A-Level Business · ⁨Business A-Level⁩

People have needs 需要 (things you must have, like food and shelter) and wants 欲望 (things you would like, like a phone or a holiday). A business exists to meet these needs and wants by making goods 商品 and services 服务.

To do this, a business uses resources 资源. We sort resources into four factors of production 生产要素:

• land 土地 — natural things, such as soil, water and minerals.
• labour 劳动力 — the work done by people.
• capital 资本 — the machines, tools, buildings and money used to produce.
• enterprise 创业精神 — the skill of bringing the other three together and taking the risk 风险 to start a business.

Resources are scarce 稀缺 — there are not enough to meet everyone's wants. So every business must choose how to use them well.

Adding value 增值 means the selling price of a product is higher than the cost of the inputs 投入 (the bought-in materials) used to make it.

A business can add value by branding 品牌, better quality, good design, fast service, or convenience. More value added can mean more profit 利润, but only if costs stay under control.

An entrepreneur 企业家 is a person who takes the risk to set up and run a business. They have the idea, organise the factors of production, and make the decisions. If the business fails, they can lose their money.

An intrapreneur 内部创业者 is an employee inside a larger business who acts like an entrepreneur. They build new ideas, products or ways of working, using the company's resources.

Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs

Successful entrepreneurs are usually:

• innovative 有创新精神的 — full of new ideas.
• willing to take risks, but in a careful way.
• hard-working and determined 有决心的 — they do not give up easily.
• self-confident 自信的 and good at making decisions.
• good leaders who can plan ahead and manage money.

Why enterprise matters to a country

When people start new businesses (business start-ups 初创企业), the whole country can gain:

• new jobs are created, which lowers unemployment 失业.
• more goods and services are made, which raises output 产出 (and the country's GDP 国内生产总值).
• more competition 竞争, giving customers lower prices and more choice.
• some firms grow and export 出口, bringing money into the country.
• economic growth 经济增长 and a higher standard of living.

A business plan 商业计划书 is a written document that describes the business idea and how it will work. It usually contains:

A business plan is useful because it helps the owner:

• get finance 融资 from a bank or an investor 投资者.
• set clear goals and lower the risk of failure.
• guide decisions as the business grows.

Every business works in one of four sectors:

Here raw materials 原材料 are the natural inputs a business starts with, and to manufacture 制造 means to make goods in large amounts. As a country develops, it usually moves from mostly primary work towards more tertiary and quaternary work.

• The private sector 私营部门 is made up of businesses owned by private people. Their main aim is usually profit.
• The public sector 公共部门 is made up of organisations owned by the government, such as state schools and public hospitals. Their aim is usually to provide a service, not to make profit.

A business must choose a legal form. The main ones are below.

• A sole trader 个体经营者 is owned by one person. It is easy to set up and the owner keeps all the profit, but raising money is hard.
• A partnership 合伙企业 is owned by two or more partners who share the work and profit. They often sign a deed of partnership 合伙协议 that sets out each partner's share.
• A private limited company 私人有限公司 (Ltd) sells shares 股份 to a small group, such as family and friends. Its owners are shareholders 股东. Its shares are not sold to the public.
• A public limited company 上市公司 (plc) sells its shares to the public on the stock exchange 证券交易所. It can raise large amounts of money, but it must follow more rules and faces the risk of a takeover 收购.
• A franchise 特许经营 lets one firm use another firm's brand and business model. The franchisor 特许方 owns the brand; the franchisee 加盟方 pays a fee and a royalty 提成 to run a branch.
• A joint venture 合资企业 is when two businesses join to run one project and share the costs and risks.
• A social enterprise 社会企业 trades like a normal business but aims to do social or environmental 环境 good, and reinvests most of its profit.

Liability 责任 means who must pay the business's debts 债务 if it cannot pay them itself.

• limited liability 有限责任 — the owners can only lose the money they put in. Their personal things, like a house or car, are safe. Companies have limited liability.
• unlimited liability 无限责任 — the owners are personally responsible for all the debts. They could lose personal things. Sole traders and most partnerships have unlimited liability.

A company is a separate legal identity 独立法人 — it can own things, owe money, and be taken to court in its own name, apart from its owners.

There is no single best way to measure how big a business is. Common measures are:

• the number of employees 员工.
• revenue 营业收入 (also called sales turnover) — the value of what it sells.
• capital employed 所用资本 — the total money invested in the business.
• market share 市场份额 — the firm's sales as a percentage of the whole market.
• market capitalisation 市值 — the total value of a company's shares (for a plc).

Different measures can give different answers, so it is best to use more than one.

Why small businesses matter

Small businesses create jobs, serve local communities 社区, give personal service, react quickly to change, bring new ideas, and supply parts and services to large firms.

A business can grow in two ways.

Internal growth 内部增长 (organic growth) — the business grows by itself: selling more, opening new branches, or adding new products. It is slower but lower risk.

External growth 外部增长 — the business joins with another firm. This is called integration 整合, and it happens by:

• a merger 合并 — two firms agree to join together as one.
• a takeover — one firm buys control of another.

There are three types of integration:

• horizontal integration 横向整合 — joining a firm at the same stage in the same industry (e.g. two car makers).
• vertical integration 纵向整合 — joining a firm at a different stage in the same industry. Forward integration 前向整合 is towards the customer (e.g. buying a shop); backward integration 后向整合 is towards the supplier (e.g. buying a parts maker).
• conglomerate integration 混合整合 — joining a firm in a completely different industry. This spreads risk, which is called diversification 多元化.

Firms grow to lower their costs, win a bigger market share and more market power 市场支配力, raise profit, and spread risk. But growth also brings problems: higher average costs, harder management and communication, different company cultures 企业文化 that may clash, and a need for a lot of finance.

Economies of scale 规模经济 are the cost savings a business gets as it grows larger. The average cost 平均成本 of each unit falls as output rises. The main types are:

Diseconomies of scale 规模不经济 happen when a firm grows too big and the average cost starts to rise again. The usual causes are:

• communication 沟通 becomes slow and unclear.
• the coordination 协调 of many departments is hard.
• workers may feel unimportant and lose motivation 激励.

Worked example. A factory making 10,000 units has fixed costs of £200,000 and variable costs of £6 per unit. It expands to 50,000 units, and bulk buying cuts the variable cost to £5. Find the unit cost at each output and explain the fall. Unit cost = total cost ÷ output. At 10,000: total = 200,000 + (10,000 × 6) = £260,000, so the unit cost is 260,000 ÷ 10,000 = £26. At 50,000: total = 200,000 + (50,000 × 5) = £450,000, so the unit cost is 450,000 ÷ 50,000 = £9. Two economies of scale are at work: the fixed costs are spread over far more units (£20 down to £4 each), and purchasing economies cut the variable cost. Note that the fixed cost total does not change - only the fixed cost per unit falls. Writing "fixed costs fall" is the error that loses the mark.

A mission statement 使命宣言 is a short sentence that says why the business exists and what it wants to be. It guides everyone in the firm.

From the mission come aims 目的 (broad, long-term goals), and then objectives 目标 (the specific targets that help reach the aims).

Good objectives are SMART — the first letters of:

• Specific 具体的 — clear and exact.
• Measurable 可衡量的 — you can check it with numbers.
• Achievable 可实现的 — it is possible to reach.
• Realistic 现实的 — sensible for the resources you have.
• Time-bound 有时限的 — it has a deadline.

A strategy 战略 is the long-term plan to meet objectives. Tactics 策略 are the short-term actions that carry out the strategy. Objectives are shaped by the size and age of the firm, who owns it, the company culture, and conditions in the market.

Corporate social responsibility 企业社会责任 (CSR) is the idea that a business should act in the best interests of society and the environment, not just make profit. Examples are treating workers fairly, cutting pollution 污染, and helping the local community.

A firm's objectives can change over time. A new firm may aim to survive; later it may aim to grow; a large, safe firm may focus on profit or CSR.

A stakeholder 利益相关者 is any person or group with an interest in a business and how well it does.

Internal stakeholders 内部利益相关者 are inside the business:

• owners and shareholders — want profit and a good return.
• managers 管理者 — want growth, job security and bonuses.
• employees — want fair pay, safe work and job security.

External stakeholders 外部利益相关者 are outside the business:

Why stakeholder objectives conflict

Stakeholders often want different things, so their objectives can conflict 冲突 (clash). For example:

• owners want higher profit, but employees want higher pay — and higher pay lowers profit.
• customers want low prices, but owners want a high profit margin.
• the local community wants less pollution, but cutting pollution can raise costs.

How conflict can be managed

• keep good communication with every group.
• compromise 妥协 — give each group part of what it wants.
• negotiation 谈判 — talk until the groups reach an agreement.
• decide which stakeholders matter most for each decision, and act on that.

• Define added value $=$ selling price $-$ cost of bought-in inputs, and give a way to raise it (branding, quality, design).
• Distinguish unlimited vs limited liability and link it to sole trader/partnership versus Ltd/plc.
• Measure business size in more than one way (employees, revenue, capital employed, market share) — note each has limits.
• Distinguish objectives (SMART, specific) from a mission (overall purpose).
• In evaluation, use stakeholder conflicts (owners vs employees vs community) to argue both sides.

Human resource management 人力资源管理 (HRM) is the part of a business that looks after its people. Good HRM makes sure the firm has enough staff, with the right skills, who are well trained and motivated.

The main roles of HRM are:

• workforce planning 人力规划 — working out how many staff, and what skills, the business will need in the future.
• recruitment 招聘 and selection 甄选 — finding people to apply for jobs, then choosing the best.
• training 培训 and development 培养 — improving staff skills now and helping them grow for the future.

Workforce planning looks at the firm's plans, then at the staff it already has, to find the gap. The gap may be filled by hiring, training, or moving staff.

To recruit, the firm first writes:

• a job description 职位描述 — the title, duties and tasks of the job.
• a person specification 人员规格 — the skills, qualifications 资格 and qualities the right person should have.

The firm can recruit from inside or outside:

• internal recruitment 内部招聘 — filling the job with someone who already works there. It is cheaper and faster, and the person is known, but no new ideas come in.
• external recruitment 外部招聘 — hiring someone from outside. It brings new skills and ideas, but costs more and is slower.

Selection methods include reading application forms and CVs, interviews 面试, tests, and group tasks.

Training improves the skills staff need to do their jobs well. Common types are:

• induction training 入职培训 — given to new staff so they learn how the firm works.
• on-the-job training 在岗培训 — learning while doing the real job.
• off-the-job training 脱产培训 — learning away from the workplace, such as a course.

Training costs time and money, but it raises quality, productivity 生产率 and motivation, and helps keep staff.

Sometimes a worker has to leave.

• redundancy 裁员 happens when the job itself is no longer needed — for example, when a machine replaces it. It is not the worker's fault.
• dismissal 解雇 happens when a worker is made to leave because of poor work or bad behaviour.

Both sides have rights and duties. The employer 雇主 must follow the law on pay, safety, working hours and unfair dismissal. The employee 雇员 must work as agreed and follow safe, fair rules. These rights 权利 protect both sides.

Businesses change often — new technology, new markets, or restructuring 重组. The management of change 变革管理 in HR means planning the change, explaining it clearly, training staff for new roles, and listening to worries, so staff accept the change instead of resisting it.

Two simple measures help managers judge how the workforce is doing.

Labour turnover 员工流失率 shows the percentage of staff who leave in a year:

High labour turnover can mean low pay, poor motivation or weak management. It raises the cost of recruiting and training.

Worked example. A firm employs $200$ people on average, and $30$ leave during the year. Find its labour turnover.

Labour productivity 劳动生产率 shows the output made by each worker:

Higher labour productivity lowers the cost of each unit, so the firm can compete better.

Worked example. A team of $8$ workers makes $2400$ units in a week. Find the labour productivity.

Motivation 激励 is the desire to work hard and do a good job. Motivated staff produce more and better work, take fewer days off, stay longer, and give better service. So motivation lowers costs and raises quality.

Several thinkers tried to explain what motivates people. You should know the main idea of each.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow said people try to meet lower needs first, then move up:

1. physiological needs 生理需求 — food, water, rest (met by pay).
2. safety needs — a safe job and workplace.
3. social needs — friendship and being part of a team.
4. esteem needs 尊重需求 — respect and recognition 认可.
5. self-actualisation 自我实现 — reaching your full potential.

Herzberg's two factors

• hygiene factors 保健因素 — things like pay, conditions and rules. If they are poor, staff are unhappy; but fixing them does not truly motivate.
• motivators 激励因素 — things like achievement, responsibility and recognition. These give real, lasting motivation.

Financial motivators 经济激励 are rewards paid in money:

• wages 工资 — pay by the hour or week, often for manual work 体力劳动.
• salary 薪水 — a fixed yearly amount, paid monthly.
• piece rate — pay for each unit made.
• commission 佣金 — pay based on how much you sell.
• bonus 奖金 — an extra payment for good results.
• profit sharing 利润分享 — staff get a share of the firm's profit.
• performance-related pay 绩效工资 — extra pay for those who meet targets.
• fringe benefits 附加福利 — non-cash extras, such as a company car or health care.

Non-financial motivators 非经济激励 reward staff without extra money, by making work more interesting and giving more control:

• job enrichment 工作丰富化 — giving more challenging tasks and responsibility.
• job rotation 工作轮换 — moving between different tasks to reduce boredom.
• job enlargement 工作扩大化 — adding more tasks at the same level.
• empowerment 授权 — letting staff make their own decisions about their work.
• teamworking 团队合作 — organising staff into teams that share goals.

Management 管理 means getting work done through other people to reach the firm's objectives.

Fayol said managers carry out five functions:

Mintzberg said managers also play ten roles 角色 in three groups: interpersonal (working with people), informational (sharing information), and decisional (making decisions). This shows that real management is busy and varied, not just the five neat functions.

Leadership 领导 and management are not the same.

• a manager plans, organises and controls the day-to-day work.
• a leader sets a vision 愿景, inspires people, and guides change.

The best managers are also good leaders. Effective management matters because it raises productivity, keeps good staff, helps the firm adapt to change, and turns plans into real results.

• Calculate and interpret labour turnover and labour productivity; high turnover raises recruitment and training costs.
• Link a motivation theory to a method: Maslow (needs), Herzberg (hygiene vs motivators), Taylor (pay).
• Distinguish financial (piece rate, bonus) from non-financial (job enrichment, empowerment) motivators.
• Distinguish leadership from management and match a style (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire) to the situation.

Marketing 市场营销 is the job of finding out what customers want, then making and selling products that meet those wants at a profit. Good marketing links the business to its market 市场 (all the buyers and sellers of a product).

A business can be:

• product-orientated 产品导向 — it focuses on the product first and hopes customers will buy it. This suits new or technical products.
• market-orientated 市场导向 — it finds out what customers want first, then makes it. This lowers the risk of failure.

Customer relationship marketing 客户关系营销 (CRM) means building long-term links with customers so they come back again. Keeping a customer is cheaper than finding a new one.

• market size 市场规模 — the total sales of all firms in a market, by value or by number of units.
• market growth 市场增长 — how fast the market is getting bigger, shown as a percentage.
• market share 市场份额 — one firm's sales as a percentage of the total market:

A rising market share is a sign of strong marketing.

Worked example. A firm sells £4 million of goods in a market worth £50 million in total. Find its market share.

If the whole market grows but the firm's sales stay at £4 million, its market share falls — so a firm can sell the same amount yet lose ground to faster-growing rivals.

• a mass market 大众市场 is large, with products aimed at most buyers (e.g. soft drinks). Sales are high, but competition is strong.
• a niche market 利基市场 is a small part of a market with special needs (e.g. left-handed tools). Competition is weaker, but sales are smaller.

Market segmentation 市场细分 means splitting a market into groups (segments 细分市场) of buyers who are alike. Common ways to segment are by age, income, gender, location, and lifestyle. Segmentation lets a firm aim the right product and message at each group, which raises sales and cuts waste.

Demand 需求 is how much of a product buyers will buy at each price. Supply 供给 is how much sellers will offer at each price. Usually, when price falls, demand rises.

Elasticity 弹性 measures how strongly demand reacts to a change. You should know three types.

Price elasticity of demand 需求价格弹性 (PED) measures how demand reacts to a price change:

• if PED is greater than 1, demand is price elastic 富有弹性 — a small price cut raises sales a lot, so lowering price can raise revenue.
• if PED is less than 1, demand is price inelastic 缺乏弹性 — demand changes little, so raising price can raise revenue.

Income elasticity of demand 需求收入弹性 (YED) measures how demand reacts to a change in customers' income. Luxury goods react strongly; basic goods react weakly.

Cross elasticity of demand 需求交叉弹性 (XED) measures how the demand for one product reacts to a price change of another. It is positive for substitutes 替代品 (e.g. tea and coffee) and negative for complements 互补品 (e.g. cars and fuel).

Elasticity is useful because it helps a firm predict how a price change will affect sales and revenue.

Market research 市场调研 is collecting and studying information about customers, competitors 竞争对手 and the market.

• primary research 一手调研 — new information you collect yourself, by surveys, interviews or observation. It fits your exact needs, but costs more and takes time.
• secondary research 二手调研 — information that already exists, such as reports, websites and sales records. It is cheap and quick, but may be old or not exactly right.

Data can be:

• quantitative data 定量数据 — facts in numbers (e.g. "60% buy weekly"). Easy to compare.
• qualitative data 定性数据 — opinions and reasons (e.g. "why people like the brand"). Gives deeper understanding.

Sampling and reliability

A sample 样本 is the small group of people asked, chosen to stand for the whole market. Sampling 抽样 methods include:

• random sampling 随机抽样 — everyone has an equal chance of being picked.
• quota sampling 配额抽样 — set numbers from each group are asked.
• stratified sampling 分层抽样 — the sample copies the make-up of the whole market.

A larger, well-chosen sample gives more reliable 可靠的 results. Poor sampling can cause bias 偏差, which makes the findings wrong. Results are often shown in tables and charts, then read carefully to guide decisions.

The marketing mix 营销组合 is the set of choices a firm makes to sell a product. It is often called the 4Ps:

The four parts must work together. For example, a high price needs high quality and a good image. Making the parts fit each other is called integration 整合.

A good product is the heart of the mix.

Product development 产品开发 is the work of designing and improving products to meet customer needs and beat rivals.

The product life cycle

The product life cycle 产品生命周期 shows the sales of a product over time, in four stages:

1. introduction 引入期 — launch; low sales, high promotion cost.
2. growth 成长期 — sales rise quickly.
3. maturity 成熟期 — sales reach their peak and level off.
4. decline 衰退期 — sales fall as tastes change.

To keep sales up in maturity, firms use extension strategies 延长策略, such as new packaging, new uses, or selling in new markets.

The product portfolio (Boston Matrix)

The product portfolio 产品组合 is the full range of products a firm sells. The Boston Matrix 波士顿矩阵 sorts products by market share and market growth:

Stars need investment but may become cash cows. Cash cows bring steady profit. Question marks are risky. Dogs are usually dropped.

Branding

Branding 品牌 gives a product a name, design and image that customers recognise. A strong brand builds loyalty 忠诚度, lets the firm charge more, and makes new products easier to launch.

Choosing a price is a key decision. The main methods and strategies are:

The best price depends on costs, competitors, the product's life-cycle stage, and how price elastic demand is.

Place is how the product reaches the customer, through a distribution channel 分销渠道. A short channel (maker → customer) gives more control; a longer channel (maker → wholesaler 批发商 → shop → customer) reaches more buyers.

Promotion tells customers about a product and persuades them to buy. It is split into:

• above-the-line promotion 大众媒体广告 — paid advertising 广告 in mass media, such as TV and online ads, aimed at a wide audience.
• below-the-line promotion 直接促销 — targeted methods the firm controls, such as discounts, free samples and direct mail.

Digital marketing 数字营销 and e-commerce 电子商务 (buying and selling online) now play a huge role. They let small firms reach world markets cheaply, target adverts to the right people, and sell at any time of day.

• Calculate market share and market growth as percentages; a firm can grow yet lose share in a faster-growing market.
• Use price elasticity of demand to decide pricing: raise price when demand is inelastic (revenue rises), cut it when elastic.
• Distinguish primary vs secondary and quantitative vs qualitative research, and comment on sampling reliability.
• Treat the marketing mix (4Ps) as a coordinated set — each P should support the others.

Operations 运营 is the part of a business that makes the product. Operations management 运营管理 is the job of turning inputs 投入 into outputs 产出 well.

This is the transformation process 转化过程:

• inputs — raw materials, labour, machines and money.
• process — the work that changes the inputs.
• outputs — finished goods and services for the customer.

Good operations add value 增值: the output is worth more than the inputs used to make it. Using raw materials 原材料 (the basic materials a business starts with) well is a big part of this.

Productivity 生产率 measures how much output you get from your inputs:

Efficiency 效率 means making products with as little waste of time, materials and money as possible. Higher productivity and efficiency lower the cost of each unit, so the firm can charge less or earn more.

Worked example. A factory of $20$ workers makes $800$ units in a day. Find the output per worker.

If training raised output to $1000$ units with the same $20$ workers, productivity would rise to $50$ units each — the same staff cost now spread over more units, so each unit is cheaper to make.

• a capital-intensive 资本密集型 operation uses mostly machines (e.g. a car factory). It has high set-up costs but low cost per unit, and is good for large amounts.
• a labour-intensive 劳动密集型 operation uses mostly people (e.g. a hair salon). It is flexible and good for personal service, but quality can vary.

A firm chooses how to organise production to suit its product and demand.

Job production is flexible but costly per unit. Flow production has a low unit cost but needs high, steady demand.

Sustainability 可持续性 means meeting today's needs without harming the future or the planet. Sustainable operations cut waste, use less energy, recycle, and use materials that can be replaced.

Technology 技术 is widely used in operations. Automation 自动化 (machines and robots doing tasks) raises output, improves quality and lowers cost, but it has a high set-up cost and can replace jobs.

Inventory 库存 (stock) is the goods a business holds: raw materials, part-finished goods, and finished goods waiting to be sold.

A firm holds inventory so it can keep producing and meet customer orders quickly. But holding inventory has costs:

• holding costs 持有成本 — storage, insurance, and money tied up in stock.
• the risk that goods go out of date or are damaged.

Holding too little stock is also risky: the firm may run out and lose sales.

An inventory control chart 库存控制图 shows how stock rises when an order arrives and falls as it is used. Key terms:

• re-order level 再订货水平 — the stock level at which a new order is placed.
• lead time 交货周期 — the time between placing an order and receiving it.
• buffer inventory 缓冲库存 — a minimum "safety" stock kept in case of delays or extra demand.
• maximum inventory 最大库存 — the most stock the firm wants to hold.

There are two main ways to manage stock.

• just-in-time 准时制 (JIT) — stock arrives only as it is needed, so almost no inventory is held. This cuts holding costs and waste, but a late delivery can stop production.
• just-in-case 备货制 — extra stock is held in case of problems. This is safer but costs more to store.

Capacity 产能 is the most a business can produce with its current resources. Capacity utilisation 产能利用率 shows how much of that capacity is being used:

• under-utilisation 产能利用不足 (a low figure) means resources sit idle, so the fixed cost spread over each unit is high.
• over-utilisation 产能过度利用 (very close to 100%) leaves no time for repairs, can tire staff, and may lower quality.

Most firms aim for a high but not full level, around 85–90%.

Worked example. A factory can make $5000$ units a week but currently makes $4000$. Find its capacity utilisation.

This leaves $20\%$ spare. Winning an order for another $500$ units a week would lift utilisation to $90\%$, spreading the fixed costs over more units without needing new machines.

Outsourcing 外包 means paying another firm (a supplier 供应商) to do work the business used to do itself, such as cleaning, IT or making parts.

Benefits: it can be cheaper, lets the firm focus on what it does best, and adds flexibility. Drawbacks: less control over quality, possible delays, and the risk of sharing secrets with another firm.

• Calculate capacity utilisation and productivity; high utilisation spreads fixed costs but leaves no slack for breakdowns or new orders.
• Read an inventory control chart (re-order level, lead time, buffer stock, maximum stock).
• Compare JIT vs JIC (low holding cost but delivery risk vs security of supply but higher cost).
• Match the production method (job, batch, flow) to the product and the size of the order.

Business finance 企业资金 is the money a firm needs to start, run and grow. A new firm needs money to buy premises 经营场所 and equipment; a growing firm needs money for new projects; and every firm needs money to pay day-to-day bills.

Spending falls into two types:

• capital expenditure 资本性支出 — money spent on fixed assets 固定资产 that last a long time, such as machines, vehicles and buildings.
• revenue expenditure 收益性支出 — money spent on day-to-day running, such as wages, rent and raw materials.

Working capital 营运资本 is the money a firm has for its daily needs. It is found from the balance sheet 资产负债表:

Here current assets 流动资产 are things that become cash within a year (cash, inventory, money owed by customers), and current liabilities 流动负债 are debts due within a year. Too little working capital is dangerous — the firm may not be able to pay its bills.

This is a key idea.

• profit 利润 is what is left when total costs are taken from total revenue over a period.
• cash 现金 is the money the firm actually has right now to spend.

A firm can be profitable but still run out of cash — for example, if it sells goods but customers have not paid yet. Many firms fail not from low profit, but from running out of cash.

Finance can come from inside the business (internal sources 内部来源) or from outside (external sources 外部来源). It can also be short-term 短期 (paid back within a year) or long-term 长期.

There is no single best source. The choice depends on:

• the amount needed — large amounts may need shares or a long loan.
• the purpose — long-term assets should use long-term finance.
• the cost — interest and fees differ between sources.
• the legal structure — only a company can sell shares.
• how much the firm already owes, and whether it can offer collateral 抵押品 (an asset the lender can take if the loan is not repaid).

A cash-flow forecast 现金流量预测 predicts the cash coming in and going out each month. It helps a firm spot a shortage early.

• cash inflows 现金流入 — money coming in, mostly from sales.
• cash outflows 现金流出 — money going out, such as wages and rent.
• net cash flow 净现金流 — inflows minus outflows for the period.

The opening balance 期初余额 is the cash at the start of the month. Adding net cash flow gives the closing balance 期末余额, which becomes next month's opening balance.

Common causes of cash-flow problems are: too many sales on credit, holding too much stock, buying too many assets at once, and overtrading 过度交易 (growing too fast for the cash available).

Ways to improve cash flow:

• bring cash in sooner — ask customers to pay faster, or offer discounts for quick payment.
• delay cash going out — agree longer trade credit with suppliers.
• arrange an overdraft or short loan to cover a gap.
• hold less stock to free up cash.

Good working capital management keeps enough cash to stay safe without holding so much that money sits idle.

A cost 成本 is money the business spends to make its product. We sort costs in several ways:

• fixed costs 固定成本 — costs that do not change with output, such as rent.
• variable costs 可变成本 — costs that rise and fall with output, such as raw materials.
• direct costs 直接成本 — costs clearly linked to one product, such as its materials.
• indirect costs 间接成本 (overheads) — costs not linked to one product, such as manager salaries.
• marginal cost 边际成本 — the cost of making one more unit.
• average cost 平均成本 — the cost per unit, found by total cost ÷ number of units.

Cost information helps managers set prices, choose what to make, and control spending.