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23 corporate acronyms every entrepreneur needs to know

In all professions, it is normal to have a specific language that connects people and summarizes important concepts. Many of them are usually in English, which hinders understanding for some people.

Therefore, we list here some of the most used corporate acronyms in the market, with their respective translations and concepts. Check it out below:

B2B – Business to Business

It means business to business trade. When we say that a company is B2B, it means that its target audience is other companies.

B2C – Business to Customer

It means trade from company to end consumer. When we say that a company is B2C, it means that its target audience is consumers.

CEO – Chief Executive Officer

He is the Executive Director. The CEO is at the highest operational hierarchical level, with great authority and competence in the face of business needs. He is responsible for the vision and strategy.

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CFO – Chief Financial Officer

He's the CFO. He is responsible for the company's finances, monitoring cash flow, company budget and financial planning, as well as controlling goals and objectives.

CHRO – Chief Human Resources Officer

He is the Director of Human Resources. He is responsible for taking care of the organization of the company's employees. He monitors their performance, focusing on operational and strategic perspectives.

CIO – Chief Information Officer

He is the Director of Information Technology. The CIO's role is to implement and direct the maintenance of the information systems that are used by the organization. He strategically chooses certain types of technology, according to the business need and his vision for growth.

CKO – Chief Knowledge Officer

It is the Knowledge Director. Widely used in consulting companies, it is a key piece for companies that need someone to manage both the company's intellectual capital and the organization's knowledge. He must have experience in technology, processes and with people.

CMO – Chief Marketing Officer

He is the Marketing Director. He is responsible for managing all the company's marketing strategies. The CMO has a systemic view of the company and the market, being essential for attracting and retaining customers. In addition, he also has the responsibility to popularize the brand, inserting it better in the market.

COO – Chief Operating Officer

He is the Director of Operations. The person responsible for this position closely coordinates all the day-to-day activities of operations that are important for the company to function, such as projects and processes. Your job is to manage resources and improve the efficiency and productivity of operations. The COO works in conjunction with the CFO.

CRM – Customer Relationship Management

It stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM is a set of best practices, technologies and organizational strategies used to manage and analyze customer relationships. It is used by companies of all sizes, in a platform format that stores all important information about their customers and potential customers.

CRO – Chief Risk Officer

He is the Risk Director. This professional is responsible for analyzing and managing the company's risks in relation to various areas, such as IT, in order to prevent or reduce damage from potential threats to the business.

CTO – Chief Technical Officer

He is the Technical Director. This position is more present in technology companies and industries, which need support for the technological and scientific development of their products. He is a technology visionary, in charge of research and development.

EBITDA – Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization

It means earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. This is a financial indicator widely used by publicly traded companies and market analysts. It has to do with the operational generation of the organization's cash. In other words, it is a calculation performed to find out how much the company generates from its operating activities alone, disregarding the interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization that act on them.

ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning

It is an integrated business management system. But what does it mean? ERP is a system, usually divided into modules, that integrates data and information from different areas of the company, with the objective of assisting in tactical and strategic decisions, bringing more efficiency and control to processes and, consequently, reducing operational costs.

KPI – Key Performance Indicator

These are the performance indicators that the company chooses to use to monitor its development. They are metrics used to quantify the results of a given action or strategy based on predetermined objectives by the company. That is, they show whether the company is on the right path or not. KPIs are effective because they allow the organization to quickly notice and react to failures.

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MEI - Individual Microentrepreneur

The individual microentrepreneur is a self-employed entrepreneur who has a small business registration. To become a MEI, you need to have an annual income of up to R$81,000, in addition to not having a stake in any company. Some of the benefits of being a MEI are: retirement, lower social security contribution, easier hiring, legalization of the activities carried out.

M&A – Mergers and Acquisitions

These are mergers and acquisitions. A merger happens when two or more companies decide to come together to create a new company. With the merger, the companies disappear and become one, with different nomenclature. Unlike mergers, acquisitions happen when one company buys another company. The acquired company does not necessarily end, but it can undergo changes, such as a new direction.

NDA - Non-Disclosure Agreement

It means confidentiality term. It is a legal contract that makes explicit the desire of both parties involved to keep information exchanged confidential.

SME – small and medium enterprise

This is a concept used to name the size of companies, according to their number of employees and annual income. Classifications of the size of companies vary according to the sector in which they operate in the market. According to SEBRAE (Brazilian Service of Support to Micro and Small Enterprises), according to the number of employees they are:

Industry: from 20 to 99 employees: small business. From 100 to 499 employees: medium enterprise.

Trade and services: from 10 to 49 employees: small business. From 50 to 99 employees: medium company.

ROI – Return Over Investment

It's the return on investment. It is an indicator that measures how much money the company is making or losing with each investment. With the calculation of ROI, therefore, it is possible to know if the company's investments are giving a positive result. It can be calculated in different areas of the organization.

SaaS – Software as a Service

It stands for software as a service. It is a type of software distribution and marketing. The supplier makes all the necessary structure for the customer to use the system via the cloud, from data storage to applications. As it is a service, the user does not buy a license for the product, but buys the right to use the service.

SEO – Search Engine Optimization

It stands for search engine optimization. It is one of the main points of Digital Marketing. SEO is a set of optimization techniques for websites, blogs and web pages. These constant optimizations aim to achieve good organic rankings in search engines, generating traffic and authority for a website or blog.

VC – Venture Capital

It means venture capital. It is an alternative investment modality that helps companies to develop and conquer new markets. Investors invest capital in companies, usually small and medium-sized, and subsequently receive a percentage of what those companies have achieved with the resulting venture capital boost.