cottage industry

American  

noun

1. the production, for sale, of goods at home, as the making of handicrafts by rural families.

2. any small-scale, loosely organized industry.

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cottage industry British  

noun

1. an industry in which employees work in their own homes, often using their own equipment

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Etymology

Origin of cottage industry

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

A whole cottage industry has also developed online to advise landlords how to flip rental properties.

From BBC • May 20, 2026

Strange, considering the medium made true-crime and horror storytelling into a viable cottage industry.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

There is a cottage industry of “tell-all” media about Kennedy and Bessette’s relationship, much of it powered by the people who have claimed to be close to them.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

An entire cottage industry of startups and consultants has emerged to help retailers and brands ensure their products appear in AI search results, a field called Generative Engine Optimization.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026

If eugenics was becoming a cottage industry in Germany, it was already a full-fledged national operation in America.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee