SEU Glossary
Plain explanations of the entrepreneurship and investment terms that come up in the union's work, and of terms from the Syrian market, each with its context in Syria today.
59 terms explained in full, 14 short definitions
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Basics
Business incubator
حاضنة الأعمالAn organisation that helps early-stage ventures with workspace, training, mentoring and shared services until they can stand on their own.
Read the explanationEntrepreneurial ecosystem
المنظومة الرياديةThe network of people and organisations that shapes whether founders succeed in a city or country: investors, incubators, universities, government and markets.
Read the explanationEntrepreneurship
ريادة الأعمالStarting and running a new business and taking on its risks, to turn an idea or a market need into value and income.
Read the explanationInformal economy
الاقتصاد غير المنظمEconomic activity that happens outside official registration, taxes and written contracts, such as selling without a commercial registration or working without a contract.
Read the explanationMentor
الموجّهAn experienced person who supports a founder over time with advice, questions and contacts, helping them make better decisions.
Read the explanationNecessity entrepreneurship
ريادة الضرورةStarting a business because you have no better way to earn a living, rather than because you chose an opportunity you spotted.
Read the explanationNetworking
التشبيكBuilding professional relationships with founders, investors, experts and potential customers to share knowledge, opportunities and support.
Read the explanationOpportunity entrepreneurship
ريادة الفرصةStarting a business because you spotted a market need you can meet, not because you have no other way to earn a living.
Read the explanationSmall and medium enterprises
المشاريع الصغيرة والمتوسطة · SMEBusinesses below a set size in staff or revenue, which make up most companies in nearly every economy.
Read the explanationSocial entrepreneurship
ريادة الأعمال الاجتماعيةBuilding a venture whose main purpose is to solve a social or environmental problem, while earning enough income to sustain itself.
Read the explanationStart and Improve Your Business
برنامج «ابدأ وحسّن مشروعك» · SIYBAn International Labour Organization training programme that teaches small business owners how to start, manage and grow their business through four stages.
Read the explanationStartup
الشركة الناشئةA young company building a product or service designed to grow fast and large, while still working under high uncertainty.
Read the explanationBootcamp
البوتكامبA short, intensive training programme where participants learn practical skills quickly through hands-on work.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
المرصد العالمي لريادة الأعمال · GEMThe largest international survey of entrepreneurship, measuring founders' activity and motives each year across dozens of countries with the same questions.
Hub
المحور (Hub)A place or network that brings founders, companies, mentors and investors together, so they can meet and share know-how and opportunities.
Human capital
رأس المال البشريThe knowledge, skills and experience people hold, one of the main things an entrepreneurial ecosystem needs in order to grow.
Isenberg's entrepreneurship ecosystem model
نموذج إيزنبرغ لمنظومة ريادة الأعمالA framework that splits an entrepreneurial ecosystem into linked domains, including markets, finance, supports, human capital, policy and culture.
Peer support
الدعم بين الأقرانFounders helping each other by sharing experience, advice and contacts, since those who have been through it can best help those going through it.
Venture stages
Customer retention
بقاء العملاءA business's ability to keep customers buying or using its product again and again, instead of leaving after the first try.
Read the explanationKey performance indicators
مؤشرات الأداء · KPIsA small set of numbers a business picks to check, period by period, whether it is moving towards its goals.
Read the explanationMinimum viable product
المنتج الأدنى القابل للتطبيق · MVPThe simplest version of a product that does its core job, offered to real customers to learn whether they use it and pay for it.
Read the explanationPivot
تغيير المسارA major change to a core part of a business, such as the product, customers or revenue model, after evidence shows the current plan is not working.
Read the explanationProduct-market fit
ملاءمة المنتج للسوقThe point where a product has found a market that really wants it: customers buy, come back and recommend it without hard selling.
Read the explanationPrototype
النموذج الأوليAn early, simple version of a product that shows how an idea looks or works, used for testing and explaining rather than for selling.
Read the explanationScaling
التوسعThe stage where a business grows fast in sales, customers or markets, without its costs rising at the same speed.
Read the explanationInvestment
Angel investor
المستثمر الملائكيAn individual who invests their own money in an early-stage startup in exchange for a share of the company.
Read the explanationData room
غرفة البياناتA secure place, usually an online folder, where a startup keeps its key documents for investors to review during due diligence.
Read the explanationDeal flow
تدفق الصفقاتThe number and quality of investment opportunities that reach an investor or fund over a given period.
Read the explanationDemo Day
يوم العرضAn event where a group of startups present their ventures to investors on one day, to open investment conversations.
Read the explanationFollow-on funding
التمويل اللاحقExtra investment a startup raises after its first round, from existing or new investors, to keep growing.
Read the explanationFounder-investor matchmaking
المطابقة بين المؤسس والمستثمرArranging one-to-one meetings between a founder and an investor whose interests fit the venture and its stage, with both sides' agreement.
Read the explanationInvestment readiness
الجاهزية الاستثماريةBeing prepared to meet a serious investor, with clear numbers, organised documents and a convincing story about the problem and market.
Read the explanationIslamic finance
التمويل الإسلاميFinance designed to comply with Islamic law (Sharia), using sale, lease or profit-and-loss sharing arrangements rather than interest.
Read the explanationMicrofinance
التمويل الأصغرSmall loans and financial services offered by specialised institutions to small business owners and people who cannot easily access banks.
Read the explanationPitch
العرض الاستثماريA short presentation in which a founder introduces their venture to investors: problem, solution, market, team, numbers and the funding needed.
Read the explanationPre-seed round
جولة ما قبل البذرةA startup's first round of outside money, usually raised before the product is finished or before any profit.
Read the explanationSAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity)
اتفاقية SAFEAn agreement in which an investor pays a startup now in exchange for the right to shares later, at a future funding round.
Read the explanationSeat sponsorship
رعاية المقعدA sponsor pays the programme fees of a founder who cannot afford them, so cost does not keep them out.
Read the explanationSeed round
جولة البذرةAn early funding round that helps a startup with a product and first customers prove its model and prepare to grow.
Read the explanationValuation
التقييمAn estimate of what a startup is worth in money, which sets the share an investor receives for their investment.
Read the explanationVenture capital
رأس المال الجريء · VCMoney that specialist funds invest in fast-growing startups in exchange for a share of ownership.
Read the explanationInvestment ticket
تذكرة الاستثمارThe amount a single investor puts into a funding round; a "small ticket" usually means the modest amounts angel investors write.
Pitch night
ليلة العرضAn evening event where founders give short presentations of their ventures to an audience that includes investors and potential partners, followed by networking.
Numbers and operations
Budget
الميزانيةA financial plan that estimates how much money a business will bring in and spend over a set period, usually a month or a year.
Read the explanationBusiness model
نموذج العملHow a business creates value for its customers, delivers it to them, and earns money that covers its costs and makes a profit.
Read the explanationCash flow
التدفق النقديThe movement of money into and out of a business over a period, which decides whether it has enough cash to keep going.
Read the explanationCustomer acquisition cost
كلفة اكتساب العميل · CACThe average amount a business spends on marketing and sales to win one new paying customer.
Read the explanationE-commerce
التجارة الإلكترونيةBuying and selling products and services online, through an online store, a marketplace or an app.
Read the explanationE-payment
الدفع الإلكترونيPaying for products and services by digital means, such as cards, e-wallets and app-based transfers, instead of cash.
Read the explanationLiquidity
السيولةThe cash a business has available now, or can turn into cash quickly, to pay near-term bills such as salaries, rent and stock.
Read the explanationPricing
التسعيرSetting the price of a product or service, based on its cost, what competitors charge and what customers are willing to pay.
Read the explanationOnline marketplaces
منصات البيع الجاهزةExisting websites or apps where many sellers list their products, with the platform usually handling orders, payment and sometimes shipping.
Sales channels
قنوات البيعThe routes through which a product reaches customers and gets sold, such as a shop, social media, an online store or a marketplace.
Unit cost
كلفة الوحدةWhat it costs to produce or deliver one unit of a product or service, the basis for setting price and profit margin.
Team
Co-founder
الشريك المؤسسSomeone who starts a company with other founders at an early stage, usually holding a share and sharing responsibility for its decisions.
Read the explanationCompany culture
ثقافة الشركةThe values, habits and everyday ways of working that a company's team shares, which show most clearly in hard decisions rather than in slogans.
Read the explanationDelegation
التفويضHanding a task or decision to a team member, with the authority to carry it out, while the founder follows up on the result.
Read the explanationLegal and policy
Commercial register
السجل التجاريThe official registration of a business with the relevant government authority, which gives it a recognised legal existence.
Read the explanationIntellectual property
الملكية الفكرية · IPLegal rights over creations of the mind, such as a trade name, logo, inventions, software and content.
Read the explanationLicensing
التراخيصThe official approvals a business needs from the relevant authorities to carry out a given activity legally, such as running an app or digital service.
Read the explanationMemorandum of understanding
مذكرة التفاهم · MoUA written document in which two or more parties record a shared goal and how they will work together, usually lighter than a binding contract.
Read the explanationOffshore holding entity
الكيان القانوني خارج سورياA company registered in another country that owns a business operating in Syria, so investors can invest through contracts and instruments they know.
Read the explanationTemporary registration
السجل المؤقتA simplified, time-limited official registration that founders ask for, so a new business can start operating before meeting every requirement of full commercial registration.
Read the explanationGovernance
الحوكمةThe rules and roles that set out who makes decisions in an organisation or company, and how they are overseen and held to account.
Position paper
ورقة الموقفA short document that sets out a problem, an organisation's stance on it and its proposed solutions, usually submitted to government or decision-makers.
Regulatory advocacy
المناصرة التنظيميةOrganised work to persuade government bodies to change rules or procedures that affect founders, based on evidence and a shared position.
From the Syrian market
Diaspora capital
رأس المال المهاجرMoney held by Syrians living abroad when it flows back into Syria, today often as small investments in startups and new ventures.
Read the explanationExchange offices as an investment channel
مكاتب الصرافة بوصفها قناة استثمارUsing money exchange offices, or cash handovers, to move investment into startups instead of a direct bank transfer.
Read the explanationHajji culture
ثقافة الحجيThe traditional way of doing deals in Syrian markets, built on personal acquaintance, reputation and a person's word rather than contracts and formal channels.
Read the explanationSocial commerce
البيع عبر وسائل التواصلSelling products and services directly through social media accounts and messaging apps, such as Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, rather than an online store or marketplace.
Read the explanation"The job is not enough"
«الوظيفة لا تكفي»A common form of necessity entrepreneurship in Syria: people have a job that does not cover living costs, so they run a business as a second income.
Read the explanationThe Syrian school of funding
مدرسة التمويل السوريةA long-standing rule in the Syrian market: a founder should not expect any outside money until the business is making a profit.
Read the explanationUndocumented sales
مبيعات بلا أثر مكتوبReal sales that leave no written record, such as invoices, ledgers or system entries, so they are hard to prove to an investor, partner or funder.
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