Business services are non-tangible goods that help businesses accomplish their trade operations. These services can range from simple utilities such as a computer infrastructure platform to advisory services offered by investment banks regarding business financing or top level strategy such as mergers.
The business services industry provides a wide range of value-added functions that can be added to both manufacturing and service sectors like logistics, warehousing, waste handling, staffing, transportation and other administrative services. In addition, the industry has recently been used to provide a broader range of services in conjunction with the manufacturing process itself, including’service-augmented’ or’service-oriented’ production.
One key feature of business services is that they are not stockable – unlike goods, which can be stored for consumption at some point in the future, services are consumed on demand, as they are produced. This is because they are a service-oriented rather than a product-oriented industry.
As part of the services-providing industries supersector, the business services sector includes a broad range of activities that are essential to the operation of business enterprises: legal, accounting and consulting services, property and equipment maintenance services, financial and information management services, and advertising and marketing services.
In the United States, jobs in the professional and business services sector are among the fastest-growing occupations. Moreover, many jobs in the business services industry can be performed remotely, which is an attractive feature for workers who want to avoid commuting and work from home or other locations that offer good internet connections. This is driving growth in a number of different fields, including data analytics, software development, sales and customer support.