Welcome to the Financial Services Guide
What is the Financial Services Industry?
The financial services industry is a large industry comprising several types of finance-related professional services. These include accounting (which itself covers tax preparation, audits and record keeping, and businesses’ financial documentation); financial advising and wealth management, and retirement and estate planning. This guide will focus on these three subsectors. According to the B.C. Labour Market Outlook, financial services, along with the real estate and insurance industries, will add over 55,000 jobs by 2031. Customers of financial services range from individual persons to large corporations . Depending on the size and focus of the company, and employment models, these services range from the self-employed bookkeeper or financial advisor, often operating as a one-person small business, to advisors or managers affiliated with larger financial institutions. Taking the time to conduct your own business planning and research can go a long way towards building a successful career in this competitive industry.
This guide can offer a launching point as you embark on your secondary market research for your business idea. Work through the questions and resources to develop strategies for accessing reliable business information as part of your planning process. While doing your own primary market research will ensure you get the exact data you need, it is usually very time consuming and expensive. Believe us -- it is well worth your time to learn how to find publicly available statistics and data first. We'll point you to as many freely available, online sources that we can find, but keep in mind that there are many resources available at your local public, college or research library.
Guide Outline
This Accelerator Guide is organized into four sections designed to help you focus your research. Each section will highlight what goals you'll achieve, as well as questions to get you thinking about the kind of information you'll likely need. In no time you will be an expert DIY researcher! You'll need to use the menu on the left to explore each section but here is an outline you can follow.
- Getting Started has introductory materials like how-to books, sample business plans and general start-up information.
- Industry Info has sources outlining the current status, outlook, and trends for your particular industry or sector and more.
- Competitive Info has sources for outlining your competitive market, including potential competitors and market share.
- Customer Info has sources that will help you develop your market analysis and learn about the demographics of your target market and your customers' needs.
Need Other Help?
If you're looking for in-person help be sure to check out the BC Business Support Directory for help in your specific community. If this is your first time doing secondary market research you might want to follow our step-by-step Business Research Basics. In the Learn Business Basics section of this website you will find curated lists of resources on many business topics from marketing, top business planning to a wide selection of free web-based tools to help you with your business development.