Business costs
What are some examples of investments for companies?
Short-term: Treasury bills, commercial paper, money market funds, and certificates of deposit (e.g., parking $100K in T-bills for 3 months).
Long-term: Stocks/bonds of other companies, real estate (e.g., buying a warehouse), R&D (e.g., $1M in AI tech), machinery (e.g., new manufacturing robots), acquisitions (e.g., purchasing a competitor), and intellectual property (e.g., patents).
Guess the words: take money from someone with a promise to give them back; give money to someone with a promise from them to give them back
Borrow; lend
What are the roles of sales department VS marketing department
The marketing department attracts and nurtures leads, while the sales department converts them into customers.
What is the term for a person who pays for the right to open a new franchise location (e.g., a Pizza Hut)?
Franchisee
What is the primary function of an operating system (OS)?
To manage hardware resources and run other software/applications.
Give some examples of fixed costs and variable costs of a business
Fixed costs (constant) include rent, salaries, insurance, and loan payments, while variable costs (change with sales) include raw materials, packaging, hourly wages, and shipping fees—for example, a $1,500 monthly rent (fixed) and $2 per unit materials (variable). Fixed costs stay the same; variable costs rise with production.
What are the sources of funding for a business?
First, your own personal funds; secondly, bank loans; thirdly, seller financing. Seller financing is when the seller of a business or property acts as the lender, allowing the buyer to pay in installments (often with interest) instead of requiring full upfront payment.
In the "Smarketing" concept, how can sales and marketing teams improve collaboration? (Name two methods.)
Regular shared meetings at all staff levels.
Co-locating departments in the same office.
According to the article, which group of countries are expected to dominate the top six economies by 2050?
BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China and others)
What is the key difference between a traditional hard drive (HDD) and a solid-state drive (SSD), and why does this matter for modern operating systems?
HDD: Uses spinning magnetic disks; slower read/write speeds.
SSD: Uses flash memory; faster, more durable, and energy-efficient.
Modern OS (e.g., Windows 11/macOS) rely on SSD speed for features like instant wake-from-sleep and faster file indexing.
Explain the difference between gross margin and profit margin
Gross Margin tells you how much money is left after paying for the direct costs of making your product (like materials and labor).
Example: You sell a phone for $500. It costs $300 to make. Your gross margin is $200 (40%).
Profit Margin tells you how much real profit you make after paying all costs - including rent, salaries, ads, taxes, etc.
Example: From that $500 sale, after all other costs ($150), your profit is $150 (30%).
What are the advantages of buying an existing business?
It already has a customer base, regular cash flow, equipment, employees, a list of suppliers, and established business processes.
Translate the phrases: повысить уровень осведомленности, сарафанное радио, незанятая ниша на рынке
Raise awareness, word of mouth, market gap
Name three advantages of franchising for local entrepreneurs in emerging markets
Access to a growing middle class.
Learning via a proven business model (franchise manual).
Reduced risk with franchiser support (vs. independent start-ups).
Why is Linux considered "open-source," and how does this differ from proprietary OS like Windows?
Linux can be freely modified/distributed by users, while proprietary OS (e.g., Windows) is controlled by its owning company (Microsoft).
Explain the term depreciation and give examples
Depreciation is the gradual decrease in the value of a tangible asset over time due to wear and tear, or age. Companies use depreciation to allocate the cost of an asset over its useful life for accounting and tax purposes.
A company’s $2,000 laptops lose $400/year in value over 5 years.
A factory buys equipment for $100,000 with a 10-year lifespan. It depreciates by $10,000 annually.
Explain the following words: a takeover, a joint venture, a merger, a venture capitalist
Takeover – One company acquires control of another, often by buying a majority of its shares (Microsoft’s takeover of LinkedIn).
Joint Venture – Two companies collaborate on a specific project, sharing costs and profits (Sony and Ericsson’s mobile phone partnership).
Merger – Two companies combine to form a single new entity (Disney and Pixar’s merger).
Venture Capitalist – An investor who funds startups in exchange for equity (Sequoia Capital investing in early-stage tech companies).
What does "AIDA" stand for in marketing?
Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action.
A project has a budget of $100K and a 10-week deadline. If it costs $130K and takes 11 weeks, what two problems does it face?
Exceeded budget and missed the deadline.
What are three tasks performed by system utilities (e.g., disk defragmenters, anti-virus)?
Optimizing storage (e.g., defragmenting disks).
Detecting/eliminating malware (anti-virus).
Monitoring system performance (e.g., system profilers).
Give examples of reserves and assets of a business
Assets (what a business owns) include cash, inventory, equipment, buildings and receivables, while reserves (saved funds) include profit reserves, emergency cash, and depreciation funds—for example, a company with $50,000 in machinery (asset) and $10,000 in emergency savings (reserve). Assets create current value; reserves secure future stability.
Provide examples of business organizations and explain the difference between them
Sole trader - one person owns and controls the business
Partnership - two or more people own and manage the business
Private limited company - several people (shareholders), often family or friends, own a part (a share) of the company
Public limited company - a large company; anyone can buy or sell its shares on the stock market
Franchise - a joint venture between a local entrepreneur and a well-established business
What are the four Ps of marketing, and how do they differ from the sales-focused "AIDA" model?
Four Ps: Product, Price, Promotion, Place (marketing’s strategic focus).
AIDA: Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action (sales’ tactical focus on customer journey).
In franchising, what four payments/investments does a franchisee typically make? (List them from the "Financing a Franchise" section.)
Franchise fee (for brand/business model rights).
Premises/equipment/furniture costs.
Stock purchases (from franchiser or suppliers).
Monthly management fee (fixed or revenue-based).
Explain how cloud integration (e.g., Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud) has changed the role of traditional operating systems. Provide two examples of OS features now dependent on cloud services.
OS features like Windows 11’s "Windows Backup" or macOS’s "iCloud Drive" sync settings/files to the cloud.
Real-time collaboration (e.g., Microsoft 365 auto-save to OneDrive).
AI-enhanced tools (e.g., Windows Copilot relies on cloud-based AI models).