Business Services BPO Sector Operating Results & Trump Transition Team Outcomes

Ephor Newsletter Q2 2025

Well, here we go again faced with another quarter of challenges, changes, and opportunities following what Ephor hopes has been a good start for you and your team in 2025.

As a point of reference in the 1st Quarter of 2025, our BPO peers have reported a very positive Opening Quarter in 2025, while forecasting a promising outlook for the remainder of the operating year 2025.

In this Quarter 2 2025 Newsletter we will focus on 3 relevant BPO subjects:

  • BPO Outsourcing Sector "average" financial outcomes & performance for the operating year 2024

  • The Operating Trends that are prevalent in the Top 25% quartile performance of our BPO peers

  • The current and known future outcomes of Ephor’s work on the Trump Small Business Transition Team as of 4/7/2025

BPO Outsourcing Sector Benchmarking Performance of Our Peers:

As many of you may recall or know: Ephor with the confidential collaboration of 83 of our peers, combined with 39 Institutional Investors (as of 12/31/2024) monitors the sector operating performance by tabulating and analyzing the Financial Results for those that subscribe to our Benchmarking Service: the highlights of 2024 include:

  • Average Sector Participant Revenue growth averaged 9-11% with the Top Quartile performing in the 18% to 20% over operating year 2023 performance.

  • Average Sector Participate Gross Performance (GP%) illustrated an increase of 200 BPS to 250 BPS increase over 2023, with the Top Quartile illustrating up to 425 BPS. Clearly, operating year 2024 was a very good year for price increases and operational labor productivity improvements.

  • Average Sector Participant EBITDA Margin (EBITDA as a % of Revenue) averaged 17% to 19% with the Best Performers in the 26%-30%. Illustrating an average increase of 5% to 6% over 2023 performance.

Should you have a desire to know specifically how your business "stacks" up against your specific sector peers such as: BPO Contact Center OB/IB, Sales Agency, HR Outsourcing, Staffing both (Technical & General), and Health Care Administration & Financial Outsourcing, please inquire by click here.

The Operating & Business Model Attributes of the “Top Quartile Performing Leadership Teams” include:

  • Leadership Teams (including the CEO Entrepreneur/Founder) that illustrated positive and effective CHANGE MANAGEMENT, cultural attributes that align to the marketplace requirements, have a passion and commitment for process orientation, while aggressively leaving legacy BPO thinking and practices in the rear-view mirror. The CEO Entrepreneur/Founder must accept that being just an entrepreneur is not necessarily the exclusive skill in wealth creation and consistent success.

  • Organizations that have created and implemented a “portfolio” of revenue venues and sources that are not dependent on “Direct Sales Star Performers.” Success equals "A Portfolio of Revenue Sources"

  • Organizations that have “Productized” their services into Service Packages aimed at specific target markets and customer demographics and psychographic buyer attributes and needs.

  • Organizations that illustrate an effective Financial & Accounting function that goes far beyond basic accounting and controller functions.

  • Organizations where appropriate, have or are in the process of implementing both global service delivery and a “Portfolio” of service delivery capabilities geographically.

  • Have either formal or informal external governance and/or have strategic advisor/guidance that is provided by a “Proven Experienced Institutional Backable Professional”. Organizations that illustrate the fundamentals of Organization Clarity have proven to command impressive Enterprise Values and favorable Investment Terms (Organization Clarity and Board of One Concept)

Trump Administration Transition Team Current & Future Outcomes:

As we stated in our Q4 2024 newsletter and as we committed, below we have outlined just a “small sample" of our Trump Transition Team outcomes and successes.

Before we provide these outcomes, I would like to thank the 28 of you who took the time to provide input into “how the new Trump Administration can help” as requested in our Q4 2024 Newsletter:

  • The most notable outcome is the reprieve and elimination of the Beneficial Owner Investment Report (commonly known as BOIR). On March 21st the Trump administration announced:

    • "All US entities created in the United States — including those previously known as “domestic reporting companies” — and their beneficial owners will be exempt from the requirement to report BOIR to FinCEN."

    • "However, foreign-owned or created entities registered in the United States must continue to report for companies registered to do business in the United States on or after the date of publication of the Initial Foreign Registration (IFR) have 30 calendar days to file an initial BOIR report after receiving notice that their entity's registration is effective."

  • "The Trump Administration under the Department of Commerce's (SBIC Program) has announced significant changes and enhancements for the deployment of both debt and equity capital. These enhancements more align with the appropriate capital structure needs for small service businesses, and often are equity efficient for the CEO/Founder Entrepreneur. These changes make it easier to qualify for equity capital and to raise debt capital that goes beyond the $10 million lending limit of the current SBA Programs. (contact Jose Garza for more informacion.)"

    • As a point of reference, there are 302 SBICs spread across 41 States of which 21 focus on Outsourced Business Services

  • In addition, our Transition team has proposed approximately a dozen Labor Reporting and Regulatory “relief” actions that help accomplish the Trump Administration's commitment to being employer-centric versus the worker-centric nature of the Biden administration.

    • We will notify you when significant regulatory and legislative “relief” become further outcomes of our work.

    • I am sure you would agree it certainly would not be appropriate for us to “get out front of the administration” on these upcoming announcements.

In closing, our mission at Ephor for the past 24 years has been “to be the Go-To Resource” for BPO outsourcing companies that desire to create Exponential Wealth. Our core competencies include Strategic Guidance, Business Model and Process Enhancements, Corporate Governance, Corporate Development, Capital Formation & Acquisition, and most importantly Enterprise Value (EV) Maximization.

We wish you well in Q2 2025!

Garry E. Meier

Strategic Practice Lead

Ephor Group, Inc.