Business services are the services that help a company operate, from accounting and IT to marketing and legal support. These services help companies save time and money, improve productivity and efficiency, and stay competitive. They can be provided by in-house staff or external service providers, and can be customized to meet a company’s specific needs.
Unlike products, which must be designed and manufactured to be compellingly sold, services do not have an obvious physical form and are experience-based. To succeed, service businesses need a highly skilled workforce, efficient processes, a well-defined customer value proposition and innovative ways to deliver the service at an attractive price. Companies that are unable to compete with single-focused upstarts in any of these areas may struggle to survive, but even incumbents that fail to master all four elements can thrive by combining their unique strengths in a way that creates new value for customers.
Services can be either business-to-business or business-to-consumer. In the former, a company provides services to other businesses such as its own. Examples include IT services such as help desk support, data storage and networking, or marketing services such as search engine optimization or social media management. In the latter, a company provides services to consumers, such as online banking or credit card processing. Companies in this sector typically have a wider scope of services and a more diverse customer base.
The Business Services page enables you to view and sort your Business Services by their favorite status, defined by the star icon next to each service name. Click the icon to add a service to your favorites list. Favorited services display at the top of the Business Services list by default. To remove a service from your favorites list, click the icon again.
A career in business services offers opportunities for advancement, but the field can be stressful. Employees in the field often work with a high degree of pressure, and “if you don’t have good interpersonal and communication skills, this isn’t for you,” says Drewbie Wilson, vice president of Break Free Academy, which provides training to sales professionals, entrepreneurs and executives on topics such as lead generation. Nevertheless, jobs in business services can be rewarding for those who are passionate about what they do and enjoy working with people. They can also offer a flexible schedule for those who need it, as many of these positions allow employees to work remotely. This can be helpful for people who have children or other obligations that require them to be at home at certain times. In addition, business services workers can find work in areas of the country with a greater shortage of jobs than in other sectors. For example, in the retail industry, many stores have shifted from store-based sales to online and phone-based sales. This shift has created jobs for individuals who can perform these sales tasks from a remote location. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that employment in this area will increase 2.1% annually through 2030.