Small Business Support Services
Support Services for Start up Companies
Business support service began as a secretarial service or typing service, but with the changes in the business landscape and advances in technology, the industry has also evolved to offer an array of other services.
The name itself is intended to cover in general terms a host of functions that could fall under it.
This industry is also referred to as “administrative support services" or "office support services," according to Entrepreneur.com.
Entrepreneur.com states that, now support services could refer to word processing, tape transcription, phone-in dictation, desktop publishing, spreadsheet design, college papers and reports, telephone answering, mail receiving and forwarding, packing and shipping, database/mailing list management, bookkeeping, check preparation and billing, resume preparation, proofreading, print brokering, fax sending and receiving, photocopying, notary, internet research, web page design and maintenance, event planning, consulting, and training.
These support services are subscribed to the public, large corporations and even small businesses. Small businesses compose the largest market that avail of these services. They usually outsource specific tasks to save on cost and to benefit from the expertise of companies that specialized on these services. The most common services they subscribed to are word processing, faxing, photocopying, shipping, desktop publishing, mailing list management, dictation and transcription.
A business support service provider could be your savior if you're a small business owner, who might have an immediate, but short-term support need, and who couldn't hire an employee because zoning laws prevented you from doing so, or you don't have enough space or work to keep an employee. You get the advantage of having extra hand to do the work as you need it, without having to train, or manage payroll.
Business support service providers usually price their work either by page or the hour, depending on the complexity of the service and the skill required doing the task. The Association of Business Support Services International (ABSSI) puts basic word processing, routine clerical services, simple proofreading as services at the lowest end of its 5-level categorization of hourly rates; and consulting and training at the highest, with Desktop publishing, spreadsheet design, simple web page design, simple web page maintenance in the middle. According to it, service provider charge $7-$40 for basic word processing, $7-$75 for desktop publishing, and $15-$45 for general transcription. ABSSI's Web site has a directory of business-support services and further information regarding pricing and other topics.
Meanwhile, if you are an entrepreneur looking to start a service business, you'd be glad to know that you could do it with relatively low startup costs. There are those who only used their personal savings and equipment to start their businesses. What more, you can operate it part-time from home or from a commercial location. Now, if you are intent on taking the plunge, be advised that it's wise to choose a niche market to focus on, so that you can tailor your service to that well-defined market. As to the question of how to price your services, again, you can refer to ABSSI’s Web site for guide.
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