JKE Texas Turns One Year Old

I started my Private Investigation firm on October 19, 2017.  I’ve made it through the first year – financially, physically & emotionally.  I’m happy about that.  This was my first time in my life I was a business owner.  I spent essentially all of my working life in the warm nurturing arms of the federal government – a steady paycheck, good benefits, and rewarding work.  Now I am responsible for myself – the good and the bad.

The financial part wasn’t hard, not because I’m a super investigator who has people throwing buckets of cash at me; but because I came into this business with a pension with health insurance, a well-funded 401K, and two out of three kids no longer looking to me to support them.  In addition, I didn’t quit my day job until the first of May 2018.  Since that time I have been a full-time Private Investigator.

The physical part hasn’t been hard either.  As a new business owner, I have been working 70- 80 hours a week.  It sounds like a lot, but it is on par to what I was doing as an FBI Agent.  Do I want to keep that type of work schedule as I go into my 60’s?  No way!  But part of the first year is working the kinks out of the business model.  I was trying to figure out what services to offer, and how to market and price those services.  I was also trying to learn how to investigate without the authority of the FBI behind me.

The emotional part has been both great and awful.  It has been great in that I’m doing what I love and what I’m good at.  I get to help people solve their problems using my expertise and effort.  It has been awful in that since I’ve become a full-time PI I’m largely dependant on the money I make to maintain my lifestyle. (FYI, my lifestyle is not champagne and caviar – it is closer to diet Coke and pretzels.)  As a harsh signal of financial fear, my first month as a full-time PI was also the slowest month I had in revenue.

Here are some selected statistics from my first year:

CLIENTS/CASES

87 clients

13 Corporate/small business clients

14 Attorney clients

60 Individual clients

107 cases

19 Fraud investigations

22 Background investigations

17 Individual locate investigations

17 Litigation support investigations

8 Infidelity investigations

7 Child custody investigations

2 Missing child investigations

15 Miscellaneous investigations

MONEY SPENT (Not Always Wisely)

Association/Organization memberships – 10

Database subscriptions – 16

Surveillance equipment – 5 cameras, 1 camcorder, 4 GPS trackers, 3 cellular cameras, 5 covert cameras, 3 dashcams, 6 radios

Training – 3 in-person classes, 2 online classes, 1 study at home with an online test, 6 books

Marketing –  Continuous Google Ads, 12 Facebook campaigns, 500 marketing postcards, 1000 business cards, 8 magazine ads, 1 website

Legal – Formation of 1 LLC

FEES

For some of my services I try to charge a flat rate; however the majority of the time I charge an hourly rate.  When I first started my firm, I only had a vague idea of what I should charge.  As my experience and confidence has grown, along with advice from seasoned PIs, I have raised my rates.  That resulted in a higher quality client, fewer headaches and more revenue.

First-year rate range per hour – $65 – $200.

The most important (and I must admit surprising) statistics for the first year are:

PI’s who willingly helped me:  Hundreds

PI’s who wouldn’t help:  Zero

This is a great industry.  I’ve learned a lot in the first year – most importantly I learned how little I know.  I made plenty of mistakes but survived them.  I avoided innumerable other mistakes thanks to the guidance and counsel of fellow PI’s.  They willingly, and in some cases eagerly, gave me their time and expertise to help make sure I could be the best PI I could be.

Shocking, huh? You’d think they would guard their secrets and investigative empires jealously.  I know there are some PI’s who are only out for themselves.  Fortunately, they are a tiny minority.  The greatest number of PI’s love to share – not only with their clients but with other PIs.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  This is a profession of service to others.  We want to make a living, sure; but first and foremost, PI’s want to help people.

I’m thankful to all of my clients who gave me their trust.  I’m thankful to my wife and kids who helped me lift this venture off of the ground. And, I’m thankful to the community of PIs who welcomed me into their profession with open arms.