cottage industry

noun [C]

Definition

› WORKPLACE a small business in which people work in their own homes: They make and market beeswax cosmetics products as a cottage industry. Traditional cottage industries such as handicrafts continue to play a role in the economies of all Asian countries.

› used to talk about a business activity in which there are many individuals or small companies working in ways that are unusual for larger companies: Turning what was basically a cottage industry into a thriving business took energy and determination. At first computer games were produced by a cottage industry of home programmers.

(Definition of cottage industry noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)