⚡ Get All Content for 20% Off ⚡

Why 2014 Has Been a Good Year -- and Next Year May Be Even Better Economic and technology improvements have given professional services companies much to appreciate.

By Geoff Mcqueen

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The recession has long ended and the professional services industry is rebounding. Professional services jobs in industries like accounting, engineering and marketing have accounted for more than 1 in 4 nonfarm jobs created in the last 12 months.

If the last year has proved to be pretty good for professional services in the United States, 2015 may be even brighter. This holiday season, consider three trends and some ideas for making next year even better.

Related: 5 Powerful Ways to Give Thanks to Your People

1. Create systems to channel the growth.

It's all too easy to focus on the things that hurt while trying to grow a business: the challenges of hiring good people, the demands of needing to procure more and bigger clients each month and the stress of delivering higher-stakes projects.

But be thankful that you're probably not stressing over firing your best people, looking at an empty pipeline or going into the holidays with a bare cupboard.

A big part of growing your business without your stress and workload climbing even faster is to systemize the business. The things you used to to do with a whiteboard or spreadsheet can falter as your team grows. What you used to do from memory yourself now requires delegation to newer faces on your team.

If you find yourself daydreaming on the holidays about improvements, start by thinking about how to replace processes that rely on you and your partners with a system.

2. Harness tech solutions.

Another trend to be thankful for is that technology is finally arriving at professionals' aid. While smartphones and cloud technology are making people's personal lives easier and more convenient, new tech solutions are making it easier to manage businesses, too.

From software that forecasts how profitable a business will be next month to time-saving collaboration tools that allow for spending less time on administrative tasks and updating systems, technology is increasingly helping professionals automate their businesses so there's less chaos and more fun at work.

3. Enjoy being selective about projects.

During this economic upswing, a sizable portion of the jobs created have been in the professional services industries. This category encompasses 14 percent of all jobs in the U.S. economy but is creating more than 25 percent of new nonfarm positions.

This gives you something else to be thankful about: You can probably afford to be a bit more selective about the clients and projects accepted. In a recession, just about any client will do, and professionals justify horrible projects and accounts as "learning experiences."

But some clients are better fits than others and now businesses can be more discerning of the projects accepted. Most likely these clients and projects will be bigger, involve more people and run for longer periods. This will allow you to hire more employees to keep revenue flowing and ensure that your business continues to grow -- as long as it's managed properly and you don't trip over your shoelaces as you start running faster with bigger projects on your hands.

As someone who has taken on the risk of running your own business, you deserve to enjoy your job. In approaching the New Year, focus on how you can optimize your business to take full advantage of tools that can make your life easier and your more business more successful with the solid foundation built in 2014.

Related: 4 New Year's Resolutions You Could Start Tomorrow

Geoff Mcqueen

Founder and CEO of AffinityLive

San Francisco-based Geoff McQueen is the founder and CEO of AffinityLive, a company that creates cloud-based email automation, customer-relationship management, project management, service and billing software for the professional service sector. Prior to founding AffinityLive, McQueen created a digital agency in Australia.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Remote Side Hustle a 43-Year-Old Musician Works on for 1 Hour a Day Earns Nearly $3,000 a Month: 'All From the Comfort of Home'

Sam Ziegler wanted to supplement his income as a professional drummer — then his tech skills and desire to help people came together.

Business News

Costco CFO Reveals Uncertain Fate of $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

CFO Richard Galanti reveals that the price will stay the same — but only "for a while."

Business News

The Most Unexpectedly Popular Side Hustle of the Decade Has Low Startup Costs and High Markups

A new report shows that vending machines are a popular investment — and the industry is set to grow up to $3 billion by 2031.

Marketing

Ever Wonder Why Certain Websites Rank Higher Than Yours? This SEO Expert Reveals The Secret to Dominating Search Results

It's often the smart use of SEO, now supercharged with AI, particularly in keyword optimization.

Business News

AI Is Impacting Jobs. Here Are the Gigs Affected the Most, According to an Analysis of 5 Million Upwork Postings

The researcher said in the report that freelance jobs were analyzed first because that market will likely see AI's immediate impact.

Leadership

Former Interrogator Shares 5 Behaviors Liars Exhibit and How to Handle Them

Five deceptive behaviors to look for and how to respond to those behaviors when you encounter them.