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Professional Services Industry Resources

Professional Services – Sector Overview
This part gives you a quick overview of this industry sector, the number of businesses that comprise the sector broken down into large and small businesses along with a discussion about some issues and challenges facing the businesses.

Professional Services - List of Businesses
This section provides our readers with a listing of the businesses that are categorized under this industry classification.

Professional Services - Resource Directory
A great tool put together painstakingly by our staff that identifies the major associations and organizations that serve the various businesses in this industry classification.  Besides the name and website, you will also find a brief description about the organization.  Our small business owners always thank us for putting this tool together – we are confident that you will find it useful as well.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES – SECTOR OVERVIEW

The first step in determining how to write a business plan at Trident Consultants involves identifying the correct business sector to which our client’s business belongs.  The professional, scientific and technical services sector is a vast industry classification as per the NAICS – North American Industry Classification System.  It covers services like legal, accounting, tax, architectural to computer design and management consulting.  Professional services covers almost 13% of the total firms in the economy.  (A detailed listing of professional service businesses has been included at the end of this page.) 

There are 1.5 million larger business (with employees) that employ over 7.6 million people with a total payroll of $446 billion.  On average the larger professional service businesses have at least 5 employees and the average income nationally for each of these employees is about $59k

In the small business world covering firms with no employees, there are 2.8 million such professional service firms with total gross receipts of $118 billion and the average annual income as reported by each firm of around $41k.

Have the right business plan for a professional services business is critical given the intense competition and the highly transitory nature of its clientele.  Having the correct business plan and strategic plan that clearly defines and understands the target market and competition can often make the difference between success and failure.  A business plan that has a clear mission statement, strategic planning and client acquisition and retention strategies is the first step towards creating and running a viable and profitable professional services business.

A business plan for professional services must address the issue of industry concentration wherein a professional business like accounting and tax preparation may decide to focus on only one market niche like retail tax preparation and thus get very dependent on the same client base that many other accounting firms are also looking to go after.  Business planning must also account for the risk of customer concentration where in a large chunk of the firms revenues come from one or a few clients.  Dependence on key employees is also a strategic issue to be addressed in a business plan.  Key employees often take important clients with them when they leave a firm.

A sound business plan for a professional services business must also take into account the nature of uneven cash flows and workload.  Architectural services are well known to be subject to the vagaries of the economy and of course the construction sector.  Thus a business plan must account for periods of slow workload and low or negative cash flow.  Perhaps a combination of some full time and some part time staff may address this issue and business planning must include some understanding of the staffing requirements for these firms.

The business plan for a professional firm must also acknowledge that the services offered by firms like computer design, engineering, surveying, drafting, graphic design and others are very dependent on the expenditure and budgets of corporate customers.  Thus if a recession or slow economic environment is underway, cash flow projections in the business plan must make room for such slowdowns in business activity and revenues. 

Professional liability is also a major issue that must be considered when writing a business plan for professional services businesses.  Since these firms are intricately involved providing services to individual and corporations that rely heavily on their expertise, professional and liability insurance provisions should also be made and planned for earlier on.  Customers tend to be quick to blame professional service and regulators are also much more likely to impose penalties for errors and omissions. 

If you are starting a business offering professional services, or are already established but are looking to grow, secure a partner, venture capital or business loans, we would be happy to help.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES – LIST OF BUSINESSS:  

 
The following is a list of the various businesses that fall under this industry sector:

Legal Services
Offices of Lawyers
Title Abstract and Settlement offices
Other Legal Services

Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
Tax Preparation Services
Payroll Services
Other Accounting Services

Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services
Architectural Services
Landscape Architectural Services
Engineering Services
Drafting Services
Building Inspection Services
Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services
Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services
Testing Laboratories

Specialized Design Services
Interior Design Services
Industrial Design Services
Graphic Design Services
Other Specialized Design Services

Computer Systems Design and Related Services
Custom Computer Programming Services
Computer Systems Design Services
Computer Facilities Management Services
Other Computer Related Services

Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services
Management Consulting Services
Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
Human Resources and Executive Search Consulting Services
Marketing Consulting Services
Process, Physical Distribution, and Logistics Consulting Services
Other Management Consulting Services
Environmental Consulting Services
Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services

Scientific Research and Development Services
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities

Advertising and Related Services
Advertising Agencies
Public Relations Agencies
Media Buying Agencies
Media Representatives
Display Advertising
Direct Mail Advertising
Advertising Material Distribution Services
Other Services Related to Advertising

Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling
Photographic Services
Photography Studios, Portrait
Commercial Photography
Translation and Interpretation Services
Veterinary Services
All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services