SIC 7389
BUSINESS SERVICES, NOT ELSEWHERE CLASSIFIED



This group covers establishments primarily engaged in business services, not elsewhere classified, such as bondspersons, drafting services, lecture bureaus, notaries public, sign painting, speakers' bureaus, water softening services, and miscellaneous auctioneering services, on a flat fee or commission basis.

NAICS Code(s)

512240 (Sound Recording Studios)

512290 (Other Sound Recording Industries)

541199 (Other Legal Services)

812990 (All Other Personal Services)

541370 (Surveying and Mapping (Except Geophysical) Services)

541410 (Interior Design Services)

541420 (Industrial Design Services)

541340 (Drafting Services)

541490 (Other Specialized Design Services)

541890 (Other Services Related to Advertising)

541930 (Translation and Interpretation Services)

541350 (Building Inspection Services)

541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services)

711410 (Agents and Managers for Artists, Entertainers and Other Public Figures)

561421 (Telephone Answering Services)

561422 (Telemarketing Bureaus)

561439 (Private Mail Centers)

561431 (Other Business Service Centers)

561491 (Repossession Services)

561910 (Packaging and Labeling Services)

561790 (Other Services to Buildings and Dwellings)

561599 (All Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services)

561920 (Convention and Trade Show Organizers)

561591 (Convention and Visitors Bureaus)

522320 (Financial Transactions, Processing, Reserve and Clearing House Activities)

561499 (All Other Business Support Services)

561990 (All Other Support Services)

The miscellaneous business services industry encompasses a broad range of specialties, ranging from baby shoe bronzing services and yacht brokers to window trimmers and playwrights. Establishments classified in this industry are generally engaged in providing services that do not generate a sufficient amount of national revenue for the U.S. government to track alone.

Roughly 212,000 firms were engaged in this industry in the mid 1990s. Government statistics indicate that about two-thirds of the companies classified in this industry are corporations, with the remainder being either sole proprietorships or partnerships.

According to government sources, the industry generated $32 million in sales in 1992. Notable industry statistics for 1992 included sales for sign painting shops ($523,000), interior designing ($2.3 million), and phone answering services ($1.0 million). The average company engaged in this industry generated annual revenues of $450,000, for an industry total of about $20 billion

While the employment outlook varies by segment, overall industry employment is expected to rise over the course of the next decade. A few major occupational groups, however, such as switchboard operators and telephone message specialists, were expected to diminish in size during this period. The corporate and management training industry, as one example of the specialty services provided in this category, benefited from the $58 billion corporate budget dedicated to training in 1996. In 1995, 93 percent of all organizations offered some form of basic computer training.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. of Hoffman Estates, Illinois led the industry in 1999 with sales of more than $41 billion. Sears employed 324,000 workers, creating a sales-per-employee standard of $126,762. Houston-based Waste Management Inc. followed with 1998 revenues of more than $22.7 billion, employing 68,000 workers who generated $334,047 each. New York City-based Time Warner Inc. employed 675,000 who each contributed $216,030 toward the company's 1998 sales of almost $14.6 billion. Unisys Corp. placed fourth in the industry with 1999 sales of more than $7.5 billion, behind the strength of 33,200 employees who each generated $7,545 toward that total.

Among the myriad of other companies that are involved in providing miscellaneous business services, leaders include such diverse firms as RGIS Inventory Specialists, VIP Event Services Inc., Sotheby's Inc, Freeman Decoration Co., and Michael Fox Auctioneers Inc.

Further Reading

"1996 Industry Report: Training budgets." Training, October 1996.

Dun's Census of American Business 1995. Bethlehem, PA: Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, 1995.

Flynn, Gillian. "Training Industry Report Highlights: 1995's Big Trends." Personnel Journal, January 1996.

Infotrac Company Profiles 19 February 2000. Available from http://web4.infotrac.galegroup.com .

U.S. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Industry-Occupation Matrix. Washington: GPO, 1994.

U.S. Department of Commerce. Census of Service Industries 1992. Washington: GPO, 1992.

U.S. Department of Commerce. International Trade Administration. U.S. Industrial Outlook 1993. Washington: GPO, 1993.

U.S. Department of Commerce. International Trade Administration. U.S. Industrial Outlook 1994. Washington: GPO, 1994.

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