Where are the opportunities for growth in the professional services space?

TL;DR

This paper introduces a framework to identify growth opportunities in the professional services industry, revealing sector stagnation at the macro level but potential pockets of growth in specific industries like beverages.

Contribution

It presents a simple, adaptable model to diagnose growth opportunities in the professional services sector, applicable at macro and industry levels.

Findings

Sector expected to stall at macro level in the US

Certain industries like beverages still offer growth opportunities

Framework can guide marketing and business development strategies

Abstract

The professional services industry (legal, accounting, consulting, architectural services{\ldots}) employs an important share of the active population in mature countries. However, after decades of undisputed growth, the sector appears to be at a turning point in certain geographies. This article therefore proposes a simple framework to help diagnose where growth opportunities (if any) may lie.When applied to the US economic context, the model indicates that at a macro-economic national level the sector should stall, which concurs with the trend observed over the past decade. However, it also highlights that a few industrial sectors (e.g. the US beverage industry) still offer pockets of growth for a variety of professional expertises. Replicating and fine-tuning those findings could be interesting for practitioners to steer their marketing and business development efforts. On the other hand, the quantitative framework presented in this study could pave the way for future research in the academic community.