core business

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   the main activity that a company does and earns most of its money from

   Grammar: Usually used with the or a possessive: the core business, its core business. The plural core businesses is used when a company has more than one main activity.

   Patterns

   • the core business of a company
   • a company's core business
   • focus on your core business
   • core business activities

   After selling its hotels, the group went back to its core business of running supermarkets.

   Online sales are now the core business of many small publishers.

   They decided to protect the core business first and try new products later.

2. 2nounsingular

   the most important or central part of an activity, organization, or system

   Grammar: Used with the, often followed by of: the core business of the committee. It is not usually plural in this meaning.

   Patterns

   • the core business of something
   • be somebody's core business

   Helping students find work is the core business of the careers office.

   Keeping the streets safe is the core business of any police force.

Word forms

Common combinations

focus on your core business

The new manager told us to focus on our core business instead of chasing every new idea.

return to your core business

After two years of losses, the chain returned to its core business.

core business activities

Training and support are core business activities, not extras.

protect the core business

During the downturn, the board worked hard to protect the core business.

outside the core business

The company sold everything outside its core business.

Synonyms and how they differ

main business

A plainer everyday phrase; it simply means the biggest part of what a company does, without suggesting that other parts are less central.

bread and butter

Informal and figurative; it stresses the steady work that pays the bills, and is too casual for a formal report.

specialty

American spelling of speciality; it points to one area of expertise rather than the whole main activity of a company.

Opposites

Word family

core noun

the central or most important part of something

business noun

the activity of buying and selling goods and services

businessman noun

a man who works in business, especially at a senior level

businesslike adjective

efficient and practical in the way you work

Commonly confused: core business or core competency? core business or head office?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “core business”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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