What do PI's charge for their services? I'm starting up my own PI business and I have no idea what to charge.

Question

I will be working as a freelance PI out of my home. I will not need an office or a DBA. Just a license. I will have no outside expenses other than what I use for the job. I already did my research through a friend of mine who is a licensed PI. I have already been working as an investigator. I want to go out on my own.

Answer 1

That sounds like a terrible way to start a business. How can you tell whether it will be profitable and worth your effort if you don't know even that basic an item? What if there is a licensing fee that will be horrendous?? What if you need to have an office near a courthouse or something in a high rent district? What about fees like DBA and excises on office furniture and a computer and FAX? What if it turns out they just make minimum wage plus tips?

I think you need to do some private investigating before you jump in. Maybe you can get a job working for someone else to find out what is involved and what the pay is.

BTW just as a rule of thumb for businesses with service that you charge hourly for - in general you can take the hourly number and multiply it by a thousand and that is what you are likely to end up with for an annual income.full time

Answer 2

Call local PI firms, make up a story about your cheating girlfriend and tell them you want her invesigated but aren't sure what it will cost. Just call and ask your competition! :) (It's done ALL THE TIME!) Ask LOTS of questions, how long it will take, what you can expect, what will the company provide at the end of the investigation. Pretend to be a customer -- because the things they are providing are the same things your future customers are going to want you to provide and you need to be prepared to give it to them. (do you have a camcorder? One that will record at night? What about a good telephoto camera? Sound recording equipment? ... )