Dictionary

cost of doing business en · NOUN

Etymology

Originally a literal phrase, the cost of doing business, i.e. the ordinary expenses of running a commercial enterprise. The figurative sense, with the expanded meaning of any accepted negative consequence involved in pursuing a goal, became established in American English by the mid-to-late 20th century.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:often literal) The total ordinary expenses, such as materials, labor, and taxes, necessarily incurred in operating a commercial enterprise.
   • Once you factor in rent, staff, and inventory, the cost of doing business around here eats up nearly half of gross revenue.
2. (idiomatic) An unwelcome or regrettable but predictable and unavoidable risk, loss, or inconvenience accepted as an inherent part of pursuing a particular goal or aim, especially when the risk may be impractical or counterproductive to try to reduce or eliminate.
   • Civilian casualties are just the cost of doing business when conducting a military operation in a dense urban enviroment.
   • Sexual harassment settlements: ‘cost of doing business’ 2011, CNN, Sexual harassment settlements: ‘cost of doing business’ (article title)

Relateds

overhead · cost–benefit analysis · sunk cost

Synonyms

the price you pay · part of the deal (weaker, narrower) · occupational hazard · comes with the territory · part of the package · price of doing business

Translations (4)

ja 商売の代償 (unavoidable expense or risk accepted as routine) · es el costo de hacer negocios (unavoidable expense or risk accepted as routine) · de die Kosten des Geschäfts (unavoidable expense or risk accepted as routine) · fr frais du métier (unavoidable expense or risk accepted as routine)