How much do private detective services cost? How much does it cost to open a detective agency?

There is hardly a person who would never dream of having his own business. Ideally, it should be not only very profitable, but also interesting and enjoyable.

For those aspiring entrepreneurs who read detective novels in childhood and adolescence, we advise you to pay attention to a very specific, but extremely tempting business. It is not young, it has existed in our country for quite a long time, and yet only a few companies are seriously involved in it.

Who will contact you?

Let's talk about how to open a detective agency, what needs to be done for this, what pitfalls there are in this business and how to avoid them. This business seems very attractive from the point of view of the fact that it does not require serious investments. But the profit can please you pleasantly. The work of a private detective has always been valuable. Husbands who suspect their wives are cheating, businessmen who believe that their partners are twisting them and have long ago transferred expensive contracts to competing firms, and many others may come to you.

How much will surveillance cost?

I would like to especially emphasize that, having decided to engage in this type of business, you will already be dealing with respectable people whose incomes, as a rule, are above average. Just anyone will not pay for your services.

They can't afford it. Contacting a detective agency is not a cheap pleasure. As a rule, such offices have a clear price list for services, but sometimes the client begins to rush the investigation of his case, and then the cost of the work can increase significantly.

Since we give detailed plan How to open a detective agency, let's move on to specific numbers. For example, in provincial Russian towns, surveillance of all movements, meetings and actions of a person per day will cost $100 or more. The upper level can cost 1000-2000 dollars or more. It all depends on who needs to be surveilled and for what purpose.

Let's talk about demand

Of course, you can get very impressive profits from such a business, but in order to achieve this, you need to do a tremendous amount of work. Fortunately, at present, as we previously noted, there is little competition in this market.

Experts attribute this to the fact that there are actually very few intelligent specialists in this field. In addition, most novice entrepreneurs are stunned by the question of how to open a detective agency. And even when they leave it and register their company, they simply don’t know what to do and how to start earning money as quickly as possible.

Most often, former internal affairs employees work in such offices. They have a clear knowledge of the city, they know how to conduct surveillance professionally, and finally, they are familiar with the legal field. In other words, they can work professionally, efficiently, without going beyond the current legislation.

Prohibitions

But we would like to immediately emphasize so that you do not get confused: detectives do not have the same rights as law enforcement officers. They are deprived of many privileges available to the police. All that a detective is allowed to do is take photos and videos and, in some cases, look for witnesses. When searching for information, the law prohibits wiretapping phones, installing hidden video cameras on private property, special professional equipment, and much more.

Entrepreneurs who have already made money in this business admit that clients are different. To satisfy the requests of some, information collected legally is sufficient. However, there are often cases when the client wants more, and then you have to resort to tricks and break the rules. Naturally, the cost of such services increases several times. Among detective agencies there is a rule according to which evidence collected illegally is only shown to the client and immediately destroyed. They are never handed over to the client.

It is better to have experience working in authorities

In order to successfully start this business, you must at least have a legal specialty and at least some connections in law enforcement agencies. Thanks to them, you can quickly obtain the information you are interested in in a variety of areas.

Most often, private detectives resort to the help of former colleagues from the authorities when they need to find out the name of the owner of a car or apartment. Of course, such information is not given just like that and you, as the owner of the agency, will need to pay for it.

What does it take to open a detective agency?

To get started, rent an office. At the same time, there is no need for pathos in this matter. And nothing good will come from the fact that you have luxurious premises, but you do not effectively satisfy the needs of customers. Therefore, in conditions of a limited budget, in the first 2-3 months of work you can do without premises.

For clients, it doesn’t matter at all what your legal address is or how luxuriously you set up. The most important thing for customers is to solve their problem as quickly as possible. And the solution, as a rule, lies in obtaining the information of interest. It must be timely, accurate, as reliable as possible and received strictly confidentially.

So do you need an office or not?

But if your finances allow you, then, of course, it is better to get your own corner so that you can fully meet clients, sign contracts with them and have more detailed conversations. Any company starts with its employees. Therefore, when answering the question of how to open a detective agency, first try to recruit a decent staff.

I would not like to repeat myself, but experienced entrepreneurs say that the role of detectives is easiest for former law enforcement officers. They easily cope with all responsibilities, thanks to their experience in participating in operational search activities. When selecting people, remember that the more professional and qualified they are, the faster you can build an excellent reputation and, accordingly, the more clients you will have.

Well, who can tell you offhand how to organize a business selling coffee or a security agency? Only from the consumer's point of view. Coffee is served hot, and the security guard must constantly be near the protected object and that’s it. More detailed information you need to search on the Internet or in specialized literature. But try asking something about the work of a private detective! Everyone will begin to talk about all the intricacies of this profession and give all sorts of recommendations on how to open a detective agency, including from scratch.

There is nothing surprising about this. Look at the bookshelves or on the main page of any online library and choose a detective story to your liking. Today, the detective genre ranks second after women's romance novels in terms of sales. How true this information? Is it possible to open a detective agency business from scratch after reading several dozen detective stories?

From words to deeds

In fact, detective stories described in detective novels, beloved by many, and the work of today's detective agency in Russia have practically nothing in common. Less than 1% of clients ask to follow an unfaithful spouse or investigate a complicated series of mysterious murders, they say, law enforcement agencies are powerless, etc. Basically, detective agencies in Russia and abroad carry out so-called business orders - to follow a competitor and collect as much information about him as possible, collect incriminating information about the same competitors, find out how promising it is for a foreign investor to invest in a particular industry, the company’s annual turnover and the market for these goods or services as a whole.

The latest orders, although rare, are the most profitable 500,000 rubles or more. So it turns out that if you truthfully describe the work of a detective agency, the reader simply will not buy such reading material. No chases with violations of all conceivable and unimaginable rules, no heart-warming stories about unhappy love, but only numbers, hacking of numerous databases, working with a heap of documents, often hours of digging in archives. Although detective stories for the most interesting novels sometimes happen, but at best only once every few years. How to open a detective agency and start making money?

Specifics

This type of business can rightfully be called a business out of this world. Firstly, it is impossible to predict either profitability or the moment of obtaining the greatest profit from a detective agency. In one week you can earn 1,000,000 rubles or more, or you can earn nothing for several months. This instability must be taken into account when recruiting personnel and choosing premises for a detective agency. Secondly, there is a high probability that one of the staff of the detective agency will “steal your business from under your nose.”

Therefore, you need to either start working as a family and not involve outside workers, or keep everything to yourself and pay the staff a percentage of the order. Thirdly, it is almost impossible to calculate waste in the business of a detective agency. Depending on the order being carried out, you will have to involve:

A prosecutor or lawyer to submit requests to government agencies that are subject to immediate consideration;
Operational investigators to obtain information from fingerprint and other databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as to conduct operational investigative actions, for example, invite, informally, a familiar detective to conduct a private conversation; often only a person with solid experience in law enforcement can ask the right question;
Professional hackers to hack the resource bases of an institution about which the customer needs to collect some information;
A forensic expert to conduct an examination of the seized material using equipment specially designed for this purpose;
A professional analyst who, using incomplete information, could reconstruct this phenomenon or process;
A professional actor who can transform into anyone to unofficially collect the necessary information.

Fourthly, Russian legislation prohibits employees of detective agencies from carrying weapons. It is only allowed to photograph, question and search for the necessary information in the archives. That is, according to Russian legislation, the effective work of a detective agency, if one acts strictly within the framework of the law, is practically impossible. All you have to do is either do everything yourself, risking a prison sentence of 3 or more years for unauthorized entry into personal life, or entrust this work to those who have the authority delegated by the Russian state apparatus to perform this or that action. The second option, although more expensive, is many times more effective and safer. The customer pays not only for the work done, but also for the urgency!

Registration

Today, in Russia, a detective agency is classified as a small business, and since the profit of this business is unstable, it is better to register a detective agency as an individual entrepreneur and choose a simplified taxation scheme for a detective agency. This business allows this because virtually no accounting transactions take place during the year. Moreover, the activity of fulfilling a client order is either not documented at all, or is carried out as a completely different job.

Well, how to declare the completion of work on the illegal extraction of information about a competing organization, and if you also describe all the actions performed step by step, then for carrying out just one order, each of the detective agency staff faces at least 5 years of imprisonment.
And who will control the final amount of the detective agency's fee if a satisfied customer, instead of the promised 200,000 rubles, can pay 350,000 rubles for a job well done! Therefore, the actual amount of taxes often does not reach 3% of the total profit.

Premises and equipment

Opening a detective agency requires virtually no investment and no monthly payments for rent or energy bills. This allows you to continue your activities even if there are no orders for a long time. 150 operating detective agencies in Moscow are a prime example of this.

Luxuriously furnished office with total area more than 100 m2 – a figment of the book’s imagination. In fact, 30 m2 is enough, not necessarily in a crowded place. On the contrary, lost in the labyrinth of courtyards, a detective agency, on a subconscious level, evokes much more trust. It seems that a secret entrusted to an agency will be better kept: “after all, I’ve been looking for this agency for so long, who else will come this far”? But you shouldn’t go too far! There should be a parking lot, a cafe or a bar near the agency, because millionaires will come to you! In a word, in a secluded place, but not in the middle of nowhere!

But you shouldn’t skimp on furniture. The classic image of any detective agency is a massive oak cabinet, table and chairs, and in the corner, a fireproof safe. Try to match the image, even if, for example, you are not going to store anything important in the safe!

The ability to keep other people's secrets, the ability to listen, the ability to hide one's emotions, at the same time, to read someone else's facial expressions like an open book, the ability to win over stranger from the first minutes of acquaintance and, finally, the ability to be invisible are the main qualities of a professional detective. For the full functioning of a detective agency, 4 people are enough: 2 actors, 1 person with experience in law enforcement and 1 programmer. The ideal option is if the manager performs the analytical functions, and the rest are aware only of their small part of the large task. This way you will be completely protected from illegal attacks on your business.

Investments and profit

Unlike America, in Russia, clients of detective agencies, as a rule, know exactly what they want when contacting this establishment. Therefore, it is not advisable to open in an office format for VIPs, with a reception desk, a comfortable waiting area, etc. This will not increase the number of clients, but on the contrary, the bar can seriously damage the not yet acquired reputation of your agency. Therefore, the following investments are sufficient:

Furnishing the premises - 80,000-120,000 rubles one-time;
Computer, printer 40,000 rubles one-time;
Rent of premises 20,000-50,000 rubles monthly;
High-speed Internet, payment for all SIM cards of mobile operators, city telephone number 30,000 rubles one-time and 12,000-15,000 rubles monthly.
Perhaps that's all. Payments for staff and taxes are 33%. Paying for third party help individuals 33%. Your 33%.

And now what you can get and for what service.
Information about the registration data of a competitor’s company 15,000 rubles;
Full information about the company - office address, passport details of managers, debt terms - up to 70,000 rubles;
Absolutely everything about the competing company, right down to information about the relatives of the founders - up to 300,000 rubles;
collection of compromising data on a competitor, information about the secret preferences of management - up to 700,000 rubles.

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. With safety and security in our country, judging by the numbers, full order: about 3 thousand security companies and a whole army of licensed security services (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 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, directly life-threatening 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 table, these are Charger for a mobile phone!

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 customer’s competitor under such conditions in which, frankly speaking, he takes me not for who I am, but for an employee of that very 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 in this case Is “survey” 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 verification of two founders or managers (property, 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. You may receive an order to find a friend school days, with whom the client sat at the same desk forty years ago, or 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: he is a detective a common person, only more attentive. A detective business, in fact, is based 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 office and remember the numbers expensive cars, which most likely belong to management or key clients, in order to later “punch” them through the database - is the prosecutor’s sanction needed for this? - 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 process labor activity It is very rare for a Russian detective 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 their own masters in deducing clean water unfaithful spouses and virtuosos in searching for 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?

IN Lately Private investigation seems to me more and more like a family business. 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. For inquiries here at on a paid basis will provide the following information about any enterprise registered in Russia:

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.

collapse

There are not enough detective agencies on the Russian market today when compared, for example, with security organizations. There are about 150 such formations in the capital, in the rest major cities Russia has a maximum of 6 individual detectives. There are no large organizations at all. Therefore, if you decide to open a detective agency, then know that there will be little competition.

The format of a detective organization in our state can be represented by a lone detective or a licensed specialist who served in law enforcement before opening the company. It is better to open your own detective agency as an individual entrepreneur. And after receiving a license, the detective has the right to provide detective services.

This license does not give the right to carry or use weapons. A private detective is only allowed to use a bulletproof vest, a baton, or a gas canister for his own protection.

Step-by-step opening of a detective case

This type of activity can initially be started alone, but later you will need to hire assistants. Recruitment is the most important stage in organizing a business in the specified field of activity. As practice shows, the best personnel for a private detective agency are former operatives who have extensive experience in conducting investigative activities. The speed of growth of a private agency’s reputation and, accordingly, the formation of a client base will depend on the professionalism of its employees.

Paperwork

Of course, like any business, to open a private detective agency, you need to officially register. At the initial stage, the individual entrepreneur form is quite suitable for registration.

To open your own detective agency in Moscow you will also need a license, to obtain which you need to collect the following documents:

Statement.
Filling out a special form.
Russian citizen passport.
Medical certificate of health.
Documents certifying completion of special detective courses, legal education, work experience of more than 3 years in law enforcement agencies.

Only after collecting can you think about how to open a detective bureau from scratch.

Necessary equipment

To open your own detective agency in Russia, you will need to purchase specialized equipment:

Professional video cameras, cameras. This equipment must only be of high quality, since the detective will have to take photographs and videos in uncomfortable conditions: hidden, unnoticed by others, at a remote distance, without the possibility of fixing the equipment, etc. In such conditions, it is possible to shoot the highest quality material only with using high-quality professional equipment, the price of which is quite high.

To process photographs and video material and then transfer it to the client, you will need a PC (laptop). Without technology it is impossible to open a detective agency.

Of course, espionage activities will require additional special equipment, the sale of which is prohibited in Russia. An assortment of similar equipment: listening devices, tiny video cameras and other elements of espionage can be found on foreign websites. But before you open an agency, you need to understand that the use of such technology is almost always considered illegal.

The demand in Russia for detectives is quite high. According to statistics, more than 300 people go missing every day in our state. Police officers cannot cope with such a workload; many cases never get completed. And the detectives have all the authority to start searching. Therefore, opening a detective business is a profitable decision.

Detective agencies are able to help many people find their loved ones and collect the necessary information about a specific person.

Organization costs

To open your own detective agency, a fairly small investment is required, but its profitability can sometimes be completely unexpected.
Due to the fact that in most cases a detective has to risk his own life, his services are quite expensive.

Of course, there is no need to talk about stable profits in this business, but the fact is that the services of detective agencies are used by people of average income, and they offer impressive monetary rewards. Therefore, opening a detective case is profitable.

The main activity of a private detective is interviewing people, studying documents, video, and photography. The main thing here is not to forget that according to the law of the Russian state, it is prohibited:

Install listening devices on phones.
Install hidden cameras.

To open a detective business, you need a legal education and connections in the police. Often, employees of this government agency can provide valuable information for a fee, which will facilitate the work of a private detective agency.

Project business plan

To quickly open an agency, save on renting premises. Organize meetings with clients on neutral territory. But having your own office will give the detective agency credibility, and accordingly, there will be more clients. Therefore, if you decide to create your own detective business, then remember that you can save on premises.

The second expense item is employee salaries.

The initial costs also include renovation of the premises, purchase of office furniture, necessary equipment: computer, photo, video equipment, spy equipment.

An advertising campaign is mandatory for those who decide to open a detective business. Any type of advertising is used in promotion: advertising on radio, television, Internet platforms, distribution of business cards, etc. the main objective– attraction potential clients, the number of which will determine the profit of the detective organization.

How much do private detective services cost?

From 7,000 to 17,000 rubles: full registration data of the enterprise, information about managers and investors. The order fulfillment period is up to 5 days. Opening a detective business is quite a profitable solution.

Additional Information

From 35,000 to 70,000 rubles: actual address of the agency office, number of working personnel, office rental conditions, analysis of receivables, information about the director of the organization (contact details, place of registration, photo, personal characteristics). The execution period is up to 12 days.

From 150,000 to 350,000 rubles: information about branches, annual turnover of the agency, list of suppliers and clients, credit assessment of the enterprise, contractual terms with a partner. As well as a thorough check of several company managers. Availability own property, relatives, connections in the criminal world, handwriting samples, signatures, shares in other types of business, military service, past illnesses. Completion period – up to 25 days.

To open a detective business, you must have a good understanding of prices.

Inspired by cinema or having certain practical skills, some people think about the question of how to become a private detective and open their own agency. But it is worth noting that this activity in reality is significantly different from what we see on the screen.

This direction has its own specifics, without taking into account which it will be impossible to establish a business properly. In order to make a profit and build a good reputation for the agency, you need to have certain training, ideally know the law and clearly understand what you will do and what types of work you will not undertake.

Features of detective activity

Today in our country private detectives are not yet as popular as abroad. But the demand for their services is increasing every day. People with middle and high incomes turn to such an agency who want to obtain certain information about an object or protect themselves. Typically, detectives come to clients who are disillusioned with the capabilities of government agencies or who have not received their support.

To successfully carry out such activities, you need to have certain experience, an analytical mind, and in some cases, connections within the legal system. Therefore, most often such agencies are opened former employees law enforcement agencies or experienced lawyers. The law also requires this.

The most common requests are:

Find a person through a detective agency.
Determine the fact of cheating on your spouse.
Check your business partners.
Find stolen items.

The attractiveness of the idea of opening a detective agency in Russia is that you can limit yourself minimal investment and already after a short time make a solid profit. In addition, with the growing demand for private detective services, the level of competition even in large cities is at a low level.

What documents are needed?

The work of detective agencies is regulated by the 1992 law “On private detective and security activities of the Russian Federation.” Therefore, initially it needs to be studied in detail. Next, you should register with the tax service as individual entrepreneur or legal entity (LLC).

Taxation can be either unified (UTII) or simplified (STS). OKVED code – 80.30 – investigation activities. First, you need to submit documents (a copy of your passport, an application and a receipt for payment of state duty) to the tax office and receive official papers.

photographs measuring 4*6 cm;
photocopy of passport;
documents confirming receipt of higher legal education;
if you have work experience in the relevant authorities, make a copy of your work book;
medical certificate, which is issued after passing the commission.

Please note that in Russia only a person with a legal education can become a private detective. But in some cases, such activities are allowed for people who have at least three years of experience in government law enforcement agencies or have passed special training. To confirm your knowledge and skills you will have to take a test.

A license may be refused only in the following cases:

Age up to 21 years.
The candidate is or was previously registered with a psychoneurological or narcological clinic.
There has ever been a criminal record or the person was under investigation.
Previous service in law enforcement agencies ended with dismissal due to violation of the law.

Otherwise, after passing all checks, you will be issued a license. However, it will only be valid for 5 years. Then the document will have to be renewed in a similar way. Since the procedure can take up to two months, make sure to submit your documents in a timely manner in advance.

Pay attention to this point as well. If you are going to hire assistants for your agency who will also conduct detective work, then each of the team members must independently go through the licensing procedure and receive the appropriate document.

Work specifics

The activities of such an agency are strictly limited by law. Detectives in Russia can only provide the following services:

collecting information about individuals, but only with their written permission;
studying business partners, their creditworthiness, past transactions, credibility and reliability;
external surveillance of objects, but without penetration into private property;
investigation of any misconduct or criminal matters;
inspection of vehicles, real estate and other objects;
search for missing property;
study of archives and documents;
detection of people whose whereabouts are unknown;
protection of property or person;
protection of life and health;
legal consulting services;
ensuring order, etc.

Despite all the similarity of activities with government agencies There is a significant difference to note. A detective has no right to use weapons, enter illegally into private property, or use various “spy” devices to collect information. He can even protect his life or his client only with the help of simple permitted devices - gas canisters, body armor and a club.

Clients often ask to break the law and use the forbidden, but effective remedy. In this case, you need to understand that by violating certain rules and regulations, you personally risk not only losing your license, but also may be subject to criminal liability.

Therefore, people with work experience and appropriate education have a significant advantage over others - they are very well aware of the legal side of the issue and can balance on the brink without violating the law.

Partially, in order to protect yourself and confirm the fact of the order in the future, you need to have a sample contract that is drawn up with each client. It is important to clarify all the nuances of the activity, the method and amount of remuneration, the results to be achieved, the terms specified, etc.

Premises and equipment

At first, you can try to conduct detective work at home, and meet with clients somewhere on neutral territory. But it would be much better to rent a small office. So, you can conveniently arrange all the equipment required for work, create a complete archive of documents and dossiers, and also arrange a place for confidential conversations with customers.

To run a business alone, an office of 20 square meters is enough. m. If over time it is planned to hire employees to expand the client base and carry out more orders, then look for a more spacious room. An office renovation doesn't need to be too fancy or luxurious. Typically, customers don’t care what your office looks like, as long as it’s clean and tidy. The location also does not play a significant role.

Let's list what you need to do business:

Furniture for the owner and employees (tables, chairs).
Cabinet for storing archives, papers, documents.
Computer or laptop with installed software.
Internet access, telephone line, fax.
Office equipment.
Stationery and other consumables.
Safe.
Special professional equipment – voice recorders, cameras, video cameras, etc.

Remember that various “spy” equipment is considered prohibited and its use is unacceptable under the law.

Staff

Private detectives prefer to work alone. Although abroad there is practice in opening entire complexes with many employees. If you properly assemble the staff of such an agency, you can perform a variety of tasks that are not available to your competitors. For work you may need:

The same detectives with a license to given name, helping to conduct the main activities.
Security guards who provide related services.
Secretary, communicates with clients and helps with organizational issues, maintains documentation, takes calls, etc.
Sometimes such agencies use the help of professional actors and make-up artists, but they are not part of the main staff.
Programmers, lawyers, economists and other representatives of a narrow specialization are able to search for the necessary information that not everyone can understand on their own, which significantly increases the chance of collecting data on an object.
Accountant – can be separate staffing unit, and carry out activities through an outsourcing system.

Who exactly is needed in your agency is up to you as the owner to decide. Much also depends on what services clients order and what there is demand for.

Another feature of a detective agency is the difficulty in finding clients. After all, openly advertising yourself is quite risky. If you, as a private detective, are recognized on the streets of the city, then searching and collecting information, tracking an object and other functions will not be possible to perform personally.

It is necessary to name the agency in a sufficiently succinct, sonorous, concise manner so that it is immediately clear what we are talking about.
Print out business cards and hand them out to potential customers.
Use online resources – social media, groups, announcements, forums, etc.

You can download it here for free as a sample.

Financial questions

You can become a private detective without making large investments; all you need is experience and tools to help you find the necessary information. But in order to open a full-fledged agency, it is advisable to spend money on its organization and arrangement.

Also, do not forget about the constant costs of supporting the company’s work and various consumables.

Income will depend entirely on the number of orders, their complexity, variety, established prices and speed of work. Set the tariff schedule so that it is easy for you to calculate the cost of services if they are requested as a whole.

It should be noted that the work of a private detective is valued quite highly and rich and wealthy people turn to such agencies, so it makes no sense to lower prices too much, especially if there is no competition in the city as such.

It is believed that in a metropolis, for a month of work of a small private company in this area, you can get at least 260 thousand rubles. Therefore, even with modest beginnings and gradual development we can talk about full payback within a year.

Video: profession – private detective.