Hot industries for small businesses
Tracking consumer and business needs over the next decade is key to finding your entrepreneurial niche in the 1990s.
Finding the right business opportunity is like hunting for buried treasure. It's costly, time-consuming and there's no guarantee you'll hit pay dirt. Entrepreneurs can often be heard asking themselves the following questions during their quest: Is this industry recession-proof? Can I establish a niche? How much start-up capital will I need? Can I capture a significant size of the market? What are the industry trends?
Tracking consumer and business needs over the next decade is key to finding your entrepreneurial niche in the 1990s.
"When most people think of this industry," says Samuel R. Sacco, executive vice president of the National Association of Temporary Services (NATS), an Alexandria, Va., trade organization, "they think of the blue-collar segment. But the professional technical segment is seeing more growth."
The industry as a whole is growing. For the past two decades, the percentage of temp workers in the labor force has more than quintupled. According to NATS, revenue for 1991 was $20 billion, up 1.4% from 1990, and the industry's annual payroll also jumped 1.4% in 1991 to $14.5 billion. Modest growth, yes, but industry observers expect those numbers to rise as the economy creeps toward a full recovery.
"This is a great area," notes William J. Dennis, a senior research fellow for the National Federation of Independent Business Foundation, a Washington, D.C., small business research group. "Temps will be a thing of the future. We are seeing businesses attempting to scale back their labor force to meet customer demand. One way to do that is through temps. They allow companies to handle various sizes of demand without increasing fixed labor costs."
According to Sacco, the regions to watch are in the South and Midwest, specifically Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. "Those areas have experienced growth," Sacco notes. "A lot of companies have left the Northeast. The South and Midwest weren't as badly affected by the recession." Another popular region is Washington, D.C., where a number of government agencies rely on temp help.
The industry continues to be a reactive one. It doesn't drive workplace trends; instead, it reacts very quickly to them. One of the key challenges business owners face for the remainder of the decade is to quickly respond to shifting customer needs. For example, 10 years ago, if a company president needed a secretary, the only requirements were that she type 50 words a minute and have a small degree of telephone savvy. Not anymore. The workplace has gone high-tech and become more complex. Today's secretaries are computer-literate and can operate intricate spreadsheet programs. It has become even more critical for agency owners to upgrade a temp's skills to meet higher performance standards.
Thats exactly what Rosalind Clifton, president of Backlog Ltd., is trying to do. Backlog is a 4-year-old Chicago agency that grossed $700,000 last year. Clifton says she offers all her temps (for a slight fee) a six-hour multimedia training course. "In the past we just relied on a quick test and some references before sending our people out," notes Clifton, whose agency places medical claim examiners, clerical/customer service support staff and word processors. "Now we test them on a computer system to see if they know WordPerfect If they don't, we train them so we can give the client exactly what they're looking for."
It will take that kind of forward-thinking strategy for more black temp agency owners to succeed. Although the industry outlook is promising, the field remains fiercely competitive. Such upper-echelon agencies as Manpower Inc. in New York and Chicago's Kelly Services continue to monopolize clients. For example, according to Staffing Industry Report, a Cupertino, Calif-based industry newsletter, in 1990, those agencies alone had 1,407 and 935 branch offices, respectively.
Cynthia Cruickshank, president and CEO of Unique Support Services Inc., a 9-year-old New York agency, complains that most potential customers stick with agencies they've been doing business with for the last 10 years. For instance, Cruickshank says it took her four years to finally nab Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the New York-based securities brokerage firm, as a client. "I called persistently, sent them introductory letters and profiles of my company, and all they said was they already had a list of vendors and they didn't need my services," Cruickshank recalls. "Then, all of a sudden, I got a call and they wanted me to do a proposal for them. I got the business in 1987 and provided them with secretaries and word processors."
Finding the right business opportunity is like hunting for buried treasure. It's costly, time-consuming and there's no guarantee you'll hit pay dirt. Entrepreneurs can often be heard asking themselves the following questions during their quest: Is this industry recession-proof? Can I establish a niche? How much start-up capital will I need? Can I capture a significant size of the market? What are the industry trends?
Tracking consumer and business needs over the next decade is key to finding your entrepreneurial niche in the 1990s.
"When most people think of this industry," says Samuel R. Sacco, executive vice president of the National Association of Temporary Services (NATS), an Alexandria, Va., trade organization, "they think of the blue-collar segment. But the professional technical segment is seeing more growth."
The industry as a whole is growing. For the past two decades, the percentage of temp workers in the labor force has more than quintupled. According to NATS, revenue for 1991 was $20 billion, up 1.4% from 1990, and the industry's annual payroll also jumped 1.4% in 1991 to $14.5 billion. Modest growth, yes, but industry observers expect those numbers to rise as the economy creeps toward a full recovery.
"This is a great area," notes William J. Dennis, a senior research fellow for the National Federation of Independent Business Foundation, a Washington, D.C., small business research group. "Temps will be a thing of the future. We are seeing businesses attempting to scale back their labor force to meet customer demand. One way to do that is through temps. They allow companies to handle various sizes of demand without increasing fixed labor costs."
According to Sacco, the regions to watch are in the South and Midwest, specifically Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. "Those areas have experienced growth," Sacco notes. "A lot of companies have left the Northeast. The South and Midwest weren't as badly affected by the recession." Another popular region is Washington, D.C., where a number of government agencies rely on temp help.
The industry continues to be a reactive one. It doesn't drive workplace trends; instead, it reacts very quickly to them. One of the key challenges business owners face for the remainder of the decade is to quickly respond to shifting customer needs. For example, 10 years ago, if a company president needed a secretary, the only requirements were that she type 50 words a minute and have a small degree of telephone savvy. Not anymore. The workplace has gone high-tech and become more complex. Today's secretaries are computer-literate and can operate intricate spreadsheet programs. It has become even more critical for agency owners to upgrade a temp's skills to meet higher performance standards.
Thats exactly what Rosalind Clifton, president of Backlog Ltd., is trying to do. Backlog is a 4-year-old Chicago agency that grossed $700,000 last year. Clifton says she offers all her temps (for a slight fee) a six-hour multimedia training course. "In the past we just relied on a quick test and some references before sending our people out," notes Clifton, whose agency places medical claim examiners, clerical/customer service support staff and word processors. "Now we test them on a computer system to see if they know WordPerfect If they don't, we train them so we can give the client exactly what they're looking for."
It will take that kind of forward-thinking strategy for more black temp agency owners to succeed. Although the industry outlook is promising, the field remains fiercely competitive. Such upper-echelon agencies as Manpower Inc. in New York and Chicago's Kelly Services continue to monopolize clients. For example, according to Staffing Industry Report, a Cupertino, Calif-based industry newsletter, in 1990, those agencies alone had 1,407 and 935 branch offices, respectively.
Cynthia Cruickshank, president and CEO of Unique Support Services Inc., a 9-year-old New York agency, complains that most potential customers stick with agencies they've been doing business with for the last 10 years. For instance, Cruickshank says it took her four years to finally nab Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the New York-based securities brokerage firm, as a client. "I called persistently, sent them introductory letters and profiles of my company, and all they said was they already had a list of vendors and they didn't need my services," Cruickshank recalls. "Then, all of a sudden, I got a call and they wanted me to do a proposal for them. I got the business in 1987 and provided them with secretaries and word processors."
Tracking consumer and business needs over the next decade is key to finding your entrepreneurial niche in the 1990s.
Finding the right business opportunity is like hunting for buried treasure. It's costly, time-consuming and there's no guarantee you'll hit pay dirt. Entrepreneurs can often be heard asking themselves the following questions during their quest: Is this industry recession-proof? Can I establish a niche? How much start-up capital will I need? Can I capture a significant size of the market? What are the industry trends?
Tracking consumer and business needs over the next decade is key to finding your entrepreneurial niche in the 1990s.
"When most people think of this industry," says Samuel R. Sacco, executive vice president of the National Association of Temporary Services (NATS), an Alexandria, Va., trade organization, "they think of the blue-collar segment. But the professional technical segment is seeing more growth."
The industry as a whole is growing. For the past two decades, the percentage of temp workers in the labor force has more than quintupled. According to NATS, revenue for 1991 was $20 billion, up 1.4% from 1990, and the industry's annual payroll also jumped 1.4% in 1991 to $14.5 billion. Modest growth, yes, but industry observers expect those numbers to rise as the economy creeps toward a full recovery.
"This is a great area," notes William J. Dennis, a senior research fellow for the National Federation of Independent Business Foundation, a Washington, D.C., small business research group. "Temps will be a thing of the future. We are seeing businesses attempting to scale back their labor force to meet customer demand. One way to do that is through temps. They allow companies to handle various sizes of demand without increasing fixed labor costs."
According to Sacco, the regions to watch are in the South and Midwest, specifically Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. "Those areas have experienced growth," Sacco notes. "A lot of companies have left the Northeast. The South and Midwest weren't as badly affected by the recession." Another popular region is Washington, D.C., where a number of government agencies rely on temp help.
The industry continues to be a reactive one. It doesn't drive workplace trends; instead, it reacts very quickly to them. One of the key challenges business owners face for the remainder of the decade is to quickly respond to shifting customer needs. For example, 10 years ago, if a company president needed a secretary, the only requirements were that she type 50 words a minute and have a small degree of telephone savvy. Not anymore. The workplace has gone high-tech and become more complex. Today's secretaries are computer-literate and can operate intricate spreadsheet programs. It has become even more critical for agency owners to upgrade a temp's skills to meet higher performance standards.
Thats exactly what Rosalind Clifton, president of Backlog Ltd., is trying to do. Backlog is a 4-year-old Chicago agency that grossed $700,000 last year. Clifton says she offers all her temps (for a slight fee) a six-hour multimedia training course. "In the past we just relied on a quick test and some references before sending our people out," notes Clifton, whose agency places medical claim examiners, clerical/customer service support staff and word processors. "Now we test them on a computer system to see if they know WordPerfect If they don't, we train them so we can give the client exactly what they're looking for."
It will take that kind of forward-thinking strategy for more black temp agency owners to succeed. Although the industry outlook is promising, the field remains fiercely competitive. Such upper-echelon agencies as Manpower Inc. in New York and Chicago's Kelly Services continue to monopolize clients. For example, according to Staffing Industry Report, a Cupertino, Calif-based industry newsletter, in 1990, those agencies alone had 1,407 and 935 branch offices, respectively.
Cynthia Cruickshank, president and CEO of Unique Support Services Inc., a 9-year-old New York agency, complains that most potential customers stick with agencies they've been doing business with for the last 10 years. For instance, Cruickshank says it took her four years to finally nab Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the New York-based securities brokerage firm, as a client. "I called persistently, sent them introductory letters and profiles of my company, and all they said was they already had a list of vendors and they didn't need my services," Cruickshank recalls. "Then, all of a sudden, I got a call and they wanted me to do a proposal for them. I got the business in 1987 and provided them with secretaries and word processors."
Finding the right business opportunity is like hunting for buried treasure. It's costly, time-consuming and there's no guarantee you'll hit pay dirt. Entrepreneurs can often be heard asking themselves the following questions during their quest: Is this industry recession-proof? Can I establish a niche? How much start-up capital will I need? Can I capture a significant size of the market? What are the industry trends?
Tracking consumer and business needs over the next decade is key to finding your entrepreneurial niche in the 1990s.
"When most people think of this industry," says Samuel R. Sacco, executive vice president of the National Association of Temporary Services (NATS), an Alexandria, Va., trade organization, "they think of the blue-collar segment. But the professional technical segment is seeing more growth."
The industry as a whole is growing. For the past two decades, the percentage of temp workers in the labor force has more than quintupled. According to NATS, revenue for 1991 was $20 billion, up 1.4% from 1990, and the industry's annual payroll also jumped 1.4% in 1991 to $14.5 billion. Modest growth, yes, but industry observers expect those numbers to rise as the economy creeps toward a full recovery.
"This is a great area," notes William J. Dennis, a senior research fellow for the National Federation of Independent Business Foundation, a Washington, D.C., small business research group. "Temps will be a thing of the future. We are seeing businesses attempting to scale back their labor force to meet customer demand. One way to do that is through temps. They allow companies to handle various sizes of demand without increasing fixed labor costs."
According to Sacco, the regions to watch are in the South and Midwest, specifically Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. "Those areas have experienced growth," Sacco notes. "A lot of companies have left the Northeast. The South and Midwest weren't as badly affected by the recession." Another popular region is Washington, D.C., where a number of government agencies rely on temp help.
The industry continues to be a reactive one. It doesn't drive workplace trends; instead, it reacts very quickly to them. One of the key challenges business owners face for the remainder of the decade is to quickly respond to shifting customer needs. For example, 10 years ago, if a company president needed a secretary, the only requirements were that she type 50 words a minute and have a small degree of telephone savvy. Not anymore. The workplace has gone high-tech and become more complex. Today's secretaries are computer-literate and can operate intricate spreadsheet programs. It has become even more critical for agency owners to upgrade a temp's skills to meet higher performance standards.
Thats exactly what Rosalind Clifton, president of Backlog Ltd., is trying to do. Backlog is a 4-year-old Chicago agency that grossed $700,000 last year. Clifton says she offers all her temps (for a slight fee) a six-hour multimedia training course. "In the past we just relied on a quick test and some references before sending our people out," notes Clifton, whose agency places medical claim examiners, clerical/customer service support staff and word processors. "Now we test them on a computer system to see if they know WordPerfect If they don't, we train them so we can give the client exactly what they're looking for."
It will take that kind of forward-thinking strategy for more black temp agency owners to succeed. Although the industry outlook is promising, the field remains fiercely competitive. Such upper-echelon agencies as Manpower Inc. in New York and Chicago's Kelly Services continue to monopolize clients. For example, according to Staffing Industry Report, a Cupertino, Calif-based industry newsletter, in 1990, those agencies alone had 1,407 and 935 branch offices, respectively.
Cynthia Cruickshank, president and CEO of Unique Support Services Inc., a 9-year-old New York agency, complains that most potential customers stick with agencies they've been doing business with for the last 10 years. For instance, Cruickshank says it took her four years to finally nab Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the New York-based securities brokerage firm, as a client. "I called persistently, sent them introductory letters and profiles of my company, and all they said was they already had a list of vendors and they didn't need my services," Cruickshank recalls. "Then, all of a sudden, I got a call and they wanted me to do a proposal for them. I got the business in 1987 and provided them with secretaries and word processors."
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