Through The Eye of a Private Eye: A Conversation About Private Investigation
What does a private investigator actually do? It's not what the movies show you.
When most people think "private investigator," they picture someone in a trench coat following people through dark alleys. The reality is much more interesting — and much more relevant to everyday business.
What PIs Actually Do
Modern private investigation is largely about information gathering and verification: - **Background checks**: For hiring, partnerships, and due diligence - **Insurance fraud investigation**: Verifying claims are legitimate - **Asset searches**: Finding hidden assets in legal disputes - **Digital forensics**: Recovering and analyzing electronic evidence - **Surveillance**: Yes, sometimes — but it's a small part of the work
The Business Relevance
Every business owner should think like a PI when it comes to:
Due Diligence Before entering a partnership, signing a major contract, or hiring a key employee — verify. Check references. Look up public records. Verify credentials. The 30 minutes you spend verifying could save you from a disaster.
Fraud Prevention Employee fraud, vendor fraud, customer fraud — it happens more than people think. Having basic monitoring and verification processes reduces risk significantly.
Competitive Intelligence Understanding what your competitors are doing isn't shady — it's smart business. Public records, job postings, patent filings, social media activity — all of this is publicly available information that tells a story.
The Ethics
There's a clear line between investigation and invasion of privacy. Legitimate investigation uses legal methods and publicly available information. It's about finding the truth, not creating it.
The best investigators I've met are the most ethical people in the room. Their credibility IS their business.