Today I’ll mostly be a Private Investigator!

04/01/2008 by admin.

“Being a Private Investigator is one of the most lucrative, glamorous and respected industries to be in. Win the envy of your friends and colleagues and demand high fees in an industry where no two days are the same”.

If you believe the marketing hype which is used to sell franchises and training manuals to people with little or no experience in investigation, then you may as well spend your money on something more tangible and useful. Being a PI is not an easy ticket to riches. As an unregulated industry (although it is in the pipeline once the SIA (Security Industry Authority) sort out the finer details) anyone can get up one morning, call themselves a Private Investigator or Private Detective and start trading right away. In theory.

It is true to say that some of the best investigators in the industry have come from normal everyday backgrounds and jobs.

It is also true that a Detective Agency can be set up on a shoestring, but I make no bones about it, no matter how experienced you are, it will not succeed without hard work and determination.

Many Investigators are experienced ex-police officers or military operatives with years of useful transferable skills under their belts. Others are seasoned security professionals who come from all manner of commercial, banking and insurance backgrounds.

But even the most time served detectives will struggle in the beginning without the right direction, motivation, training and experience.

I have known many an ex-police officer who could not detect a pickled onion in a fruit salad if they ate it piece by piece. Without the back-up of an established squad of officers, intelligence data bases and the PNC (Police National Computer) they can get a little lost out there, alone in the big wide world with nothing but their wits and old war stories to get them by.

So if you are considering setting up a Detective Agency I wish you every success but believe me it can only succeed with the right ingredients, input and motivation.

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