Business services is a broad industry consisting of an assortment of businesses. It includes everything from professional, scientific and technical services to insurance and real estate agencies. The industry is one of the fastest-growing segments in the economy, and it offers plenty of opportunities for those with a range of skill sets, from accounting to marketing and finance.
A business service is a task or activity that aids a business despite not delivering any tangible product. For instance, information technology is one such service that supports various other business services like procurement, finance and shipping.
The Business services sector provides a valuable opportunity to deploy TPG’s operational capabilities and growth strategies to companies that offer these services, leveraging our deep industry knowledge. As businesses seek to reduce fixed costs and outsource non-core services, we expect to see a growing need for these types of businesses.
Management challenges
A major challenge for a business service company is managing the service itself. It can’t survive if the service doesn’t effectively meet customers’ needs and desires.
When designing a business service, managers must shift their thinking and focus on the experiences customers want to have instead of just describing what a product does. This can make service design a much more difficult process than product design.
Defining business services requires some powerful techniques to translate what the customer actually needs (and not just the customer’s expectations), into simple measurable requirements that can be translated into a service model. The service model will determine how a service is delivered and its position in the market. It will also define the assets and resources required to deliver the service.