How to pick the right business service provider

Business services — where business functions like accounting, procurement and people operations are performed by one business for another — can be a lifeline and time saver for many companies. However, not all such services are created equally. 

When providers can’t strategise and deliver, customers get let down — in fact, nine out of 10 senior leaders think value is trapped in operational processes, with 29% trapped in outdated processes, according to survey of 150 senior leaders conducted by business service company Liberty Blume in 2025.

“The most important thing for organisations in growth mode is getting to scale, growing revenue and securing market share,” David Feavearyear, managing director procurement services at Liberty Blume, tells Sifted. 

“Back office functions often get neglected in the furore, which results in processes and tools having to be retro-fitted after the event. Much easier to get things right from day one!”

So, how do you pick the right business service provider for you? 

Adding value

This is where technology-enabled business services enter the chat. Feavearyear says these services can help growth-stage companies create fit-for-purpose processes enabled by ‘best of breed’ tech from day one. They also establish people, processes and systems that scale with the business, and provide access to experienced talent on a fractional basis — avoiding the need to compromise between cost and impact.

Jade Bouhmouch is chief operating officer at nature-based carbon credit startup Revalue and uses a range of specialist business service providers across finance, legal and operational support. He says having strong partners in accounting and legal has been key for the business.

“A reliable accounting partner is particularly important in emerging industries like ours to help navigate finance ambiguity,” says Bouhmouch. “Flexible fractional finance support has also been invaluable for managing the peaks and troughs of our finance needs.”

Bouhmouch notes how legal specialist support — especially for first-time contracts — has been particularly crucial. He says such support helped introduce the team to common industry terms and points of negotiation, and strengthen their contracting process overall.

“Contracts are a sign of maturity — a strong contracting process can build trust and confidence with counterparties, while weak contracts can jeopardise deals,” he says. “You don’t want to end up in a situation where contracts are the reason a deal falls apart.”

Avoiding common pitfalls

However, not every partnership with a business service provider can be a success. Bouhmouch, for example, says an outsourced IT provider failed to meet Revalue’s needs leading them to bring the function in-house.

Feavearyear agrees, adding business services companies lead with full-time equivalent (FTE) based models and legacy technology too often. This can cause costs to increase over time, despite the fact that technology should be making companies more efficient.

“Costs can become disproportionate to the value delivered,” he says. “The price tag associated with deploying solutions can discourage organisations from taking the plunge and too often, the risk for delivering business outcomes sits with the customer. Fundamentally, the whole service becomes rigid and expensive.”

To overcome this roadblock, Feavearyear says that Liberty Blume works to strike a balance between process simplification, talent and technology. Liberty Blume provides services for other companies in functions such as finance, HR and payroll, procurement, accounting and tax. 

“Our partnerships enable us to deploy technology that scales with the business, and we architect our processes and technology stack to ensure they are efficient to deploy and future-proof our customers,” he says. “Our solutions and products help to accelerate growth without compromise. Simply put, we simplify complexity, giving our customers freedom to grow.”

Building success

What is the key to a successful company-business service provider relationship? 

Rhys Hodkinson, chief revenue officer at legal tech Definely, lists a deep understanding of the business, proactive communication and transparency, and flexibility and adaptability as traits a provider must demonstrate.

“While their primary goal is their own business success, we look for partners who demonstrate a genuine interest in our success,” says Hodkinson. “If their incentives are completely misaligned with ours — like being purely focused on maximising billable hours without considering efficiency — it’s unlikely to be a sustainable partnership.”

Definely partners with external firms for specialist legal work beyond its in-house counsel’s remit. The business also engages with business service providers for some of its quality assurance (QA) testing needs, particularly for peak loads or niche expertise.

“In the early stages of our growth, these business services have been incredibly valuable as a flexible resource,” says Hodkinson. “They’ve allowed us to quickly access specialist skills and scale capacity without the immediate overhead of building full in-house teams.”

For Definely’s operations, this has meant they could launch new features and address complex legal matters more efficiently than if it were solely reliant on internal resources.

“Business services have acted as a crucial stop-gap, allowing us to maintain momentum and deliver value while we strategically build our internal capabilities,” says Hodkinson. “??For our customers, this has translated into a more robust and reliable product, faster development cycles for new features they need, and the assurance that we have the right expertise backing our platform.” 

For those looking for the right business service provider, Feavearyear’s advice is to look past logos and hype and focus on providers who are like minded, committed to helping you grow and prepared to put ‘skin in the game’.

“Cultural fit is hugely important, and so too is working with a company that is rooted in the future, not the present or — worst still — the past,” he says. “Finding a partner that can help future-proof your business is critical.”

Liberty Blume are partners, not providers — working together to drive smart, seamless, business services that help your business flourish. Get in touch here to find out more.