Service businesses

A service business or company is a type of enterprise that generates its profits through intangible methods to satisfy the specific needs of its consumers. This type of business differs from product companies, which create tangible materials and goods that can be used and traded.

The main difference is that services are actions and processes performed with the objective of satisfying specific demands that customers may have. These can be of many types, including maintenance, transportation of people or resources, and training or coaching services.

Characteristics of services

There are an almost unlimited number of services that can be offered through a company. Below is a list of the most common characteristics of all of them:

• They are intangible resources. The primary difference between services and other types of resources, such as products, is that they are intangible. This means that they cannot be felt or observed concretely, but are procedures and actions that can include different materials, locations and elements.

• They cannot be separated. Services have another difference with other types of goods, which in most cases can be separated into their constituent elements. When a service is offered, it is in an integrated mode and is used in the same location. For example, the service offered by a bar cannot be moved to other locations.

• They disappear after use. At the end of a service, it is terminated. It is not possible to reserve a part of it for later consumption, as is the case with a physical product.

• They are very varied. By their very definition, services can vary exponentially from one to another. This characteristic is also given by the multifactorial capacity and the multiple distinctions between all the services that can be provided. In addition to the specific situation of each client and their perception of each aspect of the service.

Types of service businesses

Service businesses can be classified taking into account the types of actions they perform. Here are the most common ones:

• Uniform actions companies: this type of companies contain those that offer services on a constant and recurring basis, so they use payment methods at specific intervals. One of the most used examples of service companies is the Internet, which is charged every month, for a fixed payment offered by the client.
• Precise action companies: Companies of this type are those that offer a specific service with a beginning and an end. This means that they perform a precise