Glossary
Business Planning Glossary for Modern Operators
Master the language of strategic planning, financial modeling, go-to-market execution, and AI-driven business building. Bookmark this page to translate boardroom conversations into actionable plans backed by Kona Business AI.
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Jump to the terms you need by selecting a category. Each definition links back so you can keep exploring.
Core Planning & Strategy Terms
Clarify how your business creates value and set a clear direction for long-term growth with these foundational strategy concepts.
Financial Planning & Metrics Terms
Track the numbers behind your plan to understand growth, profitability, and the resources you need to stay funded.
Market Research, Marketing & GTM Terms
Validate your audience, sharpen messaging, and build a repeatable go-to-market engine with these marketing essentials.
Operations, Execution & Risk Terms
Keep execution sharp and resilient by standardizing processes, monitoring risk, and planning for disruption.
AI, Analytics & Automation Terms
Leverage artificial intelligence and automation to build smarter business plans and faster decisions.
Funding, Startup & Investor Terms
Navigate fundraising conversations with clarity by understanding the vocabulary investors expect you to know.
Foundational Business Planning Basics
Round out your knowledge with essential concepts that underpin every successful plan, from analysis frameworks to operating discipline.
Core Planning & Strategy Terms
Clarify how your business creates value and set a clear direction for long-term growth with these foundational strategy concepts.
- Mission Statement
- A short statement that explains why a company exists and what core purpose it serves for its customers.
- Vision Statement
- A forward-looking statement that describes what a company aims to become or achieve in the long term.
- Business Model
- The way a company creates, delivers, and captures value, including how it makes money and serves customers.
- Strategic Roadmap
- A high-level plan that outlines key initiatives, milestones, and timelines required to achieve business goals.
- Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)
- A goal-setting framework that defines what a company wants to achieve and how success will be measured.
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
- The simplest version of a product that can be released to test assumptions and gather customer feedback.
- Product-Market Fit
- The point where a product meets a strong market demand and customers consistently choose, use, and recommend it.
- Value Chain
- The set of activities a company performs to deliver a product or service, from sourcing to after-sales support.
- Business Case
- A structured document that justifies a project or investment by outlining costs, benefits, and risks.
- Strategic Initiative
- A major project or program designed to move the organization toward its long-term strategic goals.
Financial Planning & Metrics Terms
Track the numbers behind your plan to understand growth, profitability, and the resources you need to stay funded.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
- The average cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing, sales, and related expenses.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV or LTV)
- The total revenue a business expects to earn from a customer over the entire relationship.
- LTV to CAC Ratio
- A metric that compares customer lifetime value to acquisition cost to assess profitability and scalability.
- Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
- Predictable monthly revenue generated from subscriptions or ongoing contracts.
- Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
- The yearly value of recurring revenue from subscriptions or long-term contracts.
- Churn Rate
- The percentage of customers or recurring revenue lost over a given period.
- Runway
- The amount of time a business can operate before running out of cash, based on current burn rate.
- Gross Margin
- The percentage of revenue left after subtracting the direct cost of goods or services sold.
- Unit Economics
- The revenue and cost associated with serving a single customer or unit, used to test the viability of a business model.
- Sensitivity Analysis
- A technique that shows how changes in key assumptions affect financial projections and outcomes.
Market Research, Marketing & GTM Terms
Validate your audience, sharpen messaging, and build a repeatable go-to-market engine with these marketing essentials.
- Total Addressable Market (TAM)
- The total revenue opportunity available if a product or service achieved 100% market share.
- Serviceable Available Market (SAM)
- The portion of the total market that fits a company’s product, geography, or regulatory constraints.
- Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM)
- The realistic share of the market a business expects to capture within a specific timeframe.
- Market Segmentation
- The process of dividing a broad market into smaller groups based on shared characteristics or behaviors.
- Positioning Statement
- A concise description of how a product is uniquely suited to a target market compared to competitors.
- Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
- A clear benefit that differentiates a product or service from alternatives in the market.
- Buyer Journey
- The stages a potential customer goes through from awareness to consideration, purchase, and retention.
- Demand Generation
- Marketing activities that create awareness and interest in a product to drive qualified leads and pipeline.
- Product-Led Growth (PLG)
- A go-to-market strategy where the product itself drives acquisition, activation, and expansion.
- Sales Funnel
- A visual model of how prospects move through stages from lead to closed customer.
Operations, Execution & Risk Terms
Keep execution sharp and resilient by standardizing processes, monitoring risk, and planning for disruption.
- Operating Model
- The way a company organizes people, processes, and technology to deliver its products or services.
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
- A documented step-by-step process that outlines how to perform a specific task or activity.
- Governance
- The structures, policies, and decision-making processes that guide how a company is directed and controlled.
- Risk Management
- The process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential threats to business objectives.
- Contingency Plan
- A predefined response plan for unexpected events that could disrupt normal business operations.
- Key Risk Indicator (KRI)
- A metric used to track exposure to a specific risk and provide early warning of potential issues.
- Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
- A documented strategy that ensures critical operations can continue during and after a disruption.
- Operational Efficiency
- The ability to deliver products and services in a cost-effective, timely, and reliable way.
- Change Management
- The structured approach used to manage organizational changes in processes, systems, or structure.
- Stakeholder Analysis
- The process of identifying stakeholders and understanding their interests, influence, and impact on a project.
AI, Analytics & Automation Terms
Leverage artificial intelligence and automation to build smarter business plans and faster decisions.
- AI Business Plan Generator
- A software tool that uses artificial intelligence to create structured business plans from prompts and data.
- AI Business Planning Tool
- A platform that combines AI, templates, and analytics to help businesses design strategies and financial plans.
- AI Market Research
- The use of AI to collect, analyze, and summarize market, customer, and competitor data for decision-making.
- AI Financial Forecasting
- The use of machine learning and AI models to project revenue, costs, and cash flow under different scenarios.
- AI Business Assistant
- An AI system that helps business owners plan, analyze, and automate tasks such as research, forecasting, and reporting.
- AI Agent
- An AI-driven software entity that can autonomously execute tasks or workflows based on goals and rules.
- Market Research Automation
- The use of AI and software to automatically gather, synthesize, and visualize market and customer insights.
- AI Competitor Analysis
- The use of AI tools to scan competitor websites, content, and reviews to extract patterns and differences.
- Scenario Planning
- A planning method that uses different assumptions to model multiple future outcomes and strategic responses.
- Decision Intelligence
- The discipline of combining data, analytics, and AI to improve the quality and speed of business decisions.
Funding, Startup & Investor Terms
Navigate fundraising conversations with clarity by understanding the vocabulary investors expect you to know.
- Pre-Seed Funding
- The earliest external capital raised to validate an idea and build an initial prototype or MVP.
- Series A Funding
- A significant investment round used to scale product, team, and go-to-market once early traction is proven.
- Valuation
- The estimated monetary worth of a company, often used when raising capital or selling equity.
- Cap Table (Capitalization Table)
- A record of who owns equity in a company, including founders, employees, and investors.
- Dilution
- The reduction in existing shareholders’ ownership percentages when new shares are issued.
- SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity)
- A funding instrument where investors provide capital now in exchange for future equity at a later priced round.
- Convertible Note
- A type of loan that converts into equity at a future financing event, often with a discount or valuation cap.
- Term Sheet
- A non-binding document outlining the key conditions and structure of a potential investment.
- Due Diligence
- The detailed investigation investors conduct into a company’s financials, operations, and risks before investing.
- Exit Strategy
- The planned way for investors and founders to realize returns, such as acquisition or IPO.
Foundational Business Planning Basics
Round out your knowledge with essential concepts that underpin every successful plan, from analysis frameworks to operating discipline.
- Business Plan
- A written document outlining a company’s goals, strategies, and financial projections.
- Market Analysis
- Research that determines the size, characteristics, and trends of a target market.
- SWOT Analysis
- A framework for identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
- A measurable value used to gauge how effectively a company is achieving its objectives.
- Return on Investment (ROI)
- The ratio of net profit to the cost of an investment, expressed as a percentage.
- Value Proposition
- A clear statement explaining why customers should choose a product or service.
- Revenue Streams
- The various ways a business generates income from its products or services.
- Operating Expenses
- The ongoing costs required to run a business, excluding the cost of goods sold.
- Break-Even Analysis
- A calculation that determines the point at which revenue equals total costs.
- Cash Flow
- The net amount of cash being transferred into and out of a business.
- Profit Margin
- The percentage of revenue that remains after deducting all expenses.
- Target Market
- The specific group of consumers a business aims to reach with its offerings.
- Customer Persona
- A fictional representation of an ideal customer based on data and research.
- Competitive Advantage
- An attribute or capability that allows a company to outperform its rivals.
- PEST Analysis
- A method for assessing external factors: Political, Economic, Social, and Technological.
- Marketing Funnel
- A model describing the stages a customer goes through before making a purchase.
- Burn Rate
- The rate at which a startup spends its available capital before generating positive cash flow.
- Bootstrapping
- Starting and growing a business using personal resources without external funding.
- Seed Funding
- Initial capital used to start developing a product or business.
- Scalability
- The ability of a business to handle increased demand without compromising performance.
Plan faster with Kona Business AI
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