Sell Services

Spotted strong demand for a service? When people or businesses are struggling to find someone able to do something they need, that gap can create an opportunity for existing providers and people considering starting something new. Service opportunities can be local, regional or national. They might involve practical household services, specialist trades, professional expertise, business-to-business services or services delivered entirely online. Unlike selling products, many service opportunities can be tested without committing significant money to stock. The important questions are whether the demand is genuine, whether customers will pay enough and whether you can deliver the service reliably.

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Ways To Respond To Service Demand

There is more than one way to take advantage of increasing demand for a service.

• Offer the service yourself – particularly where you already have the necessary skills, experience or qualifications.
• Expand an existing business – add capacity or move into an area where demand appears stronger.
• Add a related service – existing customers can sometimes provide the easiest market for a complementary service.
• Build a small local business – recurring demand in one town or area can sometimes support a specialist local provider.
• Take an existing service into a new area – a service readily available in one location may be difficult to obtain somewhere else.
• Deliver the service remotely – some business, professional, creative and technical services can be supplied nationally rather than being limited by location.
• Package existing expertise differently – businesses may be willing to pay for a clearly defined solution rather than general assistance charged by the hour.

The opportunity does not necessarily require starting an entirely new business. For an established provider, unmet demand can simply point towards a useful new service, location or type of customer.

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Work Out Who Actually Needs The Service

“Demand for a service” is only the beginning. Try to identify exactly who has the problem. Is the likely customer:

• A householder?
• A landlord or property owner?
• A small business?
• A larger company?
• A particular profession or industry?
• A public-sector organisation?
• Someone in a particular location?

The more precisely you can define the customer and the problem they need solving, the easier it becomes to decide what to offer, how much to charge and where to find customers.

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Check Whether People Will Actually Pay

Evidence that people are searching or asking for a service is encouraging, but it does not automatically prove that a profitable market exists. Before investing significant time or money, investigate:

• What existing providers charge
• How quickly competitors can respond
• Whether customers appear dissatisfied with existing availability
• Whether the requirement is urgent or optional
• Whether customers need the service once or repeatedly
• How much time and travel would be involved
• What it will cost you to acquire each customer

One of the strongest tests is a real customer prepared to pay a real price.

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Start Small Where Possible

One advantage of many service opportunities is that they can be tested without buying large quantities of stock. Rather than building an elaborate website, buying equipment and committing to substantial overheads immediately, it may be possible to find a handful of potential customers and test the proposition first. Those early customers can tell you whether the demand is genuine, what people actually want, what they will pay and how long the work takes to deliver. You can then decide whether the evidence justifies expanding.

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Work Out What To Charge

Being busy is not the same as being profitable. When setting a price, consider more than the time spent directly providing the service. Depending on the business, your costs might include:

• Travel time and mileage
• Equipment and materials
• Insurance
• Software and subscriptions
• Advertising and customer acquisition
• Administration and bookkeeping
• Time spent quoting for work
• Cancellations or non-payment
• Tax

Look at competing prices, but do not assume that the cheapest provider has the right business model. Where demand substantially exceeds available supply, competing purely on price may make little sense.

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Could It Become Recurring Revenue?

Some service opportunities are one-off jobs. Others naturally repeat. Consider whether customers might need the service weekly, monthly, annually or whenever a particular event occurs. Maintenance, monitoring, cleaning, servicing, administration and many business services can sometimes be offered through ongoing arrangements rather than starting from zero with every sale. Recurring customers can make a service business more predictable and reduce the amount of continual marketing required.

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Check Whether You Need A Licence Or Permission

Some services can be started with relatively few formal requirements. Others are regulated or require licences, registrations, permits or specific qualifications. The requirements depend entirely on what you intend to do. GOV.UK provides a licence finder that can help identify licences that may apply to particular business activities. Find licences for your business – GOV.UK Do this research before advertising a service if there is any possibility that the activity is regulated.

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Qualifications And Competence

Some services require formal qualifications or registration. In other cases there may be no legal qualification requirement, but customers will still expect evidence that you are competent to do the work. Check the rules applying to the specific service rather than assuming that because somebody else offers it, anyone is permitted to do so. This becomes particularly important where the work involves areas such as health, safety, electrical work, gas, finance, legal matters, children or vulnerable people.

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Think About Insurance

The insurance you may need will depend on the service you provide and how the business operates. Possible types of cover include:

• Public liability insurance – relevant where your work could cause injury to a member of the public or damage to their property.
• Professional indemnity insurance – potentially important where customers rely on your professional advice, expertise or services.
• Cover for equipment, premises or vehicles – depending on what you use to provide the service.
• Employers’ liability insurance – normally a legal requirement once you employ people.

Business.gov.uk has a useful guide explaining the main types of business insurance and which forms of cover may be legally required or worth considering. Insuring your business – Business.gov.uk

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Starting A New Business?

If responding to the opportunity means starting a business for the first time, there are several ways you might operate, including as a sole trader or through a limited company. The Government provides guidance covering business structures, tax, registration and the practical steps involved in starting a business. Set up a business – GOV.UK Avoid making the structure more complicated than it needs to be, but understand your tax and legal responsibilities before you start trading.

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How Will Customers Find You?

The answer depends heavily on the type of service. A local household service may depend on recommendations and local searches, while a specialist business service could find customers through direct contact, professional networks or industry relationships. Possible routes include:

• Google and other search engines
• Local business listings
• Social media and community groups
• Specialist directories and marketplaces
• Recommendations and referrals
• Direct approaches to potential business customers
• Partnerships with businesses serving similar customers
• Your own website

Start with the places where people already look when they have the problem you solve rather than trying every marketing channel at once.

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Look Beyond Private Customers

Some services can also be sold to public-sector organisations. The Government’s Find a Tender service publishes public procurement opportunities, including contracts for many different types of services. Search public-sector opportunities – Find a Tender Public-sector contracting will not suit every small service business, but it can be worth investigating where the service is regularly purchased by councils, government departments, health organisations or other public bodies.

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Get Free Business Support

If you want help assessing or developing a service business, government-backed business support is available. Business.gov.uk provides information and support for starting and growing a business, and can direct businesses towards relevant support. Find business support – Business.gov.uk There are also local and regional business support organisations that may offer advice, programmes and other assistance.

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Need Finance To Act?

Some service opportunities require very little initial investment. Others may require equipment, premises, vehicles, marketing or additional working capital. If you have identified an opportunity and need funding to start or grow the business, see Fund Opportunities for possible routes to finance.

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Looking For Services That Are In Demand?

Demand Hunt monitors emerging demand and evidence that particular services are becoming difficult to obtain. See Demand Hunt Live for the current demand signals we are tracking.

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Is The Opportunity About Workers Or Skills?

There is an important difference between customers struggling to find a particular service and employers struggling to find enough people with particular skills. If the opportunity relates to vacancies, worker shortages, recruitment or supplying people rather than providing the underlying service, see our Recruitment Opportunities guide.