1. M&A activity will increase. The majority of firms with more than 50 people are looking to buy or sell. This is crazy! According to Zweig Group's 2016 Merger & Acquisition Survey, 62 percent of firms have a strategic plan that involves a merger and/or acquisition within the next five years. 2. Values will go up. Whereas 50 percent of revenue used to be a "norm" for a typical firm value guesstimate, the number is now closer to 60 or 70 percent for many firm sellers. 3. It will take longer and cost more to fill jobs. People are more expensive. Zweig Group's 2016 Policies, Procedures, & Benefits Survey found that A/E/P and environmental consulting firms are spending an average of $5,925 on each new hire! Firms will have to make more offers to get a job acceptance. 4. Profitability will inevitably decline. According to the 2016 Financial Performance Survey, pre-tax, pre-bonus profit on net service revenue was an average of 14.3 percent for the entire sample. These are the highest numbers I've ever seen. When that happens firms get sloppy and spend too much on unnecessary labor, facilities, and meetings. Profits will go down. Mark C. Zweig is Zweig Group's founder and CEO.
2024 Fee & Billing Report
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