Glossary
Software and Business Glossary for Founders and Business Owners
Short, plain definitions of the terms you will hear when you plan, buy or build software for your business. Each entry explains what the term means, gives an example and links to a longer guide where we have one.
All glossary terms
- Minimum viable product (MVP)
- A minimum viable product (MVP) is the simplest working version of a product that real users can use, built to test whether it solves their problem before more time and money go into extra features.
- Product-market fit
- Product-market fit is the point where a product clearly meets the needs of a specific market: the right customers use it, keep using it, pay for it and recommend it to others without being pushed.
- Discovery phase
- A discovery phase is the short stage at the start of a software project where the team studies the business, its users and its current tools to agree what to build, what to leave out and roughly what it will cost.
- Scope creep
- Scope creep is the gradual growth of a project beyond what was agreed, as new features and changes are added along the way without adjusting the budget, the timeline or the priorities to match.
- Technical debt
- Technical debt is the future cost of shortcuts taken in software today: quick fixes, skipped tests or outdated code that make every later change slower, riskier and more expensive until someone cleans them up.
- Bespoke software
- Bespoke software is software designed and built for one specific organisation and the way it works, rather than a ready-made product sold to many customers. It is also called custom or tailor-made software.
- Tech stack
- A tech stack is the set of programming languages, frameworks, databases and hosting services used to build and run a piece of software, such as a website, a web app or a mobile app.
- Headless CMS
- A headless CMS is a content management system that stores and edits content but does not control how it is displayed. It sends the content through an API to a website, app or other screen that is built separately.
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is software that brings a company’s core operations, such as inventory, purchasing, production, finance and HR, into one system with one shared database instead of separate spreadsheets and tools.
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
- Customer relationship management (CRM) software keeps every lead, customer, conversation and deal in one place, so a sales or support team knows who to contact next, what was said before and what should happen after.
- Telecalling CRM
- A telecalling CRM is software for teams that work leads by phone: it gives each telecaller a queue of leads to call, records the outcome of every call and schedules follow-ups, so no lead is forgotten and managers can see the work.
- White-label software
- White-label software is a product built by one company that other businesses rebrand and sell or use as their own, with their own name, logo and domain, while the original company maintains the technology underneath.