What is Business to Business (b2b)?

Business-to-business refers to business that is conducted between companies, rather than between a company and individual consumer. B2B is often contrasted with business-to-consumer (B2C). In B2B commerce, it is often the case that the parties to the relationship have comparable negotiating power, and even when they do not, each party typically involves professional staff and legal counsel in the negotiation of terms.

There are different types of b2b companies:

- Product-Based b2b Companies:
Some B2B businesses will focus on selling physical goods that you can hold in your hands.Product-based businesses can be exclusively online, have a brick-and-mortar store, or both. For some businesses, ecommerce may give you unlimited geographic regions. For others, you may still only be able to ship within a certain range.

- Service-Based b2b Companies:
Service-based B2B businesses are overwhelming in number, but that’s because the sheer number of services businesses need can be overwhelming in number, too. Examples include: Call answering services, marketers or marketing agencies, graphic design agencies, lawyers specializing in business law, office security, accounting agencies and more.

- Software-Based b2b Companies (or Software as a Service):
‍Software-based B2B businesses almost always involve subscriptions to software that fill some need for businesses and can be key for achieving success. 

When it comes to software, customer support must be on point and quickly responsive, or clients can get frustrated quickly. Imagine suddenly not being able to accept payments or access your entire customer database or CRM due to a glitch and not being able to get help immediately. There’s no set-it-and-forget-it when it comes to software development for businesses.