Running A Private Investigation Business
How has the private investigation business changed in recent years?
The business changed dramatically after 9/11. In the past, you would hire a private investigator because you had a specific case. You had something that you wanted to look into. It was a problem that had come up and you're trying to solve that problem. Today, there's a lot of preventative investigations. Pre-employment background checks, whether it's anywhere from finding out what your background of your nanny is, or finding out whether your person that you're hiring is here illegally, and to finding out that they're who they say they are, and that their credentials are real. All kinds of things involving preventative measures. You have a lot of personal security issues where you want to look into, who has access to your business, and who has access to a specific person. And, these people are going to cause, and be a threat to them. That has all come about because of people's heightened awareness of security threats.
How has technology changed private investigation?
What used to take a day for me to do, back 30 years ago when I got started, takes me seconds to do now on the internet. Cause almost all cases in the last 20 years have been indexed on the computer. It's only if you're looking into a very old case where you have to still make that trip to the courthouse. The skills are the same; the only difference is you're doing your searching through fields on a computer screen. Since 9-11, there's been heightened awareness of, not just terrorism, but personal security. Since there's been involved with cyber-stalking - people finding out where you're going or what you're doing through access through your computer, or personal security. Or, "I'm going to be hiring some people, and I want to make sure they're in the United States legally and they are who they say they are." Those kind of things. That has entirely changes since 9-11; people spend a lot of money to make sure that they're not going to have a problem down the road.
What types of tools do I need to be successful as a private investigator?
The biggest tool is an inquisitive and analytical brain. You have to have computer skills. It's almost a complete necessity that you have had computer skills, because almost all of the data you are going to need on a day-to-day basis to operate your investigation business is available through proprietary databases over the Internet. If you don't have those skills, you're never going to make it. Also, unlike law enforcement who gets a pay check every month, you have to bill the client and keep on top of case files and have to follow through with the paperwork and the electronic filing of that paperwork. If you don't have computer skills, you're not going to be able to do that in a more efficient manner. The next thing is that you develop skills for analyzing a problem and know exactly what specific things you are going to need for each individual case. No two cases are the same. You might need photographic skills. You might need electronic surveillance skills. I'm not suggesting that somebody get involved in wiretapping. It's illegal, but there are certain things that you do need to know how to do, and there are certain times when certain electronic surveillance is legal and you need to know how to do it. You also need to know the laws, to know when you're able to do that.
Do I need my own office space as a private investigator?
A lot of times, if you are in this business you can do as I am doing - work out at your house. I very rarely have face to face meetings with my client. Most of my business is over the telephone or over the Internet. They email me their request. A good of 70% of my business is database access. Most of the private investigators I know work out at their house - very few work in business.
Should I hire a secretary for my private investigation firm?
When you start getting so much business that you need to keep on top of your billing, and you need to keep on top of your report writing and your filing and all that, then yes is the answer. If you're like me, I like to get involved totally in doing the case and I'm terrible with keeping up with the paperwork. So I have somebody that does that for me. Maybe you need somebody that can field phone calls for you because if you're working, answering the phone all the time interferes with what you're doing. I answer the phone and I'm juggling phone calls all day long and I'm lucky when I do have the help here to help me do that, but it all depends on the volume of your business basically.
