A service involves helping someone in exchange for a fee. To provide value through a service, your work must benefit the user.
To create a successful service-oriented business, you must:
- Have employees who possess a skill that others require but can’t or won’t use themselves.
- Make sure that the service is provided with high quality on a regular basis.
- Find and keep paying customers.
A good example of a service business is a lawn care provider. A mowed lawn is not a Product – you can’t buy one at the grocery store. The service is a set of actions that the provider takes to change the current look of your lawn into the one you want. Other examples of service providers include accountants, tutors, babysitters, plumbers, wedding planners, and personal trainers.
Services can pay extremely well, especially if the skills needed to provide them are difficult to develop. The drawback, however, is that they’re difficult to Duplicate.
Services usually depend on the provider’s investment of time and energy, both of which are limited. A masseuse can only provide so many massages in a day.
If you’re offering a service, charge enough to compensate for the time you’ll be investing everyday in providing the service to your customers. Otherwise, your financial rewards won’t be worth the effort.
To learn more about a service as a form of value, check out The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman.
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