Business services are various tasks and activities that help maintain a company, despite not directly producing a tangible product. In fact, these types of businesses are vital to the operation of most companies, and they often form a large percentage of the economy in many countries. For example, banking, insurance, transportation and waste management are all considered business services. In addition, many of these businesses provide specialized support for other industries like software development and consulting.
In economic theory, business services are the third tier of the three-sector model of economies. Essentially, these businesses offer experiences and consultation for a fee. A lot of the work in this sector is carried out by independent contractors. Some of these workers can be hired through job-seeking websites such as Indeed. Others may work for themselves, specializing in specific areas of the business such as IT support and marketing.
These services are offered by the business to its own internal operations (B2B) as well as end consumers and other businesses (B2C). Typically, the value of these services is intangible. For example, a food service business provides not only its physical good, but also the ambience and setting it creates for customers to enjoy their meal.
Another type of business service is utilities, which help keep companies running smoothly. For example, a water utility company delivers drinking water to its customers. Other kinds of business services include translation and interpretation, which facilitate communication between employees or clients who speak different languages. Additionally, tech support professionals help resolve computer and networking problems so that employees can stay productive.