What Are Business Services?
Business services are activities that benefit companies without supplying a physical product. These services help with marketing, production, safety, cost and convenience and can be a critical part of a company’s success. They include IT support, facility management and training, legal services, human resources and payroll management. The sector is important for both the economy and individual workers. It contributes about 11% of the EU’s gross domestic product and provides a variety of jobs. The EU has been implementing measures to increase competitiveness and growth through the services directive, which allows businesses to easily move workers between countries and to provide services across borders.
These services can be provided in-house by an organization or by a third party. For example, a company might hire a landscaping or pest control service to keep its workplaces neat and free from insects. However, it might also outsource these tasks to a cleaning service or to an IT support firm. These types of external providers typically offer better pricing than in-house employees and may be able to do the work more quickly.
Other businesses might use a warehousing or logistics service to store products and deliver them to their clients. This type of business-to-business shipping can help companies reach customers faster, which can be critical in today’s fast-paced world. The cost of these services can be less than the costs of hiring an employee and acquiring or maintaining equipment for this purpose.
A business-to-business marketing service can help a company expand its customer base and reach new markets, which can boost its bottom line. This type of service helps companies stay up-to-date on trends and innovations in the market, which can lead to increased revenue. These services can also save companies money by eliminating the need for in-house marketing staff.
Companies use business-to-business technology services to improve productivity and efficiency by enabling them to focus on core competencies. They can outsource these tasks to external providers, which often have more specialized expertise than in-house employees and can scale their operations up or down depending on demand.
A job in business services is a great fit for people with strong interpersonal skills, says Jennifer Spinelli, founder and CEO of home-buying service Watson Buys and an IT management and operations consultant. However, the industry can be stressful and requires the ability to meet deadlines. If you do not like to work in a high-stress environment, this is probably not the right career path for you, she adds. In addition, many roles in this field require travel to client sites or meetings. This can be challenging for people who need to find childcare or care for dependents. Fortunately, the number of remote jobs in this field is growing. This gives parents and grandparents the option to work from home and allows others to choose a role that fits into their life and schedule.