Investigations, where are you...

The Investigation industry is about to enter into yet another quiet period as we negotiate the Christmas and New Year break.

Traditionally we have a couple of lean periods where the major clients all hold off on issuing work around the end of the Financial year and of course Christmas. Last year we had the GFC bankslide that scared everyone but the CEO's and their desire for bonuses. That lasted about 2 months while everyone took stock of their positions before the work started to come again. That put us right on top of last Christmas and another break.

For those thinking of entering this industry, you will need to have a plan that includes multiple income streams - PI work will not pay the bills consistently if you live outside of the major domestic cities, such as I do.

That is one reason I train Security and Investigation courses. I enjoy passing my knowledge on to others and it gives me the opportunity to stay in touch with both industries and the frequent changes imposed upon both by the regulators.

I have found that if one area is experiencing a quiet phase, the other steps up to the plate to fill the gap. Then when that income stream dries up, one of my other streams starts flowing, it is odd but it seems to work.

This latest quiet period with Investigations has given me the opportunity to fully establish my own business and training room in Maryborough. After 12 months of searching for a suitable office and training room set up in Hervey Bay I was beginning to despair when I happend upon a perfect little office in Maryborough. I am now set up and operating a busy little training school in association with Morrissey Training and operate my Investigations business from the office at the front of the building. I have not advertised the fact that I am an Investigator, that might prove too tempting to some of my former wards from my time spent working at the local prison. That was a further income stream that formed the basis of my income until approximately four months ago when I resigned from the prison to form my own company and work for myself. And I love it. I wished I had taken the step earlier but in reality I had to get everything in place before I could realistically make the move.

I sourced everything one step at a time and now have it all inplace in the office/training room. It looks exactly as I had envisioned, although there are still one or two pieces of the jigsaw to come. Next step is to grow the Investigations/Document Service arm of the company and employ a sub contract trainer to take that side of it off my hands.

So consider your entry into this industry very carefully, have fall back plans and other income streams to tide you over. I check the Investigator recruitment web sites every day and note that Investigators in the larger cities are consistently required, there is obviously a lack of staff for the work required. There is a lot of work in these places if you want it.

Send me an e-mail if you want to know anything about training to become a PI - currently the courses are funded by the federal government if you are registered with a job service agency, although you will need a reliable car and a healthy bank account to purchase the resources you will need to start working, so targetting the unemployed is not exactly the best thought out option. However, I am happy to assist you to put together a basic starter kit of equipment and welcome your enquiries and suggestions. I am also happy to give you more in depth advice on the industry if you feel like contacting me.

Kind Regards
Dan