What are Assets?

Assets are resources of economic value that an organization needs in order to operate, especially that which could be converted to cash.

There are two main types of assets,

Tangible assets : Tangible assets are physical resources, (eg- Cash, Office equipment, vehicle, machinery)

Intangible assets : Intangible assets are valuable resources that are not always physical. (eg : Skills, PR, Brand, etc.)

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What is a Stakeholder?

A stakeholder is a person or a group of interest (stake) that can affect or be affected by an organization.

Definitions of 'Stakeholder' by experts,
“any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization objectives” [Freeman (1984)]

The Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in 1963 defines it as,

“those groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist”

The main groups of stakeholders are Customers, Employees, Local communities, Shareholders, Suppliers and distributors. In addition there are the public in general, the media, Business partners, Competitors,Government, regulators..etc.

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What is a Corporation?

A corporation is company or a group of people authorized under law to act as a legal entity that is separate and distinct from its owners. They usually have privileges and liabilities than those of its members.

Sole corporations are made up from one single person and aggregate corporations are made up from a group of people. Corporations have most of the rights and responsibilities that an individual possesses.

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What is Business Finance?

The term 'finance' can be generally defined as the management of money and other valuables, which can be easily converted into cash. Finance is the study of management, money, banking, credit, investments, assets and liabilities.Finance as defined from Wikipedia, "is the study of how investors allocate their assets over time under conditions of certainty and uncertainty"
Business Finance also known as Corporate Finance is Part of 'Finance' and it is that business activity which is concerned with the acquisition and conservation of capital funds in meetings financial needs and overall objectives of business enterprises.

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What is a Sales Prospect?

A prospect is basically a potential customer for a given organization. To be considered as a prospect, a 'Sales Lead' goes through a process of qualification and have to show at least a small amount of interest in doing business with the given company.

A prospect is often confused as a sales lead. So before going any further, what is a sales lead? A sales lead is not yet a prospect and it is simply, unqualified basic contact information.

A sales lead is converted to a 'prospect' once it is qualified as fitting a certain criteria as said above. (fitting the target market, interest level, profitability..etc.)

Sales prospects are considered as a business' greatest asset, a properly qualified sales prospect has a great chance of earning future sales and becoming a long-term customer.

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What is a Budget?

A budget can be simply defined as a financial document used to project future income and expenses. A budget is very important when carrying out an organization’s objectives, strategies and assumptions.

A budget can be drawn up for each financial year and is usually decided on the estimated value of sales and cost of an organization.

Different budgets can be created depending on different aspects of business. Here are some of the well known budgeting plans,

• Performance Budget
• Cash Budget
• Forecast Budget

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What is Marketing?

As a marketing student learning different definitions and referencing has been really important for facing exams but it is also equally important to apply what you learned in your marketing career, The topic of Marketing can be difficult or easy depending on the way you study its theories and 'practice' them.

The term 'Marketing' has many definitions by many world renowned marketers and authors.

Marketing is all about focusing on customers and a marketing oriented organization implements all of their actions according to the needs and wants of their relevant customers. A Marketing oriented organization is also known as 'customer' oriented organization.

Different definitions for 'Marketing' :

Chartered Institute of Marketing defines it as,

'The management process responsible for identifying , anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably'

Dr. Philip Kotler defines marketing as,

“The science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential. It pinpoints which segments the company is capable of serving best and it designs and promotes the appropriate products and services.”

"Marketing is the messages and/or actions that cause messages and/or actions."

[Jay Baer]

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