Business Jargon

By Amanda Huang

We’ve all encountered this scenario -- you’re reading through the application of some student fund, consulting group, etc. you want to join and you run into a bunch of words that you are completely unprepared for. One might say, “No one told me I needed to know what ‘pitching a stock’ or ‘building a deck’ meant.” This series is dedicated to helping you avoid more of those mishaps. With our Business Jargon Dictionary, you’ll be ready to apply to all the pre-professional clubs on campus!

Here's a short intro:

B2B or Business to Business: Business transactions that occur between companies and businesses, rather than between individuals and businesses

B2C or Business to Consumers: Business transactions that occur between businesses and households. Examples include housecleaning services, restaurants, and retail stores

C-suite: the group of officers in a business organization who have the word “chief” in their titles. Examples include chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO)

Core Competencies: the main strengths or strategic advantages of a business

Value Added: the amount by which the value of an item is increased at each stage of its production (not counting initial costs)

Lifecycle: a business set up and run by its founders primarily with the aim of sustaining a particular level of income and no more

Low-hanging Fruit: a person who can be won, obtained, or persuaded with little effort. This is normally a customer

Skew: different products that are launched at the same time at different price points

Deck: visual representations (normally a powerpoint) used by marketers, public relation managers, and advertising executives to either pitch to clients or show a company’s growth and progress over time

Deliverable: the final product that consultants give to clients (decks, Excel models, research papers, etc.)

Wish there were more words in our list. Comment below and we might feature you in our next Business Jargon Dictionary!