Business services are a broad category of intangible goods that are sold to organizations as opposed to individual consumers. These include everything from consulting and advisory services, such as legal advice or a marketing plan to IT infrastructure support and administrative tasks such as payroll processing and shipping. The industry also encompasses language and translation services, travel management, waste handling, staffing and administration, and the provision of other ancillary services. Almost every company requires at least one of these services in order to operate.

A service-based business model requires less start-up money than product-based businesses, but it is important to offer excellent customer service to maintain and grow your client base. You can do this by creating systems for accepting online bookings, quoting work, scheduling jobs, communicating with clients before and after job completion, and invoicing your customers. It is also important to set clear standards and expectations for your employees, and train them to adhere to these standards.

While there are a number of different ways that companies provide their business services, the most common include providing a service as part of an existing organization or offering it independently as a consultant. Other popular methods include outsourcing, in which the company outsources the production of a particular service to an outside company, and shared services, in which a group of internal or external services are consolidated and managed by a single group within the organization.

The business services sector is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and offers a variety of opportunities for workers in many countries. It is a highly competitive industry, however, and many businesses fail. Those that succeed focus on building long-term value and embracing innovation. In addition to focusing on delivering high-quality service, companies must have strong leadership and be able to adapt to change quickly.

This section presents data on employment and unemployment in the Professional and Business Services supersector. The data includes both employment and unemployed estimates for full-time, private employees by occupation. The data is compiled from employer or establishment surveys and a national survey of households. The data is available for the following geographical areas:

This section provides an overview of the main trends in the European economy and analyzes the effects of the recent economic crisis on Europe’s business services sector. It also looks at the role of European institutions in supporting the development and growth of business services, and discusses the impact of globalization on this sector. Finally, the article examines some of the key challenges facing the future of European business services and outlines some possible solutions.