What Are Business Services?
Business services are the actions/activities that a company does to maintain its operations, even though they don’t always result in the delivery of tangible goods. These include information technology, procurement, finance, and shipping.
Business services represent a large industry and a common business model, but the core value is intangible. That’s because it takes more than just money to make a profit in a service business, and a company has to keep customers happy in order to stay profitable.
A service has four critical elements—soundness of the offering, efficiency of the operation, management of people, and customer interactions—that determine its success or failure. The key is to get all of them working together to achieve the desired outcome.
Some business services are essential for a company’s success, such as insurance, real estate, and utility services. For example, insurance companies cover employees’ medical and life insurance needs, while real estate agencies help businesses find workspaces. Similarly, utility services provide water, electricity and gas to organizations.
In addition to providing essential services, business services also help a company improve its overall efficiency by outsourcing non-core tasks and focusing on its core competencies. They also offer access to specialized expertise that a company might not otherwise have in-house.
The business services industry in the United States comprises about 420,000 single-location or multi-site businesses with annual revenue of $950 billion. These businesses offer a wide range of opportunities for those interested in a career in this field.