Small business accountant searches surge 154% as founders seek financial support
A lack of understanding around common business terms could be holding people back from starting their own ventures, according to new research from Hiscox, with knowledge gaps emerging as one of the biggest barriers to confidence.
Just over half (52%) of Brits would like to own their own business one day. However, confidence is low, with two-thirds (65%) saying they do not feel confident about starting a business. More than a quarter (26%) would describe themselves as ‘very unconfident’.
Hiscox surveyed 1000 people in the UK to explore attitudes towards, and confidence around, entrepreneurship, alongside an analysis of more than 500 business acronyms and phrases to identify the most frequently searched business jargon.
In response, Hiscox has launched an interactive quiz designed to help Brits test how well they understand commonly used business acronyms.
Knowledge gap is one of the biggest barriers to entrepreneurship
A lack of knowledge is one of the key barriers preventing Brits from starting a business, according to Hiscox’s research, with nearly half (45%) saying that it negatively impacts their confidence.
Only access to funding and fear of failure rank higher as obstacles to entrepreneurship (both 47%).
Other factors affecting confidence include economic stability (43%), market demand (32%) and personal motivation (31%).
Are Brits secretly Googling business jargon to keep up at work?
Whether in the boardroom or at their desk, people are turning to Google to decode unfamiliar business terms.
Hiscox surveyed 350 business owners and directors, and 350 employees, to understand how people learn and interpret business terminology in practice.
Both groups say search engines are their first port of call when they encounter unfamiliar business jargon (69% and 62%).
However, differences emerge when it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and social media.
Employees are nearly twice as likely to rely on tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, compared with those in the C-Suite (26% and 15%).
Meanwhile, 16% of business owners turn to social media platforms such as TikTok and LinkedIn, compared to just 8% of employees. TikTok alone hosts more than 1.5 million videos under the #businesstips hashtag.
KPI, DEI and GDPR top list of most confusing business acronyms
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is the most searched business acronym, generating 60,800 monthly searches.
The rankings are based on combined UK Google search volumes for queries such as “what is [term]” and “[term] definition”, highlighting the business language people most frequently look up.
The top ten most searched acronyms are as follows:
Rank | Acronym | Full term | Monthly searches |
1 | KPI | Key Performance Indicator | 60,800 |
2 | DEI | Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | 45,590 |
3 | GDPR | General Data Protection Regulation | 43,480 |
4 | CRM | Customer Relationship Management | 42,800 |
5 | EBITDA | Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation | 33,200 |
6 | SaaS | Software as a Service | 25,200 |
7 | SEO | Search Engine Optimisation | 24,300 |
8 | ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning | 19,800 |
9 | API | Application Programming Interface | 18,500 |
10 | VAT | Value Added Tax | 17,500 |
Even the most widely used workplace terms are still frequently misunderstood or looked up in real time.
To help people benchmark their understanding, Hiscox has launched an interactive quiz based on the most searched acronyms – allowing users to test how well they understand the language at work.
Nick Thornhill, direct and partnerships director at Hiscox, says: “Business terminology is part of everyday working life, but our research shows that many people are still having to look up what these terms actually mean.
“When people don’t feel confident in their understanding, it can hold them back – whether that’s contributing ideas at work or taking the first steps towards starting a business.
“Improving understanding of these core concepts can help people feel more confident, ask the right questions and make informed decisions.”