Business services are a subset of economic services that create value for businesses, but don’t result in the production of physical goods. Examples include office equipment repair, training, software support and consulting. Business services can be delivered by a wide range of entities, from professional organizations to government agencies.
For example, a company may contract with an outside firm to deliver payroll processing, accounting or legal services. The resulting value for the client is higher productivity and efficiency and cost savings. Other services that can be classified as business services include warehousing, shipping and distribution functions, and value-added activities such as sorting bulk goods into customized lots, packaging, performing light assembly and labeling. These specialized functions have become particularly important for firms that manufacture products in multiple locations around the world, and then resell them through distributors.
The business service industry is growing quickly worldwide because of increased demand for services that allow companies to focus their efforts on their core product development and marketing. As a result, many new businesses are emerging in the global marketplace, offering an array of specialized business services.
A number of factors are driving this growth. One is increased affluence, which has allowed consumers to purchase and use more services such as lawn care, home cleaning and drycleaning. Another factor is a shift in work force demographics, which has allowed women to enter the workforce and take on more responsibility at home and in the workplace.
In addition to providing valuable customer experiences, the business services industry has also grown because of its ability to reduce the overall costs of a company’s operations. Companies can save money by outsourcing some of their noncore business services, rather than hiring full-time employees to perform these tasks.
Some business services can be delivered over the Internet, such as web hosting and remote backups. These services are sometimes referred to as managed services or “as-a-service” offerings. However, other business services are not able to be delivered over the Internet and must be performed on-site. This includes such services as accounting, marketing and consulting.
Creating a business service can be done by clicking the New Business Service button on the Services menu. A new page is displayed, which asks for information about the business service and its supporting services. The information entered in this form is shown on the Business Services Dashboard in SL1.
If a business service is a favorite, it displays at the top of the list by default. Favorite services can be sorted by selecting the star icon on the Business Services page, or they can be filtered on the Business Services Dashboard. To delete a service from the list of favorites, click the Actions button for that service and select Delete. To add a service to the list of favorites, click the star icon again. This feature is only available in SL1. To learn more about how to customize the Business Services Dashboard, see Creating Custom Dashboards.