| Summary: The Small Business Dictionary is an online dictionary, and part of the Dictionary of Small Business and Language of Small Business projects guided by Carl Trautmann. The Small Business Dictionary is a business dictionary that offers lookups for words, abbreviations, acronyms, and concepts all relating to small business. |
New concepts, words and usages of business and technical terms are finding their way into the language of America’s entrepreneurs because of the refinement and specialization made possible by the Internet. For small business innovators, this can be an opportunity and an obstacle. One resource designed to clarify their path is the Dictionary of Small Business (http://www.small-business-dictionary.org), which first became available online in 1994 and now records over 3 million users.
As the developers of the site note, “This Web Site and the book The Language of Small Business are the result of many years of difficult and thorough searching for answers to everyday problems of the small business person.” Thus their site became the first access point for useful definitions “dedicated solely” to small business terms.
The Language of Small Business book is available via online purchasing portals. The dictionary itself is free and available to all.
Some 2,500 words are alphabetized and chronicled by common usage, fully integrating abbreviations and acronyms. Terms with multiple meanings are listed with the most common uses highlight first with linked “subheads” expanding the reach of user-designed searches.
While some concepts such like Accounting has Practices, Policies and Principles as separate categories, others (“Tax Consequences,” for example) offer direct definitions and sub-connections to issues, like “Tax Perks,” an important incentive that small business leaders must consider when they seek to secure quality employees.
Grounded in the fact that the vast majority of businesses in the United States are small businesses (some 90+% of over 21,000,000 tax returns), this resource reaches out to provide information and ideas for everyone from start-up dreamers to business entrepreneurs to bankers, accountants, government officials and investors alike. Students and researchers or journalists are also encouraged to consider this resource as they seek to understand the field.
The growing complexity and technological reach of business opportunities and rules/regulations can make it challenging for small business people to plan and grow in line with their vision. As a result, the Small Business Dictionary emphasizes commonplace terms and concepts first, but still lists specialized words and phrases to reach for the broadest audience everywhere. The authors state specifically that: “With the exception of unique government definitions and unique tax-related terms, all the definitions can be applied consistently throughout the world.”
Keeping this site up-to-date and relevant is deemed important. The Small Business Dictionary allows for user input and clarification of words and concepts. Active links are also provided to locally applicable community assistance programs (such as SCORE retired business volunteers) and online connectivity to the Small Business Administration, where loads of other resources are available for those in need of hands on assistance.
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