SGA Glossary — Plain English Business Terms for SMEs

A

Advisory — Professional guidance that helps you make decisions, solve problems, and plan effectively.

Annual Turnover — The total amount of money your business brings in over a year.

Assessment — A structured review of your business to identify risks, gaps, and opportunities.

B

Break‑Even Point — The number of sales you need before you stop losing money and start making money.

Business Review — A consultant‑led assessment that verifies data, identifies risks, and provides recommendations.

Bottleneck — A point in a process where work slows down or gets stuck.

C

Capability — The skills, capacity, and ability your team has to deliver work effectively.

Cashflow — The movement of money in and out of your business.

Clarity — How clearly you understand your numbers, processes, decisions, and direction.

Compliance — Meeting legal, tax, and regulatory obligations.

Confidence — How comfortable and assured you feel about your business’s stability.

Cost Base — The total ongoing costs required to run your business.

D

Decision‑Making — How choices are made in your business, and how clear and consistent that process is.

Diagnostic — A structured tool used to identify stability, confidence, and clarity across key areas.

Drift — The gradual behavioural and operational shift that occurs when roles blur, processes loosen, communication weakens or pressure builds. Drift often appears long before performance drops, and is one of the earliest signals that stability is changing inside an SME ecosystem.

E

Efficiency — How smoothly and effectively your business operates without wasted time, money, or effort.

Evidence‑Based Review — An assessment based on verified data rather than perception.

F

Fractional Leadership — Part‑time senior leadership support without hiring full‑time roles.

Financial Stability — Having the financial strength to pay daily bills and debts while keeping enough cash to handle unexpected problems.

Forecasting — Predicting future performance based on data and trends.

G

Governance — The structures, controls, and oversight that keep your business safe, compliant, and well‑managed.

Growth Confidence — How confident you feel about your ability to grow sustainably.

GDPR — UK/EU data protection rules that govern how personal data is handled.

H

Health Index Score — A numerical indicator showing how stable your business feels across the eight pillars.

Hiring Capacity — Your ability to recruit, onboard, and retain the right people.

I

Insights — Practical observations that help you understand where clarity is missing or where decisions need revisiting.

Instability — Areas where pressure, risk, or uncertainty may be emerging.

K

Key Risks — The areas most likely to cause instability or pressure in your business.

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) — Metrics used to measure performance.

L

Leadership Capacity — The ability of leaders to make decisions, manage pressure, and provide direction.

Late Payments — Money owed to your business that has not been paid on time.

M

Margin — The difference between what you sell something for and what it costs you to deliver it.

Market Position — How your business compares to competitors in your industry.

Momentum — The forward movement and progress your business is making.

O

Operations — The day‑to‑day activities that keep your business running.

Overheads — Ongoing costs that keep your business functioning (rent, utilities, software, etc.).

Operational Risk — The chance that processes, systems, or people could fail or cause disruption.

Overwhelm — When workload, pressure, or complexity becomes difficult to manage.

P

Pass‑Through Costs — Costs you pass directly to customers (e.g., supplier increases).

Perceived Stability — How stable the business feels, based on confidence and clarity

Pipeline — The flow of potential sales or work coming into your business.

Pillar Review — A focused assessment of one specific area of your business.

Q

Quarterly Review Rhythm — A structured cycle of reviewing performance every three months.

R

Reserves — Money set aside to protect your business during difficult periods.

Risk Flags — Indicators that highlight areas needing attention.

S

Snapshot — A quick, high‑level view of your business’s stability.

Stabilisation — Strengthening the foundations of your business to reduce pressure and risk.

Strategy — Your long‑term direction and plan for growth.

Supply Chain — The network of suppliers and processes that deliver your products or services.

System Reliability — How dependable your technology and tools are.

T

Technology Confidence — How confident you feel in your systems, tools, and digital reliability.

Triaging — Sorting issues by urgency and importance to regain control quickly.

U

Urgency Level — How quickly an issue needs to be addressed to prevent further instability.

W

Workload — The amount of work your team is handling and how manageable it feels.

Wellbeing — The health, stress levels, and capacity of your team.