, lower cost, easier delivery.

Statutory sick pay

The legal minimum paid to an employee who is off sick, and its limits.

Stock turn

Also called Inventory turnover, Stock days, Stockholding

How many times a year you sell and replace your stock. Money sitting on shelves is money not doing anything.

Stock valuation

What the stock on your shelves is worth in the accounts. Lower of cost and net realisable value.

Strategy

A choice about where to compete and how to win. If it does not rule anything out, it is not one.

Subject access request

Somebody asking for the personal data you hold about them. One month, usually free.

Subscription business model

Charging repeatedly for continued access. Predictable revenue, and specific rules.

Succession planning

Deciding what happens to the business when you stop. Most owners leave it far too late.

Supplier terms and negotiation

What you pay and when. Negotiable more often than people try.

Something missing?

If there is a word you have been nodding along to, tell us and we will write it up. This library exists because of the questions people were too polite to ask.

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