Cost of Starting a Private Investigation Business- What I Spent

When starting any business a future business owner wants to know what the potential cost of doing business each year will be.  The initial cost to start doing business for me was small because I had some of the equipment needed before I pursued my own business license.  Hopefully after reading this many of your questions will be answered regarding the initial cost of starting a private investigation business.  If you are interested in the steps to start a private investigator business I have written more about that here.

Before you become overwhelmed with what seems like a steep initial cost for equipment and licensing remember that these costs can be recovered after only a couple of weeks’ work (assuming there is work to be had).  It is also important to remember the cost of starting a private investigation business for me,  included what the specific licensing fees related to the state of Washington.  Licensing or Insurance may be different for your state so be prepared for a cost that may be higher than the one I provide here.

I will share what I spent when I originally started a private investigation business and what you can approximately expect to pay currently to start a business. Feel free to skip down the page if you aren’t interested in what I spent originally.

Master Business License

For the Master Business license, I believe I paid $25.00 however it was a long time ago so it may have been less than I remember.

Private Investigation License

To get my Agency License as an unarmed principal, (not licensed to carry a firearm while working as a private investigator) in the state of Washington I remember paying $550. Since then it has gone up to $600.  This was only the initial fee for the license.  I continued to pay $350 every year to renew my license while licensed in the state of Washington.

Insurance

Many investigation companies are required to either have a bond or errors and omissions insurance.   Errors and Omissions insurance will protect you in the event that you cause a financial loss to a client.   I carried $1,000,000.00 in coverage for my business.  I discuss this more in an article on how to start a private investigation business.

I paid $763.71 for a year of coverage.  Instead of paying it all in one sum lump, I make a down payment of 266.49 and then make payments of $58.44 over a 9-month period.

I went through Calahan Insurance Agency Inc (360) 576-2924 in the state of Washington.  I don’t get anything for referring him. I just want to give you the name of the company that you might want to get insured with his assistance.

Computer

In 2010 or 2011 I purchased a Toshiba Satellite L645 laptop for my company computer.  I think I paid about $650.00 for my computer at that time.  Not only do I process surveillance video through it but I also edit my Private Investigator Advice videos and my podcasts.

I was very happy with this computer and it was worth every dime when I purchased it.  Toshiba made a good computer.  It lasted quite a long time.  I have since moved on to a Macbook Pro.

Dazzle: Avid Technology Dazzle DVD Recorder HD V14.0 (for capturing video with the time and date stamp)

This is what I used to take the video from my video camera with the time and date intact as well as removing the audio from the final recording.  Amazon sells these for about $50.00.  It should be noted that while this was an initial cost for me it is obsolete and you will not need it. 

Hightail or Drop Box

I used Yousendit (Now Hightail) to send my video files to my clients.  I could send up to 2GB at a time.  At the time I paid $49.99 a year for this service. 

UPS BOX (Personal Mail Box)

I had a personal mailbox to which all my business-related mail is sent. I believe I paid approximately $125.00 a year for the box. 

Video Camera

I purchased my Sony DCR-SX44 Flash memory Handycam Camcorder before I started my investigation business and the camera lasted a very long time. At the time I purchased the camera for about $250.00. 

Digital Camera

My first real digital Camera was a Kodak which I paid around $350.00.  It had 7.1 megapixels and decent zoom.  It was slightly larger than the normal size camera.  This would do for most private investigators.  The high-end camera I later purchased ran about $900.00 which was the Canon T3i.  You can get the Canon T6i now for less than I purchased my camera.  

Digital Audio Recorder for Recorded Interviews

When I transitioned from micro cassettes to digital (yeah, we used to record in tiny tapes) I purchased the Sony ICD-PX820 Digital Voice Recorder but there are less expensive recorders that do a good job.  My wife purchased it for me and if I recall correctly she got it from Wal-Mart for around $60.00 years ago.  

Covert Video Equipment

I purchased my covert video equipment from eBay and Amazon early in my investigation career. I later found other spy camera makers that made quality cameras.  You can see my spy pen camera review here if you are interested. 

I avoided the spy stores online as I felt they overcharged for spy cameras. I still feel as though the markup is a bit too much but find a spy camera that you like with a price you like.  The 808 Key Chain Camera was my go-to and use to cost around $10.00 from Amazon and eBay in the early 2000s. I usually purchased more than one in case something malfunctions (which you should expect to happen). 

Memory Cards

You will need memory cards for your video camera and your covert cameras.  Depending on the memory size of your SD cards, the prices can range from $8.00 to $45.00.  At the time when I started my business, I was purchasing 32GB and 64GB memory cards. They were pretty expensive if it was anything larger than that.

External Hard Drive

You will want to back up photos and video from time to time on an external hard drive.  It’s like a huge memory card.  I always worry that my computer will crash and I will lose everything on the hard drive.  So I back up videos and pictures on the external hard drive.  I believe I purchased my 500GB Toshiba hard drive for around $80.00 which I wrote about when I originally purchased it.  

Surveillance Vehicle Tint (assuming you need a surveillance vehicle)

I have had 4 vehicles tinted over my investigative career.  During that time I have paid anywhere between $150.00 (for 3 windows on a Honda Civic) and $250.00 for an entire vehicle. 

Business Cards

Unless you get something super fancy I can’t imagine that you will pay over $20.00 for business cards.  I think I paid $15.00 for mine.

Brochure

Going off of my memory I think I paid like $15.00 to design my Brochure and another $60.00 or so to print them out on nice paper at Kinkos.  Total of $75.00 for about 75 brochures.

Private Investigation Website

When I started I purchased my domain name for $12.00 (I actually purchased 3 because I was trying to figure out what the name of my company was going to be).  You can read about why your domain name is important for your website.

I hosted my business website on BlueHost.  I think I paid about $75.00 a year to host my website on BlueHost.

I purchased the theme for my website from Woo Themes for $30.00 if my memory serves me correctly.

The reoccurring yearly cost for my website is roughly $90.00 a year.

Tri Pod

I started with a very inexpensive tripod that probably cost $20 from Walmart.

Mono Pod

I use a Targus Digital TG-MP6710 67-Inch Camera/Camcorder Monopod which at the time was about $10 when I started the business.  The same monopod models go for approximately $20 on amazon currently.

DC to AC Power Converter

I purchased my first couple power converters from Radio Shack and Walmart. At that time I probably paid approximately $30 for them.

Printer/Fax/Scanner

I purchased a Canon all-in-one combo for around $250.00. It allows me to fax (which I don’t use), scan, copy, and print.  You can find something less expensive but this is what I paid for.  What I currently use is an HP OfficeJet Pro 8025 All-in-One Wireless Printer which is a fantastic printer with a USB port for scanning files to a USB thumb drive or printing files from a drive. 

Phone

I used my cell phone as my business phone.  I don’t consider this a business cost because I would have one regardless of having a  business.  You can use Google Voice as a separate business line. I discuss this more in a private investigator app article I wrote which you can read here. 

Fax

I used Ring Central for my faxing needs. At the time I paid $8.00 a month or $96 a year. Faxing really isn’t something that is used much these days and is likely not needed to be calculated into the cost of starting an investigation business.

Misc Office Equipment

You will find yourself needing various types of office equipment which can include printer ink, printer paper, pens, batteries, and whatever else you can think of.   You will likely spend well over $100.00 to get everything you need to get going with your business.

Office Space

I used my home office as an office space which cost me nothing extra. Years later I joined a coworking office but rarely leveraged it for investigation work. Read more about that below in what it would cost to start a business now.

COST (2010)	What Was Needed For My Business
$25	Master Business License
$550	Private Investigation Agency License
$763.71	Errors and Omissions Insurance (a year)
$650.00	Laptop Computer (Toshiba Satellite L645)
$50.00	Dazzle (Obsolete in 2022)
$49.99	Yousendit.com (Sending large files)
$310.00	Sony Video Camcorder + Audio Recorder
$30.00	Covert video cameras (because you will purchase more than one)
$30.00	Purchase 2 memory cards
$80.00	External Hard Drive 500GB
$250.00	Vehicle Tint
$117.00	Website (that I built myself)
$30.00	DC to AC Converter (vehicle)
$20.00	Tri-Pod
$10.00	Mono Pod
$96.00	Faxing Service
$190.00	Office supplies + Business Card + Flyers
$0	Cell phone as business phone/Office Space
$2921.70	Total Cost in 2010

What Would it Cost to Start a Private Investigation Company in 2022?

Some costs will vary by state including insurance. However, there are some things that have changed since I opened my investigation business. Some things have become more expensive, some things are obsolete and some things you won’t need anymore.  Let’s get into that.  For simplicity, I will leave a few columns with the original costs or what to expect as they haven’t varied much including licensing, insurance, and business license. Those numbers will be reflected below.

Laptop Computers for Report Writing, Skip Tracing and Video Processing

I always strongly recommend that investigators purchase a computer with at least an i7 processor as it will have enough power to process video for clients.  If you are a PC person, you are looking at roughly $800 to $1,300 for a laptop with this sort of processing power.  If you are a Mac person, you are my favorite. Just kidding. If you would like to stay with Mac computers I would play it safe and go with a Macbook Pro.  A New Macbook Pro will cost anywhere from approximately $1300 to $2000 (2022).  

This is quite a bit of money for a Macbook so it might not be your first choice which I understand. It wouldn’t have been mine either as a young private investigator or a business owner. 

Whatever compute you decide on, make sure it has the power to process video in a timely manner. 

Sending Large Video Files With Hightail

Hightail allows you to send large video files to clients or other investigation companies you may do subcontract work for. When sending a file it does allow for some security to insure the right person receives the file.  Many large investigative companies have been known to leverage this service from Hightail. The lowest plan is $14 a month.

Protections like: 

• Adding an access code
• Adding an expiration date
• Verifying Recipient
• Preventing File Downloads
• Getting a Download Receipt

Video Editing Software for Private Investigators

There are a couple of routes you can go. I added a time stamp to my video files and then edited them through a simple video process software called Camtasia.  I still use Camtasia to this day to create videos for the P.I. Advice Youtube Channel.  

There is another way that is highly recommended to the investigation community and that is using software by the Investigation Video Editor.  For $6.99 a month or $76.89 a year you can use this software to compile video and add time stamps to your footage. This is incredibly helpful and makes the process much easier for investigators. 

Video Camcorder Will Be Need For Surveillance Assignments

A basic camcorder from either Sony, Canon or Panasonic in the $250 to $350 price range will be more then enough for surveillance assignments. The Canon R800 is a great camera to use and is still affordable. It his highly recommended to stick with a name brand camcorder and not to purchase an off-brand one on Amazon.

Covert Video Camera for Hidden Video

When conducting surveillance investigations you will be required in many cases to attempt to document a subject within a store, restaurant or other public location.

I have found that hand held hidden cameras are flexible and discreet in many close quarter locations.

A Key Fob Style hidden camera works in many situations and was my go to style of covert video for years. This is the best style of cover camera in my opinion to this day.

Another style of covert camera is the spy pen camera. I have been a fan of these cameras due to the simplicity, video quality and how long they last. The base model is $59 however you may consider upgrading the memory card or adding the bundle. I reviewed my favorite spy pen camera here.

Digital Camera

While there is some debate in the investigative community, I would personally would purchase and affordable quality digital camera for assignments where photographs are needed. Phones take great pictures but it can appear unprofessional to use a cell phone for investigation photographs.

I would highly recommend a name brand camera to ensure you are getting what you are paying for in regards to mega pixels and quality. Sony and Kodak appear to have some affordable cameras on Amazon from $150 and up. The higher the mega pixels, the better.

Audio Recorder for Interviewing

Digital audio recorders are a must for private investigators. Generally speaking you will be looking to pay approximately $40 to $70 for off brand and brand name audio recorders. As previously mentioned the EVISTR recorder is approximately $40 and is something I have previously reviewed.

Memory Cards for Your Camcorder and Spy Cameras

Memory cards are incredibly affordable so that is why I am going to recommend you purchase at least 128GB SD memory cards. This may seem like overkill but it will providing you plenty of storage to videotape even on long surveillance assignments. They run around $35 at the time of writing this.

External Hard Drive

It is highly recommended that you purchase an external harddrive to store videos, pictures, documents and reports related to your investigation assignments. And once stored you will want to keep your external hard drive in a secured location and even password protect it if that option is available.

Storing investigation files on a hard drive also prevents your computer’s internal storage from filling up and slowing down your computer. While a standard 2TB hard drive from Toshiba or WD will be fine for most investigators needs, the Samsung 1TB hard drive may be faster when moving files to and from the device.

Vehicle Tint For Your Surveillance Vehicle

Vehicle tint prices haven’t changed much in the last 20 years. Generally speaking, for 5 vehicle windows you should be looking at $250 to $350 total. The prices may vary depending on the quality of tint used as well as the darkness of the tint.

Investigation Company Business Cards

Business card with a standard design from companies like Vistaprint will run about $20 for 250 cards. Of course the more design and better quality of cards, the prices will go up from there.

Another and increasing popular option is from a company called V1CE. This business card will allow you to tap someones phone and create a contact for you in their phone. This will cost a little bit more but it may come in handy when networking with other individuals and can be a conversation starter.

Investigation Company Brochure

You can create a brochure for your investigation business for free on Canva and then order prints right from the website. For 50 brochures at the time of writing this, it will cost around $50. Not to shabby.

There are plenty of other websites that can help you with creating a brochure as well. Canva is something I have used since 2015 for my creation needs.

Private Investigation Website

Every legitimate private investigation business needs a website. You can pay someone to put one together or you can easily put one together yourself.

Wix is a great platform to create you website and the learning curve is pretty easy. Once it is set up there will be little to no maintenance need unless you want to change something content related. For as little as $16 dollars a month you can get started building your business website. I have created websites on this platform in the past and found it to be pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

A WordPress website is also something you can leverage to build your website. I would recommend Bluehost as a website hosting option. They have an introductory price of $2.95 a month for the first year. I host this very website on that platform.

Tri Pod

I still use the Manfrotto Compact Action Tripod for investigative and personal purposes. This particular model runs about $100 but it should last you for years and years. Of course there are less expensive options to choose from. You can find tripods at Walmart, Best Buy and of course Amazon.

Mono Pod

Monopod prices have increased but they look the same as they did in 2010. You can find monopods at Best Buy or Amazon. You are looking to spend about $20 or more on this item.

DC to AC Power Converter

Highly recommended for investigators in order to change equipment with their vehicle.  Still very affordable. I personally use the Bestek 400 watt power inverter but you can find one on Amazon for about $25 and up.

Printer/Scanner

You can find a printer and scanner combination on Amazon for under a $100. The fancier they are, the more they will cost. What I currently use is an HP OfficeJet Pro 8025 All-in-One Wireless Printer which is a fantastic printer with a USB port for scanning files to a USB thumb drive or printing files from a drive. 

Phone

You likely already are using a personal cell phone. Using Google Voice as a separate business line is in my opinion still the best way to have a separate line without needing a new phone line. I discuss this more in a private investigator app article I wrote which you can read here. 

Misc Office Equipment

If you are stating a business with nothing, then it would probably cost about $100 to get all the necessities.

Office Space

The same philosophy I had in 2010 I still have today. As a new business I would avoid having an official business location unless you really have to have one. Business locations can vary depending on where you live and where you want the physical business location.

Offices can range from $75 a month for a shared workspace (use an open desk temporarily) to $300 a month starting at a shared workspace.

A private office could add up to much more in private locations which I have see as much as $450 to $650 a month. If you would like to read more about a Physical Private Investigation Office vs. Homebased Investigation Office I wrote about that here.

$25.00	Master Business License (this can vary depending on the state you get licensed in)
$600.00	Agency License (Could Vary)via WA State
$800.00	Errors and Omissions Insurance (Bond Only May Be Less)
$800.00	Laptop (Fast Enough to Process Video) $800 to $1,300
$144.00	Hightail – Sending Large Video Files (A Year)
$76.89	Video Editor – Investigation Video Editor (A Year)
$250.00	Video Camcorder – Name Brand- $250 to $350
$59.00	Spy Camera – Pen Camera
$70.00	Memory Cards x2
$150.00	Digital Camera
$40.00	Audio Recorder
$65.00	External Hard Drive 2TB
$250.00	Vehicle Tint
$20.00	Business Cards
$50.00	Company Brochures
$35.40	Investigation Website (BlueHost Website Hosting)
$120.00	Tri Pod / Mono Pod
$25.00	DC to AC Power Converter
$100.00	Printer
$10.00	Office Equipment
$3,680.29	Total Cost in 2022

Final Thoughts on the Cost of Starting a Private Investigation Business

Expenses and licensing will vary for everyone but this is a rough estimate of what you may pay to start your investigative business and a very accurate detailing of what I have paid.  I have detailed what a business might need in the past but I wanted to put a price tag on the potential cost you might incur.

This doesn’t account for anything extra like marketing or promotion.  I hit the pavement, emailed and made phone calls when I marketed my business.  I just want to give future investigation agency owners an actual number that starting a private investigation business would cost them.