Collocations for business - noun

big
profitable
private
core
It's time to focus on the company's core business.

retail, wholesale
online
Supermarkets are doing more online business.

competitive, tough
Retail is a tough business.

catering, computer, consulting, insurance, investment, etc.
He spent his whole life in the insurance business.

entertainment, movie (esp. AmE), music, newspaper
We're not trying to educate—we're in the entertainment business.

carry on (often law), conduct, do, transact (formal)
a company that has ceased to carry on business
He's someone I can do business with (= that I find it easy to deal with).

work in
She works in the computer business.

go into, set up in
go out of
The company went out of business during the recession.

put sb/sth out of
The new regulations will put many small companies out of business.

help
He argues that tax cuts will help business.

understand
Nobody understands the music business better than him.

deal, transaction
opportunity, venture
meeting
lunch
travel, trip
person (see also businessman, businesswoman)
traveller/traveler
expense
Meals are considered a business expense.

community, sector, world
executive, leader, manager
a conference of women business leaders

associate, partner
contact
relationship
They developed a lasting business relationship.

affairs, interests, matters
decision
It was purely a business decision.

ethics
development
investment
secret
to protect business secrets

model, plan, strategy
a business model for using electronic commerce

practice
It's good business practice to listen to your customers.

acumen
card
attire (esp. AmE), suit
He wore a business suit.

hours
You can call the helpline during normal business hours.

school
studies
major (AmE)
park
The company's offices are located in the new business park out of town.

district
the city's main business district

in business
He's in business.
What business are you in?
All we need is a car and we'll be in business (= we'll have everything we need to start what we want to do).

on business
I'm going to Paris on business.

business as usual (= things will continue as normal in spite of a difficult situation)
It's business as usual at the factory.

business or pleasure
Is the trip to Rome business or pleasure?

mix business with pleasure
When I travel overseas I like to mix business with pleasure.

my, his, her etc. own business
He left the department to start his own business.

a place of business

brisk, good
Business was brisk and they had sold out by midday.

bad, slack (esp. BrE), slow
new
They've cut their rates to attract new business.

repeat
Our repeat business is 50% or higher.

do
They're doing good business in Asia.

attract, drum up, generate
She's in Europe drumming up business for her new company.

tout for (BrE)
insurance salesmen touting for business

affect, hurt
Cheap imports are hurting business for domestic producers.

lose
We're losing business to our main rivals.

handle
We took on temporary staff to handle the extra business.

boom, grow
Business is booming for the big pharmaceutical companies.

pick up
After a slack period, business is now picking up.

slow, slow down
Business has slowed considerably in recent months.

large, medium-sized, small
new
loans for people to start new businesses

family, family-owned
global, international, local
private
state-owned
booming, lucrative, profitable, successful, thriving, viable
The family owns a booming construction business.

Internet, online, Web
She runs a successful online business.

traditional
Traditional businesses are having to compete with the Internet.

mail-order, retail, wholesale
catering, grocery (esp. AmE), hairdressing, restaurant, etc.
She had her own hairdressing business.

legitimate
These laws make life more difficult for legitimate businesses.

have, own
manage, operate, run
It was always my dream to run my own business.

establish, launch, set up, start
They decided to start their own business.

build, build up
We built up the business from nothing.

expand, grow
We are looking to grow the business over the next couple of years.

work in
He works in the family business.

enter, join
After leaving school she entered the family business.

leave
buy, take over
sell

do well, flourish, succeed, take off, thrive
After six months the business really took off.

expand, grow
The business is expanding fast.

collapse, fail
be based in
He owns a management consulting business based in Santa Barbara.

assets, premises
failure
owner

daily
real
He needs time and space to get on with the real business of writing.

get on with, go about
market traders going about their daily business

make sth
I shall make it my business to find out who is responsible.

have no business doing sth, have no business to do sth (esp. BrE)
You have no business (= no right) being here.

keep your nose out of sb's business, mind your own business
Keep your nose out of my business!
‘What are you reading?’ ‘Mind your own business!’
I was just sitting there, minding my own business, when a man started shouting at me.

no business of yours, none of your business
My private life is none of your business (= does not concern you).

private
important, pressing, urgent
official
This isn't a social call—I've come on official business.

unfinished
We have some unfinished business to discuss.

get down to
OK, let's get down to business.

deal with, discuss, talk
I'm not going to talk business tonight.

finish
Jack and I finished our business early, so we went to lunch.

any other business (= items discussed at the end of a meeting)
I think we've finished item four. Now, is there any other business?

mean business (= be serious about doing something)
He says he's going to make changes, and I think he means business.

whole
I'll be glad when the whole business is over and done with.

dirty, messy
I'm just glad to be out of the whole dirty business.

bad, sorry, terrible (all esp. BrE)
It was a bad business—he couldn't work for months.

funny, strange (esp. BrE)
dangerous, risky, tricky
Changing your life can be a risky business.

serious
Having fun is a serious business.