The language of the work, in plain English.

A

AI Governance

The rules a business sets for how AI tools are used: which tools are approved, what data they may touch, and which outputs require human review. It is what makes confident AI adoption possible rather than risky. AI & Automation practice →

AI Readiness Audit

A structured diagnostic of workflows, data visibility, existing automation, and team skills — producing a roadmap of what to automate, in what order, ranked by return. How the audit works →

Automation (Business Process)

Using software to perform repetitive, rules-based work — reporting, invoicing, onboarding, data transfer — so people spend their hours on judgment and relationships instead.

B

Bottleneck

The single constraint that limits the whole system’s output — often the owner. Fixing anything other than the bottleneck doesn’t increase capacity.

Burn Rate

How fast a business spends cash, usually monthly. Paired with cash on hand, it tells you the runway: how many months until the money runs out.

Business Plan

The written document that proves a business model — market, operations, team, and financials — to the standard a lender, investor, or partner requires. Working plans also serve as the company’s operating roadmap. Plans & Funding practice →

C

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

Everything spent on sales and marketing in a period, divided by new customers won. The number only matters next to LTV — what each customer is worth over time.

Cash Conversion Cycle

The days between paying for inputs and collecting from customers. The longer the cycle, the more working capital growth consumes — which is why fast-growing profitable companies can still run out of cash.

Cash Flow

The actual movement of money in and out — distinct from profit, which is an accounting result. Businesses fail from cash exhaustion, not accounting losses.

Churn

The rate at which customers leave. In recurring-revenue businesses, churn compounds against you exactly the way retention compounds for you.

Collateral

Assets pledged to secure a loan, which the lender can claim on default. SBA programs exist partly to make loans possible with less collateral than banks would otherwise demand.

Conversion Rate

The share of visitors who take the action a page exists to produce — an inquiry, a booking, a purchase. The cheapest growth lever, because the traffic is already paid for. Website services →

D

DSCR (Debt-Service Coverage Ratio)

Cash flow available for debt payments divided by the payments themselves. Lenders commonly want coverage comfortably above 1× — proof the loan is repaid from operations, not hope. SBA plan guide →

Due Diligence

The verification a lender, investor, or buyer performs before committing — checking that documents, numbers, and claims agree. Diligence is where inconsistent paperwork goes to die.

F

FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document)

The legal disclosure a franchisor must give prospective franchisees, covering fees, obligations, and unit performance. Know the numbers cold before signing one.

Feasibility Study

A structured pre-investment analysis — market, financial, operational, regulatory — ending in a go / no-go recommendation. Commissioned before capital is committed, not after. Strategy & Consulting practice →

Fixed-Scope Engagement

Consulting work with deliverables, timeline, and price agreed before the work begins — the opposite of open-ended hourly billing.

Fractional COO

A senior operations executive embedded in a business part-time: running the operating cadence, building systems, and owning outcomes — at a fraction of a full-time hire. The Fractional COO Handbook →

Fractional Executive

Any C-level role (COO, CFO, CMO) engaged part-time. The model gives smaller companies access to executive judgment without executive payroll.

G

Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy

The plan for how a product or business enters a market and wins customers: positioning, pricing, channels, and the sales motion, with owners and dates attached. Go-to-market services →

Gross Margin

Revenue minus the direct cost of delivering it, as a percentage. The margin that determines whether scale helps you or just makes you busier.

H

Human-in-the-Loop

An automation design rule: consequential outputs — anything client-facing, financial, or contractual — require human review before they act. Automation drafts; people decide.

I

ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)

A precise description of the customer the business serves best and most profitably. Everything in go-to-market sharpens or blurs depending on how honestly this is drawn.

K

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

The small set of numbers that actually indicate whether the business is working — chosen for your model, tracked continuously, and visible without archaeology. KPI dashboards →

L

Landing Page

A standalone page built for one campaign and one action, with message matched to the ad that brought the visitor. Sending paid traffic to a generic homepage wastes most of it.

Lead Generation

The system that turns strangers into identified prospects — content, search, referrals, ads — measured by inquiries produced, not impressions counted.

LTV (Customer Lifetime Value)

The total profit a customer generates over the relationship. The ceiling on what you can afford to spend acquiring them.

N

Non-Dilutive Capital

Funding that doesn’t cost ownership — debt, revenue-based financing, awards — as opposed to selling equity.

O

Operating Cadence

The fixed rhythm of meetings, reviews, and decisions a business runs on — weekly priorities, owners, follow-through. Cadence is what makes accountability structural instead of personal.

Owner Dependence

The degree to which a business requires its owner present to function. High dependence caps growth, kills vacations, and discounts the company’s sale value. Calculate yours →

P

Pitch Deck

The visual presentation that earns investor meetings: opportunity, model, team, and ask, in one consistent story with the plan behind it. Pitch deck services →

Positioning

The specific place a business claims in the customer’s mind — who it’s for, what it replaces, why it wins. Strategy’s first decision; every page and pitch inherits it.

PPA (Power Purchase Agreement)

A long-term contract to sell energy at agreed terms. In project finance, the PPA is what converts a power plant from a construction project into a bankable cash-flow stream. Solar case study →

Project Finance

Funding structured around a specific asset’s contracted cash flows rather than the sponsor’s balance sheet — the standard model for infrastructure like utility-scale solar.

R

Runway

Months of operation remaining at the current burn rate. The number that sets the tempo for every fundraising decision.

S

SBA 504 Loan

The SBA program for fixed assets — real estate and major equipment — pairing a bank with a certified development company for long-term, fixed-rate financing.

SBA 7(a) Loan

The SBA’s general-purpose loan program — working capital, equipment, acquisitions — delivered through banks with a federal guaranty that softens collateral requirements. SBA plan guide →

SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)

A documented, repeatable way of doing a task — written so a capable person who’s never done it can execute to standard. SOPs are how knowledge stops living in heads.

T

TAM / SAM / SOM

Market sizing in three honest layers: Total addressable market, the Serviceable portion you could reach, and the Obtainable share you can realistically win first. Investors fund the third number.

Term Loan

A lump sum repaid on a fixed schedule with interest — the workhorse structure for equipment, expansion, and refinancing.

Throughput

How much value a system actually delivers per unit of time. Operations work, at bottom, is the discipline of raising throughput without raising chaos.

U

Unit Economics

Profit and loss for one unit of the business — one customer, one location, one product. If the unit doesn’t work, scale only multiplies the problem.

Use of Funds

The line-item budget for borrowed or invested capital: what gets bought, from whom, at what cost. Specificity here is what separates fundable asks from wish lists.

W

Working Capital

The cash that funds day-to-day operations — inventory bought before it sells, invoices waiting to be paid. Growth eats it; planning for that is what keeps growth from being fatal.