Retail business, evidently small beer (5)
I believe the answer is:
sales
'retail business evidently small beer' is the definition.
'sales' can be an answer for 'retail' (thesaurus). I am not certain of the 'business evidently small beer' bit.
'small beer' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'beer' becomes 'ales' (I've seen this in another clue).
's'+'ales'='SALES'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sales that I've seen before include "Income received for goods and services over a given period" , "Public auctions" , "Periods of price reductions" , "Opportunities to sell" , "Periods when shops sell goods at discounted prices, bargain times" .)