When speaking of the service sector, services can be classified into three broad categories, viz., business services, social services and personal services. These have been explained in the following:
Business Services: Business services are those services which are used by business enterprises for the conduct of their activities. For example: banking, insurance, transportation, warehousing and communication services.
Social Services: Social services are those services that are generally provided voluntarily in pursuit of certain social goals. These social goals may be to improve the standard of living for weaker sections of society, to provide educational services to their children or to provide health care arid hygienic conditions in slum areas. These services are usually provided voluntarily but for some consideration to cover their costs. For example: health care and education services provided by certain Non-government organizations (NG0s) and government agencies.
Personal Services: Personal services are those services which are experienced differently by different customers. These services cannot be consistent in nature. They will differ depending upon the service provider. They will also depend upon customer’s preferences and demands. For example: tourism, recreational services, restaurants. In the context of better understanding of the business world, we will be limiting our further discussions to the first category of the service sector i.e. business services.
