Business vocabulary 153

a-Economic and business terms

economies of scale
the more units of something you buy, the cheaper it becomes per unit

They benefited from economies of scale when they opened their second shop and were able to buy in even bigger quantities from their supplie

a budget
the amount of money a business (or person) plans to spend on something

We've got a budget for our wedding but we've already spent almost all of it on her dress.
The firm has drawn up a budget for the coming financial year.
Libraries are finding it increasingly difficult to remain within (their) budget.
an annual budget of £40 million
An extra £20 million has been budgeted for schools this year.
a budget holiday/hotel/price :very cheap

overspend or go over budget
spend more money than you planned to

We need to keep a tight hold on our marketing spending or we'll go over budget.
We need to keep a tight hold on our marketing spending or we'll overspend.
The council seems likely to overspend this year.
The hospital has already overspent (on) its drugs budget.
We're expecting to have a £5 million (budget) overspend this year. (uk)

break even
the point where the amount you pay out in expenses is covered by the amount of money you get for things you have sold (i.e. you haven't made a profit or a loss)
...To break even is to earn enough money to pay for expenses, without any profit

We need to sell 100 family cars or just three sports cars to break even.
After paying for our travel costs, we barely (= only just) broke even.
After a bad year in 1995, the company just about broke even in 1996.
We'd have to sell 2000 copies of the book to break even.

make a loss
when your expenses are more than your sales

When they started in business they made a loss for two years. But finally, things started to change for them last year.
loss-making businesses/companies (not making a profit/adjective)Toyota to make first loss since 1941

make a profit
when a business is able to cover all its expenses from sales and still have extra money left over

The restaurant has been making a profit for years and it's still doing very well.
She makes a big profit from selling waste material to textile companies
You don't expect to make much profit within the first couple of years of setting up a company.
A year ago the Tokyo company had a pretax profit of 35 million yen

non-profit(-making) :
describes an organization which does not make a profit, usually intentionally.

Charities are non-profit-making organizations and get tax relief.


money-spinner
something that is very popular and easy to sell (a business or product that makes a lot of money for someone)

During the World Cup, having a stall that sells flags from different countries is a real money spinner.
Cookery books are becoming a real money-spinner for the publishing industry.

a cash cow
a product that makes a lot of money (often easily) for a company (business or a part of a business that always makes a lot of profit )

Making the film cost us millions. But at least we've got the DVD, dolls and clothes cash cows to help us cover those enormous costs.
The British newspapers are the group's biggest cash cow, earning nearly 40% of group profits.

mass market
things that are sold in large numbers to a lot of people (A product that is designed for the mass market is intended to be bought by as many people as possible, not just by people with a lot of money or a special interest)

Our family cars are aimed at the mass market, while our sports cars are more for the niche market.
Advances in microchip technology have made these cameras smaller and cheaper and affordable to the mass market.

'Price' words and expressions

asking price
the amount of money you want when you sell something, (especially in a situation when you might agree to a lower price later) "the amount of money someone wants when they sell something, especially a building or a piece of land"

The asking price for the car was £10,000 but she ended up getting it for £8,500.
The asking price for the flat was £89 500.

a price war
when different companies compete with each other by lowering prices / a situation in which different companies compete with each other by lowering prices:

The supermarkets started a price war on bread last month. Each week the cost of a loaf gets lower and lower.
A supermarket price war has led to lower profit margins.

a price tagnoun (ALSO price ticket)
a sticker or piece of paper on something in a shop that tells you how much something costs

These shoes are gorgeous. I don't think I want to look at the price tag!
How much is it? - I can't find the price tag.
These suits have designer names and a price ticket to match.
The price tag for restoring the building will be around $150 million

be price-conscious (adjective)
be aware of how much things cost and avoid buying expensive things

My mum's very price-conscious. She buys practically all of our clothes in the sales
price-conscious shoppers

Vocabulary

let's get cracking (informal) : let's start (to start doing something quickly)

Get cracking (= Hurry), or we'll miss the train.
I'd better get cracking with these letters before I go home.
Let's get cracking! We've only got two days to finish
Get cracking! We're leaving in 5 minutes.

demand (noun)
something that people want to buy

There's an increasing demand for cheap housing. (NEED [U,no plural] a need for something to be sold or supplied )
They received a final demand for payment. (REQUEST [C] a strong request)
Good teachers are always in demand. (in demand wanted or needed in large numbers)

demand (verb)

1-I demanded an explanation.
[+ that] The survivors are demanding that the airline pays them compensation (ASK to ask for something in a way that shows that you do not expect to be refused)

2-This job demands a high level of concentration. (NEED to need something such as time or effort )

state : (formal) say : verb [T] SLIGHTLY FORMAL to say or write something, especially clearly and carefully:

Our warranty clearly states the limits of our liability.
[+ (that)] : Union members stated (that) they were unhappy with the proposal.
[+ question word] : Please state why you wish to apply for this grant.
Children in the stated (= named) areas were at risk from a lack of food, the report said.

inversely related : berlawanan
as one thing goes up, another thing goes down

Sometimes it seems that press coverage of an event is inversely proportional to its true importance (= the more important the event, the less attention is paid to it).

in the balance
something will be decided soon - one way or another (If a situation is in the balance it has reached a stage where it will soon be decided one way or another)

The game hung in the balance until the last minute when an exciting point decided it.


rash
hasty, sudden : (adjective) done suddenly and without thinking carefully

a rash decision/promise
That was a rash decision - you didn't think about the costs involved.
[+ to infinitive] : I think it was a bit rash of them to get married when they'd only known each other for a few weeks.