Reckon recently asked 1,000 Australian office workers about their use and attitudes towards corporate jargon. One quarter (24 per cent) of those surveyed said they found jargon confusing, while 21 per cent regarded it negatively. “Ducks in a row” was respondents’ most hated phrase, closely followed by “reinvent the wheel” and “put a pin in it”.
With the research circulating through the headlines last month to much community fanfare, we decided to ask small-business owners what SME-related jargon they disliked the most, focusing specifically on jargon related to running or starting a business. Here’s what topped their list.
1. “Side hustle”
A side hustle generally refers to a small business or other undertaking that someone runs alongside their day job. One small-business owner told us that she dislikes it as she believes it minimises small-business owners’ efforts.
“If I never hear the words “side hustle” again it will be too soon!” said Judith Treanor of Temples and Markets. “It sounds like a hobby rather than a small business enterprise. I belong to several FB groups of mums and female biz owners – when they use this term about their business it diminishes their credibility.”
2. “Scalability horizon”
A variation on scalability (the ability to increase revenues faster than costs increase), this one was mentioned by a few respondents. A common criticism was that it makes an already complicated concept more difficult to understand.
“When it comes to jargon, I’m definitely exhausted by terms like the ubiquitous “scalability horizon’,” said Michael Black, Founder of Success Tutoring. “These words often blur the meaning rather than clarify it, making it harder to engage teams and customers in a way that feels genuine.”
3. “Pivot”
Small businesses have long been talking about about “pivoting”, or switching a strategic direction to better meet the needs of the market. Small-business owners that reached out to ISB found it both irritating and overused.
“Pivot is often overused to describe any change or adjustment in business strategy, suggesting a constant need for dramatic shifts rather than thoughtful iteration,” said Tara Jacobsen, CEO of Groei.
“The buzzword ‘pivot’ gives me the irrits, particularly in the context of entrepreneurial startups and small business,” said Christian Klopfer, founder of Oztables. “Seriously, how could leadership contemplate pivoting to a totally different direction when your business has only commenced? Your business is developing, your strategy is taking shape. It can find new angles and opportunities, but no don’t tell me you’re needing to pivot when it’s early days.”
4. “$10k months”
One small-business owner had stern words for those who use misleading metrics to give the impression of business success.
“When I see messaging around “$10k months” or whatever metric of success business coaches are using, but they’re talking about revenue, not profit,” says Ashlee Bunney, a Perth-based wedding celebrant. “At the end of the day, it’s dollars in the bank that matters. Income vs expenses. Profit and loss. Not just a flashy amount of money in.”
5. “Growth hacking”
Growth hacking is an umbrella term for marketing techniques that aim to grow a company quickly – hence the “hacking” aspect. Once again, small-business owners complained of its overuse, as well as its obfuscation of meaning.
“An overused term to describe pretty much any marketing tactic ever known to mankind,” explained small business coach and author Andrew Griffiths. “Growth and hacking fit the mood and investor appeal for a start up as part of the cool people lingo.”
“Everything now is growth hacking,” complained Jason Tan, founder of Engage AI.
What’s wrong with small business jargon?
In sum, jargon and buzzwords aren’t just annoying and tiresome. The small-business owners we spoke to also had concerns about their ability to create confusion or deliberately mislead.
“Australia has adopted a lot of Silicon Valley speak for its innovation ecosystem and in so many cases this isn’t relevant to us, nor does it translate to our economy or start-up demographic,” said Tara Jacobsen, co-founder of Groei.
“We work with regional founders in Australia,” she explained. “Many of them wouldn’t even use “entrepreneur” as language about themselves, yet they are growing businesses that create the farm income through an innovation that was designed out of necessity.”
This post was originally published on here
