It is worth knowing that the law provides private investigators with very few tools to work with. They have the opportunity to take photographs, interview witnesses, study documents and archives. The use of any other methods is prohibited. However, the demand for the services of private detective agencies is growing every day. This may be due to a high level of people’s mistrust of government authorities or a desire to maintain privacy. Whatever happens, it is worth noting that today this business can bring quite a good income to its owner.
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How to open your own private detective agency?
Speaking about how to open a detective agency, it is worth knowing that first of all, an entrepreneur will need to study the legal side of this issue. This will be the Law on Private Security and Detective Activities. Currently, approximately 150 private agencies are successfully operating in Moscow. It is important to note that each of them works quite “quietly”.
It is worth noting that a private detective can also provide detective services if he has a license that gives him the right to provide such services. The detective has every right to carry batons, gas canisters and even body armor as protection. However, it is important to remember that purchasing and carrying weapons is prohibited.
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What services are in great demand today?
The main assistants of a modern detective will be his own head and a laptop.
Quite often in films you can see that the detective bureau is monitoring the unfaithful wives or husbands of clients. However, in life everything is not like that. Most often you have to observe business partners and competitors. For example, before concluding a very important deal, one of the partners wanted to find out the information he was interested in and turned to a private detective. The cost of such services will cost the client approximately from 100 to 5000 dollars. The amount will depend on how valuable the information was received.
Detectives who have been working on the market for quite a long time report that the direction of such services is constantly changing. More recently, there was a period when most of the orders consisted of determining nationality (during a boom in emigration to Israel). After that there were a large number of cases of stolen cars. Nowadays, foreign citizens are increasingly using the services of a detective to check the reputation of their Russian brides.
Today, each detective agency occupies its own niche in the market. Therefore, when collecting information on how to open a private agency, it would not hurt for an entrepreneur to think about what the company can specialize in better than its competitors, be it business intelligence or searching for missing people.
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Search for employees and remuneration
At the moment, the detective agency is a small business, and it will remain so for a long time. In order to start operating your own detective agency, an entrepreneur will need to hire about 4 people. It is important to note that most often detectives are members of the same family.
After the agency has existed for some time and becomes successful, people who previously worked in government security companies may begin to look for work with you. It is worth understanding that, firstly, such people will want high payment for their work, and secondly, the number of employees of 4 people is necessary and sufficient to ensure the productive work of the agency. At first, there is no particular need to expand your staff of workers.
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Possible methods of work for experienced detectives
It is worth knowing that each detective has his own methods of work. However, in many ways the detective is an actor. In order to obtain the necessary information, quite often you have to transform into someone. Most often, the detective carries with him a number of different fake business cards.
Detectives almost never have to work openly, nor do they have to introduce themselves. This is due to the fact that in this profession the most important thing is to work carefully so as not to let the customer down.
Quite a lot can be found out with the help of cunning. For example, if a client is receiving threats over the phone, and the operator refuses to provide subscriber information, it will be enough to simply call the number from which the threats were previously received and threaten that his phone will be disconnected due to non-payment of international bills. Most likely, the person the detective called will be confused and give an address to which bills can be sent, which will then give up the office. The professionalism of a detective lies in his ability to deftly find out all the necessary information.
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Possible fees that professional detectives can receive
From 100 to 250 dollars can be received for providing complete registration data of the Russian company of interest, all information about its managers and founders (the deadline can be from 3 to 5 days);
A detective can receive an additional fee from 500 to 1000 dollars for determining the actual address of the office of interest, the number of employees, rental conditions for premises, for conducting an audit of accounts receivable, and checking the director (photo, place of registration, personal information, mobile and home telephone numbers). The period for completing this task is 7-12 days;
From 2000 to 4500 dollars the detective will be able to earn additionally for providing information about branches, affiliates and subsidiaries, annual turnover and balance sheet, information about customers and suppliers (list), credit assessment, detailed verification of two founders or managers (their immediate relatives, availability of property , criminal connections, handwriting and signature samples, past illnesses, shares and interests in other enterprises, military service, and so on).
In addition, information can be provided about the terms of the contract with one of the business partners, a sample letterhead, and so on. The period required to complete such a task is approximately 20-25 days.
Not everyone can engage in private investigation in Russia. There are several important conditions that cannot be circumvented.
Firstly, a candidate for Sherlock Holmes should not have mental disorders, alcohol or drug addiction.
Secondly, he must have a legal secondary or higher education or have experience in law enforcement agencies.
Thirdly, he must have an impeccable reputation and a “clean” biography - no convictions for an intentional crime, no dismissals from public service due to discreditable circumstances, no investigative or judicial proceedings, albeit unfinished, at the moment.
Moreover, if a detective candidate served in a body that controlled or carried out licensing work, then he will also not be issued a license until the expiration of a year from the date of dismissal. This is clearly an anti-corruption measure to prevent former employees from issuing licenses they like.
The future detective must register as a private entrepreneur. He will receive a license for five years, but must annually submit a medical certificate confirming the absence of mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction.
By the way, his license may not be renewed if during the inspection it turned out that his activities threaten the safety of citizens. That is, the detective tried to use force to encourage his interlocutors to be frank. And this is unacceptable. After all, for an ordinary citizen, a private detective is not an official representative of the authorities; we are not obliged to answer him anything, much less provide assistance.
If I want, I talk to this person, no means no. Even a private security guard at his facility has more opportunities - at a minimum, he has the right not to let a person who seems suspicious to him, say, into a store, club or office.
A real private detective is different from “detective Gurov.” He is not allowed to detain anyone
Let us remind you that a real, and not a movie, private detective in Russia is very different from “detective Gurov.” He is prohibited from pursuing a criminal with a weapon or detaining someone. He can use weapons only on the same basis as any citizen of Russia - for hunting, sport shooting and self-defense.
He has the right only to collect information and analyze some facts for his client. If during the investigation he discovers the fact of murder or robbery, he is obliged to inform the police. And continue the investigation only with the permission of the police.
What is a private detective allowed to do in Russia? As a rule, Russian private investigators collect or make various inquiries. For example, about possible heirs of a deceased relative, about potential competitors or partners, they are searching for missing people.
This mainly involves work in archives, long and complex correspondence. “Delicate” orders to identify adultery are not uncommon. But here everything must be done so that the detective himself is not accused of disclosing personal information or intruding into private life. It happens that private detectives have to identify office thieves, insiders, “sent Cossacks” from competitors.
In our country, private detectives are allowed no more than other mortals. According to the law, all their simple tools are oral surveys of citizens, study of documents, external inspection and photography of objects. But it turns out that you can make money with this too.
In the full thirteen years that have passed since the adoption of the Law on Private Detective and Security Activities in the Russian Federation, interesting statistics emerge. Judging by the numbers, safety and security in our country is in perfect order: about 3 thousand security companies and a whole army of licensed security officers (over 150 thousand!). But there is a clear shortage of private detectives: there are about 150 detective agencies operating in Moscow, while in the rest of Russia it is rare that a large city can boast of five or six individual detectives. During this time, no large detective structures appeared in Russia. The law allows for the organization of “detective associations with the status of legal entities,” which can “open their branches in other regions of the Russian Federation.” But few people take advantage of this opportunity.
There are dozens of detective agencies in the world with international status and offices in many regions of the world. Governments and Wall Street tycoons do not hesitate to resort to their services. And where are our domestic Krolls and Pinkertons with thousands of employees? And in general: what are Russian detectives breathing today? “Business Journal” talked to detective Alexander UPATOV on this topic.
Atypical detective
The main format of the Russian detective business today is a lone detective with a license, registered as a PBOLE. Actually, he only needs a license in order to be able to officially provide the relevant services for a fee. It does not give special rights, only continuous responsibilities. And detectives are not even entitled to weapons - only special equipment “to repel an attack that directly threatens life and health.” That is, a baton, a bulletproof vest and a gas canister. In our country, only a private security guard can have a Colt under his arm, but not a detective.
The typical private investigator today is a retired law enforcement or intelligence officer. To a greater or lesser extent, he yearns for those operational-search capabilities that he once had during his government service, and with more or less success he fights the temptation to use them in his private practice.
In this sense, Alexander Upatov is not a typical detective. In the past he was not an opera, but a military pilot. He took up detective work after being transferred to the reserve seven years ago under the leadership of the famous detective Stanislav Arkhagov, who has now retired from work. He worked on his first cases, including under an agreement with the television program “Wait for me” (TV company VID), which he still considers an excellent school.
You know, I personally feel quite comfortable within the framework that the law sets for a private detective. “I have enough,” says Alexander and even flaunts it. - I don’t have anything “spyware” at all. A laptop, a pen and a head are my tools. And if you see any wires on my desk, it’s a cell phone charger!
Problems for the law-abiding detective
To a provocative question like “What can you, private detectives, do if you don’t go beyond the law?” Alexander smiles mysteriously. He clearly doesn’t want to talk about his methods.
Well, here’s a case from practice,” he begins reluctantly. - My customer, an entrepreneur, is going to buy a property, say, in the Moscow region. The issue of sale is decided by some administrative body. And the customer has unverified information that a competitor, meanwhile, is also trying to purchase this property and is even negotiating a bribe with one of the officials. My task: to find out who exactly the bribe was from and how big it was. How to approach here?
Outdoor surveillance, wiretapping and other special events? - I immediately assume.
Perhaps some retired intelligence officer would take exactly this path. But this is illegal, takes a long time, and would cost the customer a tidy sum. A simple survey, oddly enough, is much more effective...
Yeah, come right up and ask: do you know who is here and how much they are going to give? Yes?
For what? Prepare properly and create the right situation for collecting information,” explains Alexander. - Let’s say I meet with a competitor of the customer under such conditions in which, frankly speaking, he takes me not for who I am, but for an employee of that same administrative body. And a quick dialogue takes place between us. "Hello! We are considering your question. About the object,” I say. - “Oh, from Pal Palych?” - “Yes, assistant. So, he asked me to tell you that your case will be resolved positively if the amount is increased by twenty percent.” - “What are you talking about! More than 60 thousand is already too much!” That's it, the information about who and how much has been received exhaustively. The customer is satisfied.
So easy? Is it legal to act?
Firstly, I do not introduce myself as a law enforcement officer. This is actually prohibited by law. Secondly, it is clear that my interlocutor made a mistake and said too much. It happens to everyone? It's not my fault! And thirdly, it’s not so easy to create such a situation for a survey!
Maybe in this case “survey” is not quite the right word?
I consider a survey to be any obtaining of information through conversation, if it occurs without the use of violent or legally prohibited methods. Am I wrong?
Business intelligence fees
- $100–250. Complete registration data of the Russian company of interest, information about the founders and managers. Execution time: 3–5 days.
- $500–1,000. Additionally: actual office address; number of employees; premises rental conditions; checking accounts receivable; verification of the director (personal information, photo, place of registration, home and mobile phones). Execution time: 7–12 days.
- $2,000–4,500. Additionally: information about branches, subsidiaries and affiliated enterprises; annual turnover and balance; list of buyers and suppliers; credit score; detailed check of two founders or managers (ownership, immediate relatives, criminal connections, samples of signature and handwriting, past illnesses, shares and shares in other enterprises, military service); terms of the agreement with one of the business partners; sample letterhead. Execution time: 20–25 days.
Detective assortment
The law strictly prescribes what type of services a private detective can provide to citizens and organizations. The list is laconic - only seven items. “Best sellers” change over time. Once upon a time, the service of confirming nationality was in great demand. A man was planning to emigrate to Israel and asked to find evidence that he was a Jew. At one time, detectives were actively involved in the search for stolen vehicles. Nowadays, such an “export” service is becoming fashionable: foreigners ask to check Russian citizens whom they meet via the Internet for the purpose of marriage. Searching for missing people or people with whom contact has been lost is an eternal topic. Here detectives are no longer surprised by anything. An order may be received to search for a friend from school days, with whom the client sat at the same desk forty years ago, or for an urgent search for a spouse who went on a spree “after yesterday.” From clients of a romantic nature - please find a girl whom you met by chance yesterday in a restaurant, but were too embarrassed to ask for a phone number or forgot. What is very significant is that a service such as business intelligence or, to use the wording of the law, “identifying uncreditworthy or unreliable business partners” is gaining momentum. Either business activity in the country is really growing rapidly, or entrepreneurs have begun to think more about the security of their business.
Each detective has his own hobby. In Alexander’s portfolio of orders, for example, the majority are business intelligence and the search for missing people.
After talking with Alexander, you understand: the detective is an ordinary person, only more attentive. And the detective business, in fact, is built on the fact that the detective has the useful skill of selecting information where others would not even think to look for it.
Standing in the smoking room of a company you are interested in, listening to what kind of “manga” they are talking about and what kind of things they are talking about - is that illegal? Or walk through the parking lot in front of the company’s office, memorize the license plates of expensive cars that most likely belong to management or key clients, in order to then “punch” them through the database - is this really necessary with the prosecutor’s sanction? - the detective shares some secrets of his craft.
This is the professionalism of a detective: knowing where and how to get information. Let this disappoint some customers who want to believe that the detective, while carrying out their delicate assignment, gets wet in the rain, endures cold and hunger and follows the trail, looking out, sniffing, listening...
I can admit that 80 percent of my work is desk work. I work with different sources of information, make phone calls, check databases. So what? Foreign detectives are not shy about saying that they use the Internet to the fullest. True, they sort through information on the World Wide Web not with “hands,” but with the help of a frequent “sieve” - special software tools that allow them to establish chains of events and connections between disparate facts.
Detective with many faces
The truth is that in the course of their work, a Russian detective very rarely has the opportunity to introduce himself as a detective. Every now and then he tries on different roles: “I want to buy from you...”, “help, I’m looking for a friend...” And he has a variety of business cards printed - for all occasions!
From one landline cell phone, the detective's client keeps getting threatening calls. The number is known, but it is impossible to understand who is calling and where exactly the phone is installed. Looking for approaches through a telephone operator is a long and tedious story. Again, the same specific “survey” helps out. The bad phone rings: “This is the customer department of the telecom operator,” the detective introduces himself sternly. “Do you know that we are turning off your phone tomorrow?” - “How is this, how is this?” - the interlocutor begins to worry. - “We give you two months of bills for long-distance communication, but you don’t pay!” - “Wait, wait, I didn’t receive anything! And there was no intercity traffic!” - “How did this not happen? Already three hundred rubles in debt! Let’s check the address - where to send the bills!”... The dumbfounded owner of the phone dictates the address and only then understands (if he understands at all) that the information was simply cleverly “taken” from him.
A detective must be a bit of an actor,” Alexander admits. - Personally, it helped me a lot that I rented my first office next to the theater. Vakhtangov and communicated with many of the actors there. Acquired many professional skills.
Playing openly often simply doesn’t make sense. Not only because the information will not be given, but because you will also set up the customer. You can’t say, for example, in some company: “I’m a detective, and I’m checking to see if you’re a reliable partner.” So the customer may be left without any partners at all - both conscientious and dishonest.
Business-intelligence service
Some people don’t really know how to hide commercially important information. Others don't know how to collect it. Still others don’t even realize how much important information can be gleaned from open sources. And still others cannot draw basic conclusions from the available facts. And it will always be like this. Therefore, the detective, this free plowman of the information field, will never be left out of work.
A simple visit to the office of a company you are interested in under the guise of a client can give you a lot,” says Alexander. - Once a customer asked to check one holding company. It seems like a serious office: there is a security service, a financial risk analysis department, even its own business intelligence unit. And on you: almost in the hall they placed a simple, unproductive paper cutter, and next to them were boxes of documentation prepared for destruction. I sat and sat there under the guise of a client, and then pretended that I was in trouble and rushed to the toilet. And on the way, I grabbed a few pieces of paper from the box, as if out of necessity. And guess what? It was in vain to make a joke: they had a lot of such papers already prepared there, in the toilet, a whole stack! They care about their employees! Using them, we later clarified not only the entire structure of the holding, but also the internal prices by which the divisions pay each other. The customer did not even dare to dream about this.
If only you knew from what rubbish the most valuable intelligence data grows! But business intelligence is not just about obtaining data. The detective transfers to the customer not just an array of information obtained, but its analysis. To do this, Alexander often has to involve third-party experts - criminologists, financiers, in order to use their findings in the report.
After checking a potential partner, we do not give the customer categorical recommendations, but focus his attention on the facts that are essential for making a decision. Suppose you are about to enter into a serious contract with a plant, and we suddenly find out that this plant has many months of debt on access roads. And how he is going to ship the products is completely unclear. This is, at the very least, a reason to think about it. In general, any information may be useful to the customer. Up to and including reviews from neighbors in the stairwell about the head of the company being inspected.
An entrepreneur may have many reasons for turning to detectives. Someone started buying up shares of the enterprise. Who exactly is behind the buyers? They offered a fabulously profitable deal. Is there a catch? A new manager is hired for a key position. What kind of person?
Here, for example, is a case from Alexander’s practice, when he helped a customer save money. The customer, the owner of a small company specializing in the installation of electrical equipment, was going to participate in the tender. It was about a large contract in a complex under construction. Participation in the tender itself implied the development of project documentation and serious expenses. The customer asked to establish whether there were any personal connections between the construction company organizing the tender and any of the other participants. The detective found out that there are, and what others: they communicate at the “Vasya-Pet” level, to the point that the applicant for the contract has blank forms from this construction company in his desk. How did you find out? Again, through a kind of “survey” and comparison of data, without the use of unauthorized means. It is clear that such a tender did not promise anything good for the customer.
According to Alexander, he has long felt that he sometimes lacks knowledge. That is why he is now studying in absentia at two academies at once - law and finance. Wants to learn how to read balance sheets from a page as well as experts and identify financial risks.
By the way, it is interesting to trace the logic of development of the world's leading detective agencies. The private detective business is just over a century and a half old. The first agency in the United States was created in 1850 by former Chicago police officer Allan Pinkerton. At first it investigated episodes of train robberies. At some point, he became famous for preventing an assassination attempt on President Abraham Lincoln. Then he became interested in security activities and in the 1890s even earned a bad reputation, speaking on the side of factory owners against striking workers and trade unions. But in recent decades, the Pinkerton agency has spoken about its specialization only as follows: “Security consultations, investigations and identification of business risks.”
So the gradual evolution of a detective into a versatile risk management consultant seems quite logical.
Businessis this or not?
Can a modern Russian detective be called an entrepreneur in the full sense of the word? Or is this just a slightly romanticized form of self-employment? Advertisements for the provision of detective services are today published in the classifieds of popular publications, somewhere between advertising for tattoo salons and specialized companies for exterminating cockroaches. Among practicing detectives, there are experts in identifying unfaithful spouses and virtuosos in finding lost mushroom pickers. But more and more people involved in the detective services market understand that the main direction of growth is work in the b2b format.
Yes, in the near foreseeable future the detective business, it seems, will remain small, agrees Alexander. - Sometimes I get calls: take me to work! They ask for a salary of a thousand dollars... I explain that I don’t need a large staff, and I definitely won’t be able to pay such salaries. I have four employees and we manage everything very well. I can’t imagine what kind of turnover a detective association must have to keep several dozen detectives. Branches? I don't need them yet. We already work not only throughout Russia, but, if necessary, throughout the Russian-speaking CIS - wherever you can speak without an interpreter. And we even fulfill orders from abroad that come through the World Association of Detectives (WAD).
What do you want to achieve in the detective field?
Lately, private investigation seems more and more like a family business to me. A lot here depends on the person who is doing this, on his personal reputation and personal methods. I don’t want to transfer all these developments into strangers’ hands. Therefore, it is very pleasant that my four-year-old son is keenly interested in business. And he proudly says that his dad is a “detective.”
Your own detective
Some sources of valuable commercial information in Russia are completely open and accessible to individuals, and not just to government officials and law enforcement officers. In particular, this is the Main Interregional Center for the Processing and Dissemination of Statistical Information (GMC) of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Upon request, the following information about any enterprise registered in Russia will be provided for a fee:
- annual balance sheet - 480 rubles;
- accounting data in the Unified State Register of Enterprises and Organizations (USRPO), including information about types of activities, etc. - 120–247 rubles.
In addition, the HMC can prepare a certificate with statistical indicators for entire economic sectors and various economic parameters.
GMC data is updated monthly.
Buying a brand new home today is not easy, because there is so much choice (see infographic). “2018 broke all records: developers built 10.6 million sq. m. m, whereas a year ago it was 8 million sq. m. m,” Alexey Popov, head of the CIAN analytical center, told AiF. “New Moscow remains the leader.”
avilarchik6956 / CC0
There are so many “newcomers” in the city that buyers are increasingly less likely to look at options in the immediate Moscow region (there, mainly the urban districts of Lyubertsy and Krasnogorsk, as well as the Leninsky district, are of interest).
By the way, according to statistics, only 8% of primary housing apartments are bought by residents of other regions. Everything else is sorted out by citizens with metropolitan registration. But this does not mean that Muscovites are crazy and have nowhere to put their money. Every second buyer considers only inexpensive options. But there are few of them in the metropolis.
In ZAO and SWAO there are no projects at all with an average price of less than 160 thousand rubles per sq. m. m, and apartments costing 160-180 thousand rubles/sq. m will not reach 11%. In the north-west, look for new buildings cheaper than 180 thousand rubles / sq. m. m practically meaningless. Therefore, if you are choosing an exclusively budget option, it makes sense to take your time with the choice. The fact is that last year the capital's developers received a lot of construction permits for future use and in the next 5 years houses will grow like mushrooms.
Will prices for new buildings decrease?
What will happen to real estate prices? Perhaps, due to the high demand for meters, they will climb up and, even after receiving a favorable mortgage loan, few will be able to afford to move to a new building?
According to the head of the analytical center “Real Estate Market Indicators IRN.RU” Oleg Repchenko, mortgages will become more expensive, and in order to maintain demand for apartments, developers will be forced to reduce prices: “According to our forecasts, within two years average prices may lose up to 20%.” . The competition is high, plus the buyer is spoiled for choice. For example, people are ready to consider the first floor only at a good discount, and even then only after analyzing the improvement plans for the entire area. People are especially interested in new metro stations (which is always a big plus) and planned roads (which does not always please buyers).
Would you like to study the topic of how to open a detective agency? Our article with detailed tables and calculations will be useful to you.
♦ Capital investments – 700,000 rubles.
♦ Payback – 1.5–2 years
Remember American or British detective stories, when a particularly complex and intricate crime was solved not by the police, but by a private detective.
But there are also comedies that center on a hapless detective who is hired to follow someone, but instead ends up in a lot of trouble.
And everyone’s favorite series “Moonlight Detective Agency”?
It is no coincidence that writers and directors constantly draw inspiration from the image of an honest detective, because there are quite a lot of detective agencies operating abroad, but in our country such a business is taking root very reluctantly.
If 20 years ago you had asked “?”, you would have been laughed at.
Today, more and more entrepreneurs are interested in such business.
How to open a detective agency: business advantages
Today, many people take on the role of a private detective, and there are good reasons for this, because choosing a detective agency as a business has many advantages:
- In order to open a private detective agency, it is not necessary to have a law degree or experience in the police.
- Everyone, without exception, can do this.
- The opportunity to easily find your niche, because there are not many detective agencies registered in Russia; in most small cities they simply do not exist.
- A small amount of capital investment is needed to launch a startup.
- People's trust in government law enforcement agencies is being lost every day, so a private detective has real opportunities to get a job.
- You will be able to engage in a profitable and very interesting business if you quickly form a client base.
How to open a detective agency: disadvantages
But there are only two obvious disadvantages in this type of business:
- Limited choice of means: photography, study of materials related to the case (documents, library files, archival papers), external surveillance and interviewing witnesses.
Everything else is illegal, and for using wiretapping or searching a suspect’s house, you will be held accountable before the law. - You will not be able to carry a firearm for self-defense, even though you are in a risky business.
Your ways to protect yourself: gas spray, and a rubber baton.
And, of course, such organizations have to try hard to form a client base, because not all people understand the benefits of contacting a private detective rather than the official police.
How to open a detective agency: advertising
Businessmen interested in the topic of how to open a private detective agency often ask a reasonable question about ways to develop a client base and advertise their agency.
Indeed, this is a problem because:
- the detective business needs secrecy;
- advertising in the media is expensive and ineffective for this purpose;
- There is no need to remind the police and tax authorities of your existence once again.
- Developing your own website: it is through the Internet that clients most often find private investigators. In the list of services, it is worth indicating prices, but not exact prices, but floating prices and adding a note: “The final cost depends on the conditions and complexity of the task.”
- Social networks are another way to advertise yourself without attracting too much attention.
- Advertising leaflets that you should ask security companies, banks, and legal offices in your city to place at their stand.
How to open a detective agency: calendar plan
Since to open a detective agency you do not need to carry out any complex repair work in the office or purchase rare equipment, in fact the most difficult and lengthy stage for you remains the registration procedure and obtaining a license.If we talk about the time frame in general, then with due diligence you can open a detective agency in 4–5 months:
| Stage | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registration, license | |||||
| Rental and renovation | |||||
| Purchase of equipment | |||||
| Team formation | |||||
| Opening |
How to open a detective agency: registration
The activities of private detective agencies in Russia are regulated by the Law “On Private Detective and Security Activities,” despite the fact that it was adopted back in 1992.
So far, under conditions of strict control, detective agencies are having a hard time.
Statesmen are all going to improve the working conditions of private detectives, but so far no real steps have been taken.
If you are thinking about how to open a detective agency, then you are probably interested in the legal side of this issue.
You just need to register as an individual entrepreneur to legitimize your business activities.
And all private detectives must obtain a license.
It is impossible to issue this document without going through a narcologist and a psychiatrist, who will confirm your professional suitability.
And, naturally, if you are going to open a real office and hire employees, and not work as a private detective alone at home, you need to take care of obtaining permits from the SES and firefighters.
How to open a detective agency: premises
In order to open a private detective agency, you do not need to rent a large office space.
A modest office of 30–35 square meters is enough to accommodate your office, a reception area for a secretary and a utility room for storing equipment.
There is no need to make grandiose renovations or spend money on a designer interior.
Your clients will be interested not in the color of the walls and brand of furniture, but in the qualifications of your employees.
It is enough to make cosmetic repairs, buy simple furniture (tables, chairs, cabinets) and not clutter the space with decorative items.
As for choosing a location, a detective agency is the type of business that can be opened on the outskirts.
Conspiracy is important for a private detective, so you shouldn’t open an office right in the city center or on a crowded street - clients will simply be afraid to come to you.
Your places are courtyards surrounded by high-rise buildings, outskirts, little-visited streets, etc.
How to open a detective agency: equipment
The main question of interest to businessmen who are collecting data on how to open a detective agency is what equipment to purchase for high-quality work of the office.In addition to office equipment and furniture, you will need to purchase specialized equipment, without which it is impossible to open a private detective agency.
Legal investigative tools include cameras and voice recorders (and even then with restrictions).
Purchase everything else (wiretapping tools, spyware, etc.) at your own peril and risk.
The equipment costs for a small detective agency with two working detectives will be approximately the following:
| Expense item | Qty | Cost (in rub.) | Total amount (in rub.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total: | 500,000 rub. | ||
| Office furniture (desks, work chairs, cabinets and shelves for documents, chairs for visitors, etc.) | 100 000 | ||
Telephone sets  | 3 | 2 000 | 6 000 |
Computers  | 2 | 30 000 | 60 000 |
Scanner + printer + copier  | 1 | 30 000 | 30 000 |
| Safe | 1 | 20 000 | 20 000 |
| Cameras | 2 | 50 000 | 100 000 |
Cell phones  | 2 | 5 000 | 10 000 |
Bathroom equipment  | 15 000 | 15 000 | |
| Voice recorders and other special equipment | 100 000 | 100 000 | |
| Other | 59 000 | 59 000 |
How to open a detective agency: personnel
The number of employees you hire directly depends on how large a detective agency you decide to open.If we are talking about a small business, then you just need to hire a secretary, one or two detectives who will conduct investigations, and a cleaning lady.
And you should take on the following functions: accounting, monitoring employees, searching for new clients, solving administrative issues.
It would also be a good idea to cooperate with a good lawyer, because due to the specifics of the business, his services will be useful to you more than once.
It is best to hire people who have previously been involved in detective work for the state as detectives.
Firstly, they still have connections with former colleagues.
Secondly, they know perfectly well what to do to solve a case; they do not need to be trained from scratch.
For external surveillance, you can connect people who have acting skills and know how to change their appearance beyond recognition.
It is not at all necessary for the office of a private detective agency to work seven days a week; you can limit yourself to the standard work schedule: from 9.00 to 18.00.
This is exactly the schedule your secretary and cleaning lady should work on.
They need to be paid a clearly fixed rate.
But the work schedule of private investigators will be flexible: they do not have to constantly hang around in the office, but they must be ready to conduct investigations on weekends and at night.
It is better to pay for their services on a fee basis.
Staff wage costs will be approximately as follows:
How much does it cost to open a detective agency?
In order to open a detective agency, you do not need to have multi-million dollar capital investments.
Your main expenses - office equipment, indoor renovations, registration procedures, advertising campaigns, etc. - will cost you relatively little.
To open a private detective agency, it is enough to have at least 700,000 rubles.
Mandatory expenses for maintaining the full-fledged operation of a detective agency will cost you approximately 200,000 rubles per month.
About the work of the detective agency
watch the video:
How much can you earn if you open a detective agency?
Of course, those who have decided to open a private detective agency are interested in the question: “How profitable is this business and how much can you earn from it?”
Moscow prices for the provision of private detective services are approximately as follows:
- surveillance – from RUB 30,000;
- collection of information per person – from 30,000 rubles;
- collection of a complete dossier on a competitor’s company – from RUB 60,000;
- search for a missing person – from RUB 50,000;
- external surveillance – from 20,000 rubles.
All costs related to the investigation (moving around the country, renting a hotel or apartment, food, bribes, etc.) are usually borne by the customer, providing the private detective with a certain amount of “pocket money” in addition to the fee.
Of course, prices for the services of a private detective in provincial cities will be lower by about a third or more.
| Qty | Salary (in rub.) | Total (in rub.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total: | 255,000 rub. | ||
| Surveillance and Surveillance | 7 | 15 000 | 105 000 |
| Proof of marital fidelity/infidelity | 2 | 20 000 | 40 000 |
| Preparing a company dossier | 2 | 40 000 | 80 000 |
| Dossier on a specific person | 3 | 10 000 | 30 000 |
If we subtract 200,000 rubles from this amount, which constitutes mandatory monthly expenses, then the owner of the detective agency has a net profit of about 50,000 rubles.
Taking into account the development of the client base, capital investments can be returned in one and a half to two years.
If these conditions suit you, then you can continue to study the topic “ How to open a detective agency If not, there are plenty of attractive startups that you might like better.
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