Surveillance On Success

Surveillance on Success

Excerpt from Surveillance on Success -- Off the Beat

St. Louis PI Pete Determined visibly collapsed in his cushy chair. "I don't understand it. I thought all of my investigative experience would make it easy to get cases. Oh, I did some surveillance work for a fellow retired cop who worked at an insurance company when he was on vacation, but otherwise very little. Patti and I are fighting a lot; she's working lots of hours at her sister's store in the mall, just to bring in some extra dollars."

Sam Spadewski smiled at his long-time friend. "Don't panic, Pete. There are ways to turn your business around, or, more precisely, to get it off the ground. I'll help you. The first thing you have to realize is that you are not on the city payroll any more. You used to get a check every week, always paid the same no matter what case you were working on, or how many cases you were working on. Now, no one is just going to hand you a case because you have great investigative talent. You now have to go out in the big bad world and find the cases yourself. You've got to become a hunter, track down each and every case."

"Solving a case always took a plan, didn't it?" Sam asked. Pete dutifully nodded. "Then think of your business as a case you have to solve. You're just going to need a plan to do it."

"Pete, you've always been a hunter of facts. Now you need to be a hunter of cases. When you were a cop you were always a cop first, and a damn good investigator. Now you need to be a businessman first and an investigator second. One key to becoming a good businessman is that, whatever you touch, if it costs you money, it's never free for your client."

Sam added, "Pete, in order to keep this simple, I'll tell you the three things you need to be successful in the investigative business." Pete lifted his head, eyes and ears. "There are three key elements to being a success in this business," Sam said, hands clasped behind his back. He was lightly bouncing up and down, ready to present his full lecture to his classroom of one. "The first is to maximize your dollars in everything you do. That applies to your office furniture, your equipment, your marketing techniques, everything. You need to be frugal: do you really need what you are buying, or do you simply want it. Running a business is not like a weekly trip to the grocery store where you can easily say, 'That looks good, I think I want that.' Be hard on yourself; address your needs, not your wants."

Sam strolled more quickly now, his mind locked on his lecture. "Number two is to be brutally honest with yourself. Ask yourself if you really can do what you think you want to do. Do you feel, separate from your confidence in your investigative skills, that this is the profession for you? Can you call on clients, manage the budget, process the paperwork, send out the bills, collect on the bills, etc., etc.? To make a parallel connection, someone who is a superb chef and can flawlessly make the most exotic, most delicious meals is not necessarily best equipped to operate a restaurant. They are two completely different skill sets. So don't make excuses. Just be honest with your analysis to do the work that needs to be done in business, and, if you don't have the knowledge, then be committed to finding those skills and putting them in place."

Pete had taken out a pad and a very pristinely sharpened pencil and was taking notes quickly. "And number three," Sam said, " is to clearly define your target market. This is the first critical step of successful marketing. You can't just say you want to market to businesses; you have to decide what kind. Small businesses or large corporations? Retail operations or manufacturers? Blue collar auto repair shops or white collar accountants? Know who you are going after, find out exactly what they want, and give it to them."

"But what if I still fail, Sam?" Pete asked.

"I don't think you'll fail, Pete. You're a smart guy and a hard worker. You just need to apply your work ethic to your plan. You have a plan every time you work a case, don't you, mapping out what needs to be done and in what order it has to be done? You simply need a plan to drive your business to success. If you are a successful businessman first, you can afford to lose a case or two and still make a go of your business, because you're never completely dependent on the results of that one case. You have to focus on the business, Pete, not the investigation."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Pete said, smiling.

"No," Sam said. "You still need a plan. These are just things to do, things that probably will land you some work. But you still need a plan. In fact, let's go over to the library right now and find some books about building yourself a business plan. There are a lot of books with plans you can adapt, and it won't even cost you a penny."

"Sam," Pete said. "Thanks….thanks a lot."

"Don't get all mushy on me, Pete," Sam snarled. "You've got a lot of work to do, so you better stay focused. Come on, let's go!" As they stepped into the harsh St. Louis winter, Pete didn't notice the bitter sting of an icy wind. For the first time in months, Pete felt like he was on fire.

Surveillance on Success

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