Complete idiots guide to private investigating pdf free download

If the website is professional, they then call the agency. If nobody answers the phone, they move on to the next name on the list. They want someone who is accessi- ble and reliable. An unanswered phone does not meet what they are looking for. However you are perceived by your clients and your market will create the reality for your agency. Per - ception may not be the reality, but in the eyes of your clients and your market their perception is their reality.

Agencies who fail to manage their business image will ultimately struggle and often fail. You are actually choosing how your agency is being perceived every day by everything you do or not do. The question is, are you making the right choices? Michael I tell you all this because I want you to have benefit of my perspec- tive when I first started out. I had previously had some experience in the private sector, but for most of my life I have been a badge carrier who worked for somebody else and drew a monthly paycheck.

I had no real entrepreneurial experience even though I thought I did. I had no clue. You can find some wonderful ideas and suggestions by listening to other successful people. You can find some great ideas by reading about other successful businesses. I like some of the ideas and suggestions in the Guerilla Marketing books. Diana Even though Michael was given good advice and followed it, it is important to point out that not all advice given or read fits all business models. There are many things that apply to all businesses, but not everything.

For instance, if you provide surveillance and the general public is your main market you will want to spend money on advertis- ing in the yellow pages and on search engine optimization SEO. These are the avenues the general public utilizes to find private inves- tigators. However, 96 percent of the time attorneys hire private inves- tigators through referrals. Attorneys will resort to searching the Inter net if they need a private investigator outside their local area.

To know if the advice you read and hear applies to your business, you must know your business model and your market. You must also take into account that there is a great difference between marketing a product that every- one uses and a service that people do not have an everyday need for. Michael I did well the first two years and actually exceeded the goals I had lined out in my business plan, which brings me to my next point.

I cannot overemphasize the need for you to have a good, thorough, lengthy, detailed, solid, realistic, and concise business plan. I pur- chased a software program that I used to develop the business plan. It ended up being much longer than I thought it would be and because it was my first attempt I did not know if I was including too much information or the wrong information.

I took it up to the local univer- sity where they have a small business development center and asked them to review my business plan. I was actually surprised when they called me back informing me that my business plan was one of the most thorough they had seen and they wanted to use it as a model for their classes. Since that point I have used the small business develop- ment center quite frequently to feel out different marketing plans and ideas, and I have even taught a few classes there.

Marketing Your Business 71 After I started teaching at the university, I fell back into an old, com- fortable pattern of years ago when I used to teach at law enforcement academies. I had been told that one of the best ways to meet new peo- ple who were interested in learning about a topic was to teach the topic. It turned out to be true. I have met a number of people who be - came clients and I have met a number of people whom I used as con- tacts as a result of this experience.

Diana Michael used some key words when speaking about a business plan: thorough, detailed, solid, realistic, and concise. Your business plan be - comes your foundation. Would you build a house without a founda- tion? Why try to build a business without a foundation? Many entre- preneurs do not take the time to plan. However, success truly is in the planning.

If you were going to take a vacation, would you decide on the destination and find a place to stay, a way to get there, and some activities to do once you were there? If you would do this for a vaca- tion, why would you not do it for a business that is going to provide your livelihood?

Often, the first thing an entrepreneur does is decide on a name for the business. This is mistake number one. How can you realistically name your business if you do not know your market or the long-range vision for your business? Another common mistake made is using some part of your name in the name of your business. You are training people to buy you.

The problem with this comes into play when you want to expand. Then you will have to spend great time, effort, and money getting people to accept that those you hire will do as good a job as you do.

Yes, this strokes the ego but is not a healthy plan of action if you want to grow your business. Once you have taken the time to write a good business plan, do not put it in a filing cabinet never to be seen again. You need to turn that business plan into a working plan that has short- and long-term goals, strategies, and deadlines to achieve those goals, and most importantly you must execute those strategies.

Once you execute your plan, you must keep it on course; evaluate, measure, and monitor your plan on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed. Efforts without strat- egy bring little return. Strategy without execution is delusion. For those who do make it past five years in business, most will remain in the start-up phase well into their twentieth year of business and until they close. They never grow. The two most com- mon reasons for this are 1 that they are actually afraid of success and 2 the reason they are afraid of success is that they do not have the infrastructure to support the success.

All successful businesses have an infrastructure to support growth. This is where it takes the investigator to become the business person to create what is needed for real suc- cess. What does a foundation and infrastructure have to do with mar- keting?

What happens if you market and bring in many new clients but cannot handle them due to your lack of infrastructure? Marketing before infrastructure is putting the cart before the horse and can destroy your entire business. Michael This brings into play another concept that I think is important in marketing your business. I have found that networking is exceedingly important and should be high on your priority list.

You will not always see the bene- fit right away. As a matter of fact, you will rarely see the benefit of net- working by way of a direct or immediate increase in business.

The benefit of networking is that, if done properly, the new person that you just met becomes an advocate and an advertiser of your business. One of the things you must remember is that everything you do is net- working and marketing, and you need to keep that in mind all of the time. One of the services I provide is pre-employment background investigations.

One day I was with my wife when she had an appoint- ment with a neurosurgeon. The doctor came into the room and was talking to my wife about a test result. At the conclusion of the conver- sation I simply asked him if he had an office manager. He replied that he did and asked why. I complimented him on the size of his office staff and noted that I had seen new faces recently. I wanted to know if they did background investigations on all employees, particularly with all the turnover.

He replied he had intended to do so but had not start- ed doing it yet. He called the office manager in and before I left I had a new client and three background investigations to do. My point is that you need to think of every occasion where you meet someone as a potential new client.

You never know unless you ask. Diana Many opportunities are missed because one is afraid to ask. As Michael said, you have to ask.

One of the main reasons people do not ask is fear of rejection. So, if this is true for you, please make the word next a part of your vocabulary. Do not take the rejection personally. You have to understand that whoever tells you no, is not rejecting you. They just do not have a need for your service.

This is okay. Think of every no as a sign that you are getting closer to a yes. Say to yourself, next and thank you for getting me closer to my yes. Michael I use group memberships as a focal point and a reason for meeting new prospects.

Your local chamber of commerce is an excellent op - portunity to do this. The first organization I joined when I opened my agency was the chamber of commerce. They get together every two to three weeks, usually for an hour. Ultimately the other members of the group come to know the business, and they become advocates for your business.

Over a period of the six years my business has been exposed to lit- erally hundreds of people on a personal level. It is a social event where people meet other people, talk about their business and often gain referrals. We always walk out with thirty to fifty business cards of other attendees. This is your exposure to twenty or thirty people whom you might not have met before.

There are several other functions at the chamber of commerce that you can take advantage of, including breakfasts, luncheons, training, business groups, and any other sponsored program. I strongly urge you to participate in these activities. Getting to know one new person may make the difference in working today or not working today. Diana Marketing has many different arms. Networking is just one of the marketing arms, and it does work.

If for some reason there is justification for using vague or uncertain terminology, the reasons should be spelled out in your report. Avoid emphatic language, exclamation points, boldface, italics, and capital letters to emphasize findings or conclusions.

Unnecessary em- Basic Private Investigation phasis within a report can indicate your personal opinions, bias, and prejudices when your role as an investigator is to simply collect factu- al data and let others make their own judgment. The active voice is strong as opposed to passive and weak. Use precise specific, clear-cut language. This is another indicator of your confidence in the work produced and reduces the probability of others misunderstanding the facts. Define technical terms and language.

You can never assume that the reader will be familiar with technical terminology. The excessive use of unfamiliar technical terminology confuses the reader and may lead to an assumption that the writer is attempting to display his technical knowl- edge and belittle the reader—the person who is paying for the report.

Avoid evidence of bias. Nothing will call your report into question quicker than evidence of bias. You have been retained to report facts and not express your personal opinion through apparent biases in your report. Use confident language; do not hedge words: it seems, could, appar- ently, or I believe. Failure to use confident language may appear to the reader that you question some of the information being presented as facts.

Use objective unbiased language and avoid subjective prejudiced characterizations. Remember you do not provide legal advice. You provide facts and let the reader arrive at their own conclusions. Avoid commenting on the credibility of witnesses. This is another example of inserting your opinions into the data and not letting the reader evaluate the source of your information.

In some cases, this could lead to legal difficulties for the writer. Ensure internal consistency. This could be embarrassing at the least and devastating to your reputation at the extreme.

Remember, you are an inves- tigator and not an attorney, unless you have a law degree, and then be careful. They will be re - viewed for consistency among the reports, and you may be required to explain the differences.

Probable, substantially, and possible are ambiguous words. These words may show that you are not sure of the information contained in your report and should be avoided except in very rare circumstances. Obviously or clearly are patronizing, condescending, and presump- tive words. Insulted clients do not return for additional insults. This is another example of letting others know that you do not have complete confidence in the information in your re - port.

If information is questionable, state that fact in clear-cut language. The words he, she, it, and they are confusing and uncertain as to identity. It is better to use proper names, such as Mr. Jones or Mrs. Smith to reduce misunderstanding. Using we to attribute success as a combi- nation of individual collaborative efforts is commendable but not acceptable when writing a report that you will be signing.

Complete, thorough, meticulous, and exhaustive are words that are self-serving and hold the investigator to extremely high standards. SUMMARY Your written report is a major indicator of your professionalism and will greatly influence your reputation among your clients and con- temporaries. Your investigative effort will not be considered a compe- Basic Private Investigation tent investigation if your written report contains numerous spelling and grammatical errors.

A more disastrous mistake is a mistake in the facts. There are no innocent mistakes that can be overlooked. It is a wise move to have someone else review your report for factual accu- racy and proper report-writing techniques. Your report will be subject to review and critique by executives, attorneys, judges, and a jury.

Perfection must be the acceptable standard. The new China was established after ; before then, no foreign contact was allowed and China implemented the planned economy. All enterprises and businesses were controlled by the state and owned by the country. For economic trade activity and businessmen, regardless of the manage- ment in the governmental department or in the enterprise unit, the personal files were to be unified by the government; in this way the possibility of false records would be minimized.

In the case of any commercial dispute or when an investigation was needed, the enterprise or individual had to seek sup- port and assistance from the public security department that was responsible for the social order and the economic crimes investigation. The massive economic transactions needed verification and investigation services. Chinese society, as well as the relationships in the family, has also been influenced by the China Economic Development and the Society Transformation, with more and more marriages disintegrating or third parties interfering with the family, which leads to the need for marital background and individual privacy aspect investigations.

Along with the China Economic Development and the blooming of famous brand names, the Chinese market has turned up with more and more counterfeit or parallel import product to present; enterpris- es are in need of the brand protection investigation and strike preven- tion. After that, many security management or private investigation companies emerged in China. A few foreign investigation companies or individuals have also carried out commercial investigation services in China.

Following the China economic development, a world finance crisis happened; many different enterprises had continuously serious problems due to lack of a security management concept.

The demand for Chinese commercial investigation services is becoming important. So far, possibly several thousand investigation companies and more than ten thousand individuals are carrying on various commercial investigation services. As of March , the Chinese governmental departments have not issued any commercial investigation licenses.

No matter, big and small companies are using other commercial licenses to carry on the com- mercial investigation work. Since the development of Chinese security businesses, the open- ing of the commercial investigation market is only a matter of time. The opening and strict management of Chinese commercial investi- gation will provide benefits toward a healthy development direction. Some investigations are due to merging or joint venture invest- ment. Mainly because of taking over businesses, it will need compre- hensive and thorough verification of the information provided be - cause some enterprises in the process of selling will provide false in - formation to the purchaser.