Whether it’s the design of a new logo, a video production or a website update, businesses rely on business services to get the job done. But not all business services are created equal, and understanding what makes a successful service business can help you make the right career choice for your skills, interests and needs.
What are Business services?
The term “business services” is a broad one, and it includes any type of support that helps a company operate. This includes everything from marketing and IT to shipping and administrative support. The industry is also known as the services sector and accounts for nearly half of the world’s economy. Regardless of their size or location, all companies require some kind of business services.
Many people think of professional and management services when they hear the term business services, but there are actually many more types. These include utilities (like a power company that charges commercial customers based on energy consumption), real estate services (like an office space brokerage firm) and even day care services and landscapers (to help employees maintain a healthy work-life balance).
Business services are different from other types of businesses because they don’t involve the creation of a tangible product. Instead, they provide a value-added experience to the customer by meeting a specific need that a company has. These services might be more difficult to define than a traditional product-based business, but they are just as important for the economic health of the world’s economies.
As such, it is crucial for governments and business leaders to keep an eye on the trends in this growing sector. This is particularly true when it comes to the potential for new technologies to disrupt how companies operate. For example, ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft are transforming transportation, and they could eventually change how businesses rely on logistics and transport companies to ship products and services.
While it is still unclear exactly what the future of these disruptive technologies will look like, experts are starting to understand what they might mean for the way that companies use business services. This will ultimately impact the way that government regulations are designed to protect and promote this sector in the future.
As a result, there is still plenty of room for growth in this important industry. With that in mind, the European Union has taken steps to encourage this sector’s competitiveness by removing obstacles and stimulating growth through a number of policy actions. These include the Services DirectiveEN***, which allows business service providers to more easily establish themselves in another EU country and provide cross-border services. This is just one of the many ways that the EU is working to improve business services throughout Europe.