Does your company make things? Do you own a restaurant or a retail store? Maybe you build homes or mow lawns or put up drywall. If you do, then I wish you the best for 2025. But I also have some bad news for you: You chose the wrong profession.   You should have become a tax accountant or a labor attorney. Why? Because as good a year as you may have in 2025, I can guarantee you that the people and firms in those professions will make a lot more money than you this year.  Take your tax accountant, for example. This year, most provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will be expiring. That means that huge individual deductions may go away and tax rates could rise. Small businesses that are pass-throughs and partnerships may also lose a significant deduction. Other businesses could see tax benefits and credits they've enjoyed from purchasing capital equipment and making research and development contributions permanently disappear. Estate taxes could skyrocket. Corporate tax rates may go back up. Withholdings could change, and some of our workers may no longer be subject to taxes on their tips or overtime pay.   All of this may happen. Or none of it may happen. Likely, some of it will happen. The thing is, we just don't know. Our incoming president has promised to extend or make permanent many of these provisions. But he has only a slim majority in Congress and a massive deficit standing in his way. There will be negotiations and compromises. This will happen throughout the winter and spring and hopefully — hopefully! — be resolved by summer with new legislation.   All of this is great news for your friendly neighborhood tax accountant. Some — the negative ones — will complain about all the extra work that will be required to learn the changes. But the more positive and proactive ones will be keeping a close eye on what happens, and will recognize all of this uncertainty as an opportunity to charge more for advice and incorporate more hours into their planning and preparation time. They will go after individuals and businesses being ignored by their accountants or who are open to new recommendations based on these new developments.   If you're a forward-thinking and smart tax accountant, 2025 is going to be a great year for you. The same goes for labor attorneys. Why? Because if you think businesses are just going to need help with their taxes, think again. Employment law is all over the place this year.  Over the last four years, the Biden administration imposed a number of new rules on overtime pay, worker classifications, business ownership reporting, union activities, discrimination and harassment. Most of these rules are being challenged in the courts. Some have already been overturned. And even though the current administration is appealing these rulings, it is likely that the new administration will withdraw most (if not all) of those appeals.   Or will it? Who knows? What are employers to do if they already started implementing these rules? What should employers do if they've been planning to implement these rules?   Here's what they should do: Talk to a labor attorney.   Sadly, it's not just the uncertainty surrounding these federal rules and laws that we should be concerned about. Employers have to contend this year with a whole bunch of new state legislation impacting their workplace. Minimum wages are going up in 20 states. There's a ban on "captive meetings" in California and Illinois. There are new pay transparency laws in Illinois and Minnesota. California and New York are implementing new protections for freelance workers. Those states, as well as Connecticut, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Washington, are also expanding their paid leave eligibility. Delaware and Maine are now requiring contributions to their state paid family leave programs. Illinois, New York and California are imposing new rules protecting workers from an expanded list of discriminatory behavior. New Hampshire employers must now allow their employees to leave their guns in their cars. Oregon employers have to provide more protections for their warehouse workers. Notices for veterans and whistleblowers are required in California and Rhode Island. Illinois businesses must now include more information on their employee pay stubs.   There are even more workplace rules and regulations from the states beginning in January, but the internet only has so much space — thank you to the law firms of Fischer Phillips and Ogletree Deakins for succinctly listing them all. But of course, if you're a business owner, you're not just going to have at it, are you? You don't have the time. You're busy making, building and serving stuff to your customers. You can't keep up with all these new rules and regulations. So who do you turn to? Your friendly neighborhood labor attorney! The good ones — like the good tax accountants — are cheering. They love this stuff. The more complex, the more onerous, the voluminous the laws and rules, the louder they hear "ka-ching!"  You can blame your parents. Or your college adviser. Or your spouse. But the reality is, you simply blew it. You chose the wrong career. You're doing fine, I hope. But you could be doing a lot better in 2025.  Gene Marks is founder of The Marks Group, a small-business consulting firm.