A Private Investigation Company In Singapore

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

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"The Investigators" – Project On The Feasibility Of Starting Up A Private Investigation Company In Singapore

By

Li Tianyu

(1006006802)

Submitted for:

B.A (Hons) in BANKING and FINANCE 2013

Supervisor:

Ms. CANNY CHOW

JANUARY 2013

Cardiff Metropolitan University

 CMU 2013

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all people who have encouraged me during the process of conducting and completing this project.

I want to thank my supervisor Ms. Canny Chow from the EASB Institute who helped me all the time writing this project.

I am deeply indebted to my parents who have loved me with their boundless love and supported for my studying.

Finally, I would like to thank all my friends and fellow classmates who helped me during my preparation.

Thanks to all.

Executive summary

This is a business plan for the purpose of starting up a private investigation agency, named The Investigators. It will be licensed by Singapore police force and located in TiongBaru. With skilled and versatile operatives as well as the utilizing of the latest technology, this company will provide comprehensive range of professional investigation services

The world security services market exceeded $174 billion in 2010, Market growth is expected to accelerate to exceed a yearly rate of 4.5% between 2010 and 2015 to reach almost $220 billion (ReportLinker, 2013). In light of Singapore, the security industry is experiencing healthy growth, it comprises over 270 security agencies (SA). And the sector is projected to grow at a rate of 3 - 5% annually.(Singapore Police Force, 2013)

There is a phenomenon that official administrative seldom conduct comprehensive inquiries when minor offences taken place. They step in when problem like general interest offense has been committed. As a result, there is a growing trend that victims always assign a private investigator for their case. Also, the advanced technology has highlighted the importance of gathering business intelligence which is one of the service we offer, and people are continuingly hire private investigators to gather specific information for them. Moreover, the role of a private investigator is standing out as the divorce rate in Singapore skyrocketed. All these elements have made this industry quite lucrative and created great opportunity for private investigators.

However, the competition among this industry is quite fierce, we will strive to survive by using various kinds of strategies such as forming a strategic partnership with lawyers and working on holiday promotion. At the same time, we will also working on the corporate social responsibility to increase the reputation among the community. An exit strategy is also needed in case that we fail to survive. This is a strategy to sell our company which we will elaborate later.

Table of Contents

Appendix

Company description

Company description

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Business description

The investigator is a private investigation company. It will be licensed by Singapore police force and located in TiongBahru. With skilled and versatile operatives as well as the utilizing of the latest technology, this firm provides comprehensive range of professional investigation services

1.2 Mission statement

We are such a company where excellent detectives are standing by to provide professional services to our clients with care. What we offer is not merely the service but also something intangible that could make our clients feel the care from us. Our destination is to protect our client’s confidentiality and provide the best solution to the requirement from our clients.

1.3 Vision statement

The Investigators' vision is to become a supreme solutions provider for personal, corporate and legal purposes; And to exceed expectations of the customers with service excellence.

1.4 Services Overview

This firm generates its major income from providing private investigation as requested by attorneys, for instance, many attorneys may hire private investigators to collect evidence of marital infidelity to present, and other sectors such as, insurance companies who hire private investigators to investigate suspected claims, companies who want to gather sufficient evidence to fire a poor productive staff and so on. Besides, we provide psychological consultant which distinct us from competitors specially for those divorced customers.

1.5 Development to date and expansion plan

The Investigators will commence operation on year 2013. We expect that the business to expand aggressively during the first three years operation and intend to implement marketing campaigns that will effectively target individuals and attorneys within the target market.

1.6 Legal Status

This company will start as partnership under the laws of the state of Singapore on year 2013.

2.0 Services and why people need these services

2.1 Background investigations

Background investigation is mainly about collecting and identifying information about a person's past. For example, before an employer hiring a certain staff, he may want to know the person's past like whether he was a criminal or not, he was ever bankrupt or not. This is especially the case when it comes to dealing with critical information that is of utter confidentiality and integrity. For instance, when banks consider to hire a person to handle their cash, they need to examine the person’s past carefully as they cannot hire a person with a criminal background such as theft.

2.2 Marital investigations

Another important service offered by The Investigators to our clients is marital investigations. This mainly copes with cases of cheating spouses as it is one of the major issues for most relationships. Singapore is one of the countries around the world that have a fast growing economy and despite this fact, many couples in Singapore struggle with this menace. (SK investigation services, 2013). The number of cheating spouses in Singapore also shows an increase trend. A study reported that most Singaporeans who cheated on their spouses did it with his or her fellow worker or colleague whom he or she spent the better part of the day with while at work (SK investigation services, 2013). Furthermore, Singapore’s tourist industry is quite developed, it welcomes numbers of tourists every year. This creates great opportunity for natives to meet new people. Plus, the technological development such as the use of facebook makes it hard for someone to catch his/her better half.

The Investigators is specialized in catching cheating spouses in Singapore while charges reasonably. Cheating is an extremely sensitive question. One needs to find enough signs to prove another is cheating. And this process is quite dangerous because nothing hurts spouses more than knowing that their partners do not trust them. This is why many Singaporeans would like to assign a private investigator to investigate such case.

Actually, there is always a risk in marriage that whether a couple can get along together for a long time with a strong belief in another. Some of them may feel bored and lead to an unexpected cheating on each other. It is hard to keep such marriage alive. However, if it is just a doubt, exact information is needed to save a relationship. With different techniques, we can help to find out the truth if a suspicion is right or not. we mainly use surveillance to trail the suspects, follow and supervise all their movements and actions and recording what we inspect. Besides, we also utilize technology such as cameras to collect evidence such as photos. And at the end of the investigation these evidence will be report to the clients.

Industry Analysis

3.0 Industry analysis

3.1 Industry overview

The world security services market exceeded $174 billion in 2010, Market growth is expected to accelerate to exceed a yearly rate of 4.5% between 2010 and 2015 to reach almost $220 billion (ReportLinker, 2013). In light of Singapore, the security industry comprises over 270 security agencies (SA). The sector is projected to grow at a rate of 3 - 5% annually. (Singapore workforce development agency, 2013)

This industry is mature, and as to private investigation sector, there are more than 100 private investigation organizations that are approved by the government that are providing services in different disciplines of investigation in Singapore(SK Investigation Services, 2013). And it has experienced robust growth as the number of marriages ending in divorce has skyrocketed. Among married male residents, the general divorce rate was 7.6 in 2011 (Chart 1)and the rate among married female residents was 7.2 in 2011. Compared to a decade ago, the general divorce rates in 2011 were significantly higher (6.3 for males and 6.4 for females in 2001).(Statistics Singapore, 2013)

C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Tencent\Users\513996378\QQ\WinTemp\RichOle\[BB}}O5Q9]D[WS)O1317(50.jpgSource:(Statistics Singapore)

Therefore, there is a growing trend that more and more attorneys are now working with private investigators in order to collect evidence in terms of marital infidelity. The industry is expected to grow at a healthy rate as the trend continues. (Singapore Police Force, 2012)

3.2 Porter 's 5 forces

There exists a strong competition; the market share of Singapore private investigation agencies is mainly held by the big franchises and companies. Therefore we will be facing a severe competition from theses competitors in Singapore, especially in our expansion phase.

3.2.1 Bargaining power of customers (medium)

This is a key factor, which may influence us. Customers have numbers of agencies to choose from. Here is a list identified agencies

A1 SECURITY CONSULTANCY PTE. LTD

ABSOLUTE TEC & SERVICES PTE LTD

ACE SECURITY & INVESTIGATION AGENCY (PTE) LTD

AJAX INVESTIGATION AND SECURITY SERVICES PTE. LTD

ANTHONY’S SPECIAL INVESTIGATION SERVICE PTE LTD

APAC INVESTIGATION & CONSULTANCY

APEX SECURITY & INVESTIGATION PTE LTD

APTITUDE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING PTE. LTD

AR SECURITY SERVICES PTE. LTD

ARIEL PROTECTION PTE. LTD

ARMOUR SECURITY & INVESTIGATIONS PTE. LTD.

ASEC SECURITY EVENTS COMMAND PTE. LTD

ASSURED PROTECTION & CONSULTANCY PTE. LTD

CARLTON PRIVATE INVESTIGATION & SECURITY CONSULTANCY PTE LTD

CASTILLON SECURITY (S) PTE. LTD

CATCH CHEATING SPOUSE

CDIC CONSULTANTS LLP

CERTIS CISCO INVESTIGATION SERVICES PTE LTD

COMBAT INVESTIGATIONS & SECURITY AGENCY PTE. LTD

Commercial Investigations LLP

CONTINENTAL INVESTIGATION CONSULTANCY PTE. LTD

CONTROL RISKS GROUP (S) PTE LTD

CORPORATE RISK AGENCY PTE LTD

COVERT INVESTIGATION PTE. LTD

DIRECT SECURITY SERVICES PTE. LTD

DP QUEST INVESTIGATION CONSULTANCY PTE. LTD

DRAGNET PRIVATE INVESTIGATION AND SECURITY CONSULTANTS PTE. LTD

ELK SECURITY PTE. LTD

ENDURANCE SECURITY & INVESTIGATIONS

FOCAL INVESTIGATION & SECURITY AGENCY PTE LTD

FORTRUST SECURITY & INVESTIGATIONS PTE. LTD

FRANK PRIVATE INVESTIGATION AND SECURITY AGENCY

FTI CONSULTING PTE. LTD

G4S SECURE SOLUTIONS (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD

GALAXY INVESTIGATION & SECURITY SERVICE PTE LTD

GG INVESTIGATION & SECURITY

GLEN IRIS SERVICES PTE. LTD

GLOBAL 21 SECURITY SERVICES

GOLDENEYE INVESTIGATION AND SECURITY SERVICES PTE.LTD

GUARDWELL SECURITY & INVESTIGATION SERVICE PTE LTD

Highland Security Services

HILL & ASSOCIATES RISK CONSULTING (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD

HS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SERVICES

I-ANALYSIS PTE. LTD

INFINITY INVESTIGATIONS PTE. LTD

INQUIRO CONSULTING PTE. LTD

INSIGHT RISK GROUP PTE. LTD

INTEGRITY INVESTIGATION SERVICES

INTERLOCK SECURITY & INVESTIGATION SERVICES PTE LTD

IPIC SECURITY AND INVESTIGATION PTE. LTD

JASA INVESTIGATION & SECURITY SERVICES PTE LTD

JP KNIGHTS CONSULTANCY PTE LTD

JUSTICE INVESTIGATION

K11 SECURITY ENGINEERING PTE LTD

KAPITAN INVESTIGATION & SECURITY PTE LTD

KARMA SECURITY AND PRIVATE INVESTIGATION SERVICES PTE. LTD

KC SECURITY & INVESTIGATION SERVICES PTE LTD

KESTREL INVESTIGATION & SECURITY PTE. LTD

KNIGHT INTELLIGENCE & FORENSICS PTE. LTD

Therefore, they are seeking the best value services while pay minimum fees.

3.2.2 Bargaining power of suppliers (Low)

It may not be considered much of a significant factor in this particular industry, as compared to others, private investigation agencies are basically providing services and not the goods/ products. Mainly these services are provided through detectives. A worth mentioning factor may be that this expertise would not be required on frequent basis. Expertise once hired, are working for years, with proper treatment.

3.2.3 Threat of new entrants (high)

Since the market size is growing, the possibility of new entrants quite high. Though the competition may yet be intense but even then, the profitability could be quite attractive for new entrepreneurs to join the industry

3.2.4 Threat of substitute products(low)

This is also not an important factor to consider for this particular industry, as mere products or services can be the substitute for private investigation. Police stations could be considered as one, however, in most situations, they mostly just record the complaint, they merely carry out a comprehensive inquiry. These services only step in when serious offense has been committed, just like a disturbance of the peace or the problem of general interest. Because of the lack of personnel, money or time, the in-depth inquiry for the so called minor cases is not able to be conducted. Therefore, this phenomenon creates opportunities for private investigation. Victims may appoint those private eyes to conduct comprehensive investigation instead of report to official administrative services and wait for nothing.

3.3 Sensitivity to economic cycles.

This industry is of high level of consumption, and is sensitive to changes of the general economy. An economic downturn may cast adverse effect on this industry. However, this industry is still lucrative because divorce proceedings are inevitable and businesses will still encounter fierce competition and need corporate intellegence. Moreover, marketers also capitalize on the larcenous side of recessions. Sales of burglar alarms increase when "there is more unemployment and more crime results," said an alarm-company executive in 1971. (PInow.com, 2013) Private investigators also enjoy good times during recession as according to a private investigator, because "fraud and theft tend to increase when jobs are scarce." (PInow.com, 2013)

3.4 Electronically Stored Information is changing the Investigative Industry

For traditional private investigation, like background checks, theft, insurance claims, etc. Almost all of these involve investigating trust.

The client-agency plays an important role when a client assigns a private investigator. For the past several decades, mostly, detectives conduct investigation by observing visible activity and records: printed documents, receipts, surveillance photos, subject interviews, etc. However, as technology advanced, the investigative industry is prone to be interested in Electronically Stored Information (ESI). Modern investigators seize the opportunity to access this information with apparent simplicity, efficiency and convenience while leveraging the intel into more valuable case results. Here is how the electronically stored information changes the investigative industry nowadays:

3.4.1 Electronic data requires analysis

Simply collect information from intel does not bring any value, or sometimes even lead to a wrong direction. Profound analysis of records from various resources is essential to the value to the clients. Therefore, more and more agencies tend to employ experts at comparison and creative interpretation of records in order to enjoy extraordinary success in the near future.

3.4.2 ESI levels the playing field for investigators

The ESI skills strengthen the competitive position for a smaller agency as compared to a relatively larger or more established one.

Deep ESI skills brings the competitive position of a smaller agency closer to that of a larger or more established firm. Developing the intel extraction practices lowers the entry barrier for those smart PIs.

3.4.3 Adding value to ESI distinct agencies from others.

A professional agency that goes beyond sending video clip from investigations and coordinates intelligence from ESI becomes a new kind of resource for customers. This helps the expertise generate a firmer agency relationship which can prevent customers to change to other agencies.

3.4.4 Clients are practicing "DIY-investigations"

As electronic records are more commonly available, potential nonmilitary citizens may try to use these things by themselves. They may use facebook or emails to catch their unfaithful partner, so there are fewer domestic cases going to PI's. Companies may also use public online records to filter applicants, so they need background checks less often. Agencies may be competing against other investigators as well as their own clients.

Marketing Plan

4.0 Marketing Plan

4.1 Marketing Never Ends

Marketing never ends, even after our business is up and running. A common step that a typical private agency always takes is sending out newsletters to attorneys.

4.2 Target market

4.2.1 Market size and customer profile

Singapore has a total population of 5.31 million, with the board middle class making up 37%-40%. The Investigators average client will be middle to upper middle class man or woman currently undergoing a divorce and living in the company’s target market. Common traits among clients will include:

Annual household income exceeds $30,000.

Lives or works no more than 5 miles from the company’s office location.

Is a divorce or corporate attorney currently working with a divorcing individual or corporate client that is seeking business intelligence.

4.2.2 Possibility for citizens to assign an investigator

It is common that while a victim go to report a minor offence, the official administrative services mostly just record the complaint, they merely carry out a comprehensive inquiry. These services only step in when serious offense has been committed, just like a disturbance of the peace or the problem of general interest. Because of the lack of personnel, money or time, the in-depth inquiry for the so called minor cases is not able to be conducted. Therefore, this phenomenon creates opportunities for private investigation. Victims may appoint those private eyes to conduct comprehensive investigation instead of report to official administrative services and wait for nothing.

4.3 Market trends and opportunities

Searching for missing persons

One of the opportunities for private investigation is to search for missing people, as private eyes tend to be quite indispensable in two cases: Minors and adults that have gone missing- in the situation that there is no proof of an accident or crime. These cases are especially excruciating for families. However, official administrative services cannot really act efficiently. They record the case and conduct simple random checks in the family's interest. But they truly step in when the proof or suspicion of a crime or accident has been established. In most situations, only private investigations can carry out necessary comprehensive investigation in time.

Services coping with company management

Prevention in terms of security for traders, manufacturers and financial companies, stems directly from the studies carried out and the advice given by private investigators - particularly in the fight against theft and fraud in companies and against shoplifting in shops and hypermarkets.

Private investigators work quite actively regarding security for traders and financial companies, particularly for prevention of theft and fraud in companies.

While in regard of unfair competition, solvency, tracking down debtors and etc, private investigators also play an essential role. These services provided by private investigators make a positive effect on trade and industry by reducing the total number of offences committed nationwide.

Services dealing with civil affairs

In-depth investigations, which are sometimes required to produce evidence in the event of problems concerning divorce proceedings, custody or separation rights, specific genealogical searches and even for premarital inquiries, do not fall under the responsibility of any official service and can therefore only be dealt with in a professional manner by private investigators - it is worth noting that in Singapore Civil Law, the burden of proof always falls upon the party instigating the proceedings.

Nevertheless, all such social affairs are of the utmost importance for private individuals, and the legal, moral and legitimate services carried out by private detectives in this particular area can affect the rest of their lives. Private detectives consequently play an essential, irreplaceable role in safeguarding citizens' legitimate rights.

Strategic Position & Risk Assessment

4.4 Strategic position

The Investigators objective is to become the renowned investigation company in Singapore among its competitors. To achieve that, we worked out a strategic position which highlights that focusing on specific area instead of offering a wide range of services providing psychological consultant

The strategic position is based on evaluation of the following factors

1. Industry analysis

2. Target market

3. The competitive environment

4. Our strengths

5. Risks

Industry trends

There are more than 100 private investigation organizations in investigative industry that are approved by the government that are providing services in different disciplines of investigation in Singapore. The industry has experienced robust growth as the number of marriages ending in divorce has skyrocketed. As such, divorce attorneys are now seeking the services of private investigation services more than ever in order to collect evidence regarding marital infidelity. The industry is expected to grow at a healthy rate as this trend continues

Target market

Knowing the nature of price buyers, which is that they do not care much about the value but the price charged, we target at value buyers of middle class to upper middle class family as to our business itself, it provides professional service in investigative industry, competing on price would only make us look tacky and unprofessional, and create wrong impression.

Competitive environment

Although most of the competitors in Singapore are founded by ex-law enforcement officers who without business experience, we are still in face of great pressure from them because firstly, most of the competitors like SK have been operating for decades, and they have considerable experience in this business. Second, Many of them enjoy large market share and quite good reputation which create substantial obstacles for us to enter the market. Moreover, the range of services they provided is quite wide.

Our strengths

Our strengths line in that we focus on a limited range of services so that we are able to converge our resources like HR to ensure the quality of these services. Moreover, besides investigation, we also provide additional psychological consultant to help victims in events like cheat spouse walk out of the shadow, in attempt to seek a good reputation among the community.

Marketing mix

4.5 Marketing Mix-The 4 P' s

4.5.1 Price

We do not advertise our prices on-line, because If we do we are giving away valuable competitor intelligence and as a result, we are giving our competitors the upper hand.

A recent practice has evolved within the private investigation industry of offering private investigation ‘packages’. However, we are professional service providers in the legal/investigative industry, so it does not make sense offer "Buy Now", "Half Price", "Discount" type investigation packages. It only make us look tacky and unprofessional and creates the wrong impression.

4.5.2 Product

Front attack strategy

The product strategy planned by us is "Frontal Attack". We have decided to compete in the market with our tough rivals by offering quality level of service at reasonably low prices. We are providing diversified services in the capacity of private investigation. Experienced detectives will be serving the customers. All these features and many others will help us in competing with our competitor at all levels.

4.5.3 Promotion

Holiday marketing

The holiday season creates a great opportunity for us to connect with our clients on a different level than rest of the year.

Here is how we going to do this

1. Give away gift cards

We will distribute gift cards as holiday presents for current clients or as incentives for potential clients

2. Send holiday greetings

We believe that holiday is a perfect time to remind our clients that we are thinking of them and appreciate their business. We will send out holiday postcards, e-mails or other messages.

3. Use social media

We are going to use Facebook, Twitter and such social media platforms to send out quick and friendly messages to strengthen our professional network.

4. Volunteer

We will get us involved in our community by volunteering a food drive, homeless shelter or other organizations and increase the public awareness.

4.5.4 Place

The services provided are always of high confidential, therefore, in terms of place strategy we would only be considering the site where we have to open up our agency.

The ideal location for our service at TiongBahru which is the centre of Singapore.

4.6 Marketing Vehicles

4.6.1 Utilizing websites

To make sure that our clients could find us, we need to show up near the top of search engine results. Here are how we are going to achieve this.

Make sure our website is search engine-optimized. A search engine-optimized website is designed to the standards search engines use when determining ranking. (Lynch an Horton, 2013) Relevant content, proper meta tags and descriptions, and words written, all these could be the variables affecting the ranking. To take care of all of these could be overwhelming, but an expertly designed website can be expensive.

Build links. When one website links to another website, search engines view it as a vote of confidence(Bing, 2013) While the number of votes will affect the importance and ranking of a website. And, it can increase our ranking potential if a high-ranking website links to us.

Write original and relevant content. One of the major ways a search engine determines ranking is through relevant, well-written content (SEOmoz, 2013) .we are going to prepare something that could stick with visitors and encourage them to share on their own websites, so that people could link to our site.

4.6.2 Forming strategic partnership with reputable PI agencies.

Forming alliances with other investigators is an economical route to additional profit. We do not have the added expense for wages and benefits while having the resources available to us as needed. Moreover, As to us, we only provide a limited range of services in order to converge our resources on the quality. To form alliance, when our client asks us to undertake a task, we have the ability to say, yes we can, because our alliance can provide the expert skills and additional investigative resource we may need.

4.6.3 Making cold calls to different courthouses and attorneys’ offices

We are living in a digital world, but interestingly enough, in many instances, first few clients came to investigators are those after receiving one of their letters or their brochure/business cards from a cold call. The latter is still one of the favorite marketing approaches whenever work gets slow–we’ll visit attorneys’ offices and/or hit the courthouses and pass out our business cards.

4.6.4 Use Testimonials as a Marketing Tool

Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool (MSP, 2013). Therefore it can help us to have potential clients hearing and reading glowing recommendations about our services. Having someone else speak for us is extremely effective; however, it looks odd to ask our clients for testimonials.

Here is how we going to do it:

1. Identify Our Testimonial Subjects

Firstly, we will need to work out a list of clients whom are satisfied with our services. As to the list, we will try to recall cases that had a distinct outcome, and clients who were quick to praise us for quality work. Also we will target at people or companies which have good reputation, as these will distinct our testimonials.

2. Collect the Right Information

Once we work out the name list, we will send them e-mails or give them a quick phone call. One thing to notice is that, we shall not hog their time whether have them write their answers or record them via a tape recorder or video camera.

Here are the questions we are going to ask them in order to get enough information:

A general description of the problem they were having that needed investigative work

our customer service and professionalism

Reasons why they were satisfied and how we helped to resolve the case

3. Edit Testimonials to Fit our Needs

After we collected material from the interview, we will edit these testimonials into short paragraphs or video clips. And we will have to be extremely selective about which details and language to include. However, if we want to use a quite successful investigation case, we need not to be that selective and can just show off in longer form.

Once finished editing, we will show the person what we have done for his or her approval. Make sure they are okay with how we have shaped their words and with the way in which we are planning to display the testimonial.

4. Display Testimonials in the Right Places

ideal places to display testimonials for us are as listed below:

Brochures, business cards and other printed marketing collateral

On our website

Get people to post their testimonials on our local search profiles.

print the cases out in PDF form

Competition

4.7 Competition

4.7.1 General competitive analysis

The competition among licensed private investigators is less than in many other businesses. As the main prerequisite on application for private investigation agency is to have a minimum of 3 years' experience in relevant investigation work (for non-law enforcement officers) and a minimum of 2 years' experience in investigation work (for ex-law enforcement officers). (Singapore Police Force, 2013)Therefore, many applicants and licensees in Singapore are ex-law enforcement officers. Accordingly, there is a lack of experienced business personnel in this field. Further, most law enforcement training is not geared towards business and the amount of inexperience in this aspect of the field is shocking.

4.7.2 Competitors' profile

Despite the facts mentioned above, there are still strong competition within this sector with many competitors have been operating for decades and hold large market share. Listed below are two of the identified PI agencies which considered to be the top competitors for The Investigators.

1. SK Investigation Services

SK seeks to provide excellent investigation services to its customers. To achieve that, it treats every client with care, and strives to do an excellent job on the privacy and confidentiality. In addition, before really starting to investigate, SK always studies and plans each client’s case with care. By doing so, it efficiently reduces the risk of cases regarding the course of the surveillance.

Moreover, to meet its clients’ expectations, SK seeks to tender comprehensive information and investigation reports with video record and photos to clients. Clients at SK will also be updated as the investigation progresses.

In addition, SK has succeeded in solving numbers of complex cases for its clients. This has eared SK with distinct reputation among Singapore and even Asia Pacific Region. Also, those successes have drawn media and press high attention. It is the only private investigation firm in Singapore to be awarded with the "Top 200″ Outstanding Organization 2011 in South East Asia beside "Top 100″ Successful Awarded Entrepreneur Year 2010 (Platinum Category-Singapore)(SK Investigation Services, 2013).

2. Commercial Investigations LLP

A distinctive advantage of Commercial Investigations LLP lies in its human resources as most of its private detectives have experience in investigation field over decades. And most of them have a police or military background. Further, to ensure they perform professional job, they have undergone comprehensive on-the-job trainings and in house trainings such as using of the latest equipment available.

Commercial Investigations LLP commenced operation since 1990 by 2 managing partners, and its private detectives have been in the investigation field since the 80s. Its detectives are all full-time career investigators recruited from the police/military or other specialized fields. Their backgrounds are vetted and they undergo intensive in-house and on-the-job trainings to ensure that all investigations are conducted professionally with high degree of integrity.

Another great advantage of SK over other competitors is that it stores numbers of vehicles. This facilitates SK’s operations especially when it comes to the case of surveillance.

4.8 SWOT analysis

4.8.1 Strength

Our strengths line in that we focus on a limited range of services(marital and background investigation), so that we are able to converge our resources like HR to ensure the quality of these services.

Moreover, just like Harley-Davison selling a life style to their customers, we sell something intangible instead of just a written report or a video footage. In many cases all a detective has for the money is a final report and several photographs. This can be made even more difficult when the results are not matching clients expectation. We overcome this by offering psychological consultant and always remember that we are part priest and part therapist. The simple act of listening to clients and giving them outstanding customer service throughout an investigation will make selling an intangible easier, especially if bad news is given in the end.

4.8.2 Weakness

We are new, and lack of experience, and, because of the capital strain, we are not able to provide comprehensive range of services which will meet the needs of a wider range of customers.

4.8.3 Opportunities

It is common that while a victim goes to report a minor offence, the official administrative services mostly just record the complaint, they merely carry out a comprehensive inquiry. These services only step in when serious offense has been committed, just like a disturbance of the peace or the problem of general interest. Because of the lack of personnel, money or time, the in-depth inquiry for the so called minor cases is not able to be conducted. Therefore, this phenomenon creates opportunities for private investigation. Victims may appoint those private eyes to conduct comprehensive investigation instead of report to official administrative services and wait for nothing.

4.8.4 Threats

Although most of the competitors in Singapore are founded by ex-law enforcement officers who without business experience, we are still in face of great pressure from them because firstly, most of the competitors like SK have been operating for decades, and they have considerable experience in this business.

Second, many of them enjoy large market share and quite good reputation which create substantial obstacles for us to enter the market. Moreover, the range of services they provided is quite wide.

Operation Plan

5.0 Operation Plan

5.1 Challenges facing private investigation agencies

5.1.1 Things do not always go as planned

Private investigators in novels, movies and televisions are quite different from the reality. In literature, private investigators are super heroes, they hack computer networks, disguising, break and enter buildings, track on others and never lose the target. However, in reality, surveillance is affected by numbers of variables, such as weather, traffic patterns and there is no guarantee. Therefore, a reality for private investigators is that things do not always go as planned. However, affected by literature, clients are always expecting the same results. Thus the fact is, private investigators are always facing the situation that they are not able to achieve the results that their client expects, but they have to break bad news to them.

Solutions to this challenge will be as following.

1.Make One Thing Perfectly Clear.

In reality, no private investigator can guarantee a certain outcome. Therefore, we need to tell our clients specifically that what we can do and what we cannot do once clients seeking for our service, and write it down in paper form. This will prevent any misunderstanding at the end of service, particularly when there is nothing good to report. In most situations, detectives may work out a retainer agreement, which may state the tasks they are about to perform. when sometimes the process of investigation does not go as planned and clients start to complain, for example, "that is not what i m asking you to do", the retainer agreement will be presented for their reference. Make things clear at the beginning so that it will be easier for detectives to break bad news and for clients to accept them.

2. Selling an Intangible.

Just like Harley-Davison selling a life style to their customers, we sell something intangible instead of just a written report or a video footage. In many cases all a detective has for the money is a final report and several photographs. This can be made even more difficult when the results are not matching clients expectation. We overcome this by offering psychological consultant and always remember that we are part priest and part therapist. The simple act of listening to clients and giving them outstanding customer service throughout an investigation will make selling an intangible easier., especially if bad news is given in the end.

3. No surprise

Clients of our business do not always like surprises, particularly when it is bad news. Our private investigator's final report should never include information that will surprise the client. In fact, a final report should really be more of a formality(PInow.com, 2013). Any bad news should be communicated to our clients before they start to read the final report.

4. Give the client regular updates

Lastly, we need to make sure that our clients is up to date with our investigation progress. We can do this by phone or email. It is unacceptable to clients that after they assigning a case, the investigator disappear. And, things get worse if a private investigator reappears sever weeks later with no productive information or even bad news. Giving our clients regular updates makes them easier to accept an result which not match their expectation or even bad news.

5.1.2 Ethic issues

Houston attorney Clyde W. Burleson and Scott H. Belshaw, executive director of the University of North Texas Professional Development Institutes private investigations training program, have researched some key ethical issues for private investigators. (PInow.com, 2013)

Violation of privacy rights

Someone' s privacy is easily be violated, especially with the work of new technology. Violations of privacy could include hacking computers; placing cameras in hidden locations or using long-range cameras to take pictures through someone' s window; intercepting mail; and obtaining information under false pretenses. (PInow.com, 2013)

For instance, a credit agency can provide a person' s credit report to a private investigator. But he must be honest and careful not to lie about their intentions when trying to seek credit reports. Obtaining a credit report under false pretenses is a federal offense. (PInow.com, 2013)

Information obtained illegally is not admissible in court (PInow.com, 2013), so it is useless to attorneys who hire private investigators.

The easiest way to avoid violating privacy is to conduct investigations from public viewpoints. (PInow.com, 2013)

Lack of training in ethical decision-making

In some cases, a private investigator has to respond to an urgent situation briskly, which means he may not be able to consider thoroughly. Such situation highlights the importance for private investigators to receive ethical and legal training, so that they will have knowledge needed up front.

To solve this problem, more universities and colleges should offer training programs for private investigators, with attorneys teaching criminal law, and other instructors offering background in privacy rights and ethics. (PInow.com, 2013)

Also, private investigators nowadays need to stand on the very top of the technology and be more knowledgeable in electronic investigative tools more than before as technology advanced. For example, back to Sherlock holmes' s age, it was quite difficult to detect a trace of blood. But now, a small machine could do everything, as long as you know how to control it. This field has traded in magnifying glasses for GPS receivers and laptops (PInow.com, 2013). Detectives who are not equipped with such knowledge will be leave to the situation which of distinct disadvantage.

5.1.3 During the recession, should we compete on price or value?

According to a poll in the PInow.com and ServeNow.com Yahoo! Groups 29 percent of investigators have discounted their fees during the recession, and 16 percent of process servers have cut rates as well (PInow.com, 2013). This raises up the question: During the recession, should we be competing on value or price?

Customer Loyalty

Discounting rates does not increase customer loyalty, and We will not advertise our prices on-line, because If we do we are giving away valuable competitor intelligence and we are setting ourselves up for failure by giving the power to our competitors as a result, we are giving our competitors the upper hand.

A recent practice has evolved within the private investigation industry of offering private investigation ‘packages’. However, we are professional service providers in the legal/investigative industry, so it does not make sense offer "Buy Now", "Half Price", "Discount" type investigation packages. It only make us look tacky and unprofessional and creates the wrong impression.

Customer loyalty is built up progressively. The loyalty is affected by many variables. however, among these, providing consistent and excellent customer service is of great importance. We should be very clear that where our competitive advantage lies in, because clients are always looking for something more than a reasonable price. Moreover, an recession will not last forever, once the economy recovered, clients will not be satisfied merely with a good price tag, but are they seeking for high quality and professional services.

Reputation

When we are making decisions, we need to be extremely careful that what kind of images they may post to our clients. As it may take 10 years to build up a good reputation, while just need several minutes to destroy it by scandals, or other unexpected accidents. The LIBOR scandal happened to the renowned bank Barkley is an extreme example.

The price of our services is a determining factor of our company. It reflects the quality of our services in a certain way.

Giving a discount may attract a lot clients immediately, however, in the long run, it will hurt our company. Because the one wants to start a pricing battle and therefore decrease the price is reducing the perceived value. This particular industry is just like the luxurious industry which is of high consumption, few people would buy a LV bad which is offering 50% discount, in fact, most of them may consider it as a conspiracy.

According to the global public relations firm Weber Shandwick, it takes about three and a half years to rebuild your reputation(Ia, 2013), and seven to 10 years for a company to go from poor to adequate to outstanding in the mind of the consumer. So we are not able to afford to lose years of good business to poor pricing.

Work with Regular Customers

If a patient are quite satisfied with the treatment of a doctor, he would probably recommend this doctor to his friends. Same thing to our business, we should try to sustain old clients and let them popular our name as the mouth of words is a very effective marketing tool. If we cut prices for them "just this one time" they will wonder why they ever paid more for our services. Cutting price cannot achieve mutual benefit, in fact, no one benefits if we do so. It may not only affect our profit adversely, but also affect the industry' s perceived value as a whole(PInow.com, 2013)

5.2 EXIT strategy

We will strive to survive in the industry, however, we need to work out a plan in case we fail to do it, that is to sell our business.

Here is the detail about our exit strategy.

Realize Our Worth

First thing is to recognize our value, to recognize what kind of advantages we have over certain areas. By recognizing and highlighting our company' s strength, we distinct us from those competitors. And therefore we increase our value. After we have identified our strengths, we need to consider how to utilize these to attract those acquiring us. Also, we need to know the goals of our potential buyers and work out how we could help them to achieve those goals. Doing this successfully would also increase our value.

However, we could not only identify our strengths, but also our weaknesses. these could be the factor that reduce our value, therefore once we recognize them, we will work out a resolution to solve them or at least to improve on them. Furthermore, show our potential buyers our weakness and how we can improve under acquisition will give our potential buyers the expectation about the acquisition and once again, it will increase our value.

Get Our Name Out

Once we done the first step, we will start to market ourselves. We will join local, and national associations for our industry. Also, we will attend their meetings in order to get to meet new people within our industry and widen our social network. Moreover, we will prepare an "elevator speech," which is a few minutes of talking points on what our company does and what distinct us. By doing these, we are putting our company on the radar of our potential buyers

Further, we will also join many universities sponsor events that are open to the community, including alumni and networking events. And spend several days to visit attorney and introduce our company to them- as they are the ones who normally decide which process servers and private investigators to hire. (PInow.com, 2013)

Know Our "No"

Knowing what our company is worth is important before selling it. There are numbers of factors which determine the value of our company and the value to a potential buyer. Among these, our gross revenue, our total expenses and the assets included in the sale are of great importance. the rest are of less importance just like how the company is reliant on certain people, how good is our company' s reputation and the quality of our website.

Know our floor price, which is also known as "no number", to sell our company. This means that we are not going to sell our company to anyone who offer a price which is lower than our floor price. This price (or above) is the one that we are absolutely willing to sell our company for. After we working out this number, we will first keep it to ourselves as revealing these numbers to potential buyers could create obstacles to the negotiation process.

With hard work and a little luck, a potential buyer will see the value of acquiring our company. while at the same time, we will still strive to grow our business and increase public awareness.

5.3 Operation and Management

Corporate structure

Here is our corporate structure: senior management stands on the very top, then the power was concentrated on two parts, private investigations which include private investigation services, surveillance services, legal compliance and licensure; Administrative staff, which consist accounting, sales-marketing and administrative.

Getting the right candidate

Hiring is of great importance to a company, particularly to our business. A talented and experienced detective could give us enormous advantages. We believe that we have a great company, great culture, but we want to get the people who really want to work here. Although, hiring is a time-consuming and expensive process, getting the right people in the right role is of great importance. We are willing to do everything we can do to get the right candidate.

And here is how we going to hire

Run an advertisement:

The first thing we are going to do is to give a description about our company with specific details. We can conduct this by an instructor to give a briefing to those candidates who are applying for job here. After this short briefing we also set the foundation for testing. We will ask then to complete three specific questions to measure their ability to follow directions. Candidates will not move on to the next step unless they passing this. Here are our questions to ask.

A description of why they would be a good fit for the role.

Their current or past compensation.

A phone message.

We want to see if they can follow directions, if they sound professional, and whether or not their compensation is in line with what we’re able to offer.

10 minutes introductory phone call:

Once candidates pass the test mentioned above, our HR manager will schedule a phone call. The first question we going to ask is " how much do you know about our company". To ask this is to know how much preparation they did. If they can give a reasonable answer then more complicated questions will be followed, these are to make sure that this candidate has a similar ethical approach, are standing on the top of technology and is worth to invest.

30-60 minute phone interview:

This is more like a background checking process. During this, we will ask more details about candidates' career history. Ranking from 1 to 5 will be given with 5 being the highest. The score is important to us because we may interview plenty of candidates and easily to forget them.

Face-to-face interview:

During this process, , some of the same questions will be repeated again, this is to make sure that their answers are consistent. Also, hypothetical questions like "what would you do if you were encountered that situation" will be asked. We will pay attention to their body language and the tone along with the words while they are answering questions

Check references:

While a reference from prior manager is preferred, personal reference is also wanted, as sometimes it could give us the best information such as give us the insight to the person' s strengths and weaknesses.

Make an offer:

The final step is to make the offer. Also we make sure our paperwork is well-prepared to prevent employees leaving with equipment or confidential information.

5.4 Risk analysis

Risk analysis report sheet

Risk

Risk category

Lever of security (Low, medium, high)

Priority

Responsible

What

Business environment

Environmental

Medium

High

Management level

The financial crisis is currently affecting the global economy, Singapore is not an exception. The market is not steady. In such a situation, effective strategies are important. We should make dynamic judgments which reflecting the current market needs. Contingency plans should be prepared in hand to avoid such situation.

Use of capital

Business

Low

Medium

owner

Capital should be used efficiently and effectively, as the economy is undergoing a crisis. Proper research and planning need to be done to ensure this

Competitiveness

Business

High

High

Management level

Although most of the competitors in Singapore are founded by ex-law enforcement officers who without business experience, we are still in face of great pressure from them because firstly, most of the competitors like SK have been operating for decades, and they have considerable experience in this business. Second, Many of them enjoy large market share and quite good reputation which create substantial obstacles for us to enter the market. Moreover, the range of services they provided is quite wide.

External risk factors

Economic risks

The global economy has been very vulnerable in the past few years which tend to affect the decisions of every country, company and individual. The buying power of people of Singapore and rate of disposable income is already low

Legal risks

In Singapore, legal systems are very comprehensive and there are many regulations associated with operating the business. To negate suck risks, there should be a clear understanding of those regulations. policies should be made accordingly, which can benefit business as well as predict any uncertainty in it.

5.5 Competitive advantage

Our competitive advantage is that we are selling something intangible. Just like Harley-Davison selling a life style to their customers, we sell something intangible instead of just a written report or a video footage. In many cases all a detective has for the money is a final report and several photographs. This can be made even more difficult when the results are not matching clients expectation. We overcome this by offering psychological consultant and always remember that we are part priest and part therapist. The simple act of listening to clients and giving them outstanding customer service throughout an investigation will make selling an intangible easier.

Community Involvement and Social Responsibility

5.6 Corporate Social Responsibility

In today's global business environment, a company s reputation and branding are one of its most valuable assets, Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) has become a key component driving brand profile and value creation for company. Working on CSR management will improve corporate reputation and brand value it is also a form of risk management to enhance competitiveness of companies including Strategic Management Unit(SMU), Moreover, reputations that take decades to build up can be ruined in hours through incidents such as corruption scandals or environmental accidents. These events can also draw unwanted attention from regulators, courts, governments and media. An extreme example is the recent LIBOR scandal.

Getting involved in the community can give our firm a boost on many levels. There are many ways to get involved and participating in different activities will ensure that our employees are feeling good about what they are doing, inside and outside of the workplace. (PInow.com, 2013)

Here are the ways to get us involved in the community:

Volunteer at search and rescue mission

Volunteering at search and rescue mission would not only gain us some experience by using our skills in a different way, but also build up the social network with new group of people and therefore increase the our reputation with the community.

Raise money or goods to donate to charity

Donation is the easiest way to get involved in the community and to get positive feedback from the public. We can raise funds within our business or donate to charity in name of our company. We will choose an organization that we care about and that relates to our work such as a group which raises money to help find missing persons. But, such kind of group in Singapore is not common, so that we can also consider to build up such a group for public benefit.

Teach a course on an aspect of investigation

Sometimes people are worried about that their room was installed hidden camera by landlord or they are being watched in office. But they do not have the knowledge that how to identify such things. Therefore we could conduct courses on identifying surveillance and doing buy sweeps at where available to the entire community

Mostly, people are not clear about what kind of services we are offering, teaching them about what we do will increase the public awareness as well as give them insight that how our services could be useful in future situations.

Offer internships to Private investigative students from a school

Form a relationship with a private training course or school such as Detective Training Institute. Also, such school may sometimes organize the industrial speak, we can volunteer to be a guest speaker there. This will get our company’ s name out there for soon-to-be licensed PIs looking for work.

There are many alternatives to get us involved in the community and further benefit our business by this involvement. To give our employees enough time to prepare for the involvement, we will work out a community calendar which is the schedule of all the plans and activities. And once we have decided the events we are going to participate in, we will spread the news in order to raise the public awareness. Hopefully, this move will impress the public positively and therefore increase our goodwill with the community which is of great importance especially for this unique industry.

The Financials

6.0 Financial plan

The Owner will acquire $100,000 of debt funds to develop the business.

6.1. Sensitivity Analysis

The Company’s revenues are modestly sensitive to changes in the general economy.

However, people will continue to undergo divorce proceedings and businesses will still

need corporate intelligence gathering despite deleterious changes in the economy.

Additionally, the high margin revenues generated by the business will ensure that the

Private Investigator Firm can remain profitable despite any moderate drawbacks in top line income.

General assumptions

year

2013

2014

2015

Payroll tax rate

15%

15%

15%

Corporate tax rate

15%

15%

15%

6.2 Projected balance sheet for 3 years

Assets

2013

2014

2015

Cash

$75,000

$86,000

$98,000

Amortized Development/Expansion Costs

$17,000

$19,000

$21,000

Company Vehicle

$15,000

$27,000

$39,000

FF&E

$23,000

$31,000

$41,000

Accumulated Depreciation

$4000

$8000

$12,000

Total Assets

$134,000

$171,000

$211,000

Liabilities and Equity

Accounts Payable

$13,000

$26,000

$40,000

Long Term Liabilities

$93,000

$86,000

$79,000

Other Liabilities

$0

$0

$0

Total Liabilities

$106,000

$112,000

$119,000

Net Worth

$28,000

$59,000

$92,000

Total Liabilities and Equity

$134,000

$171,000

$211,000

Proforma balance sheet

6.3 Projected cash flow for 3 years(monthly)

First year

Month

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Cash from operations

$4000

$4100

$4200

$4100

$4300

$4200

$4400

$4500

Cash from receivables

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Operating cash inflow

$4000

$4100

$4200

$4100

$4300

$4200

$4400

$4500

Other cash inflow

Equity investment

$10,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Increase borrowings

$100,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Sales of business assets

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

A/P increases

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

Total other cash inflows

$113,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

Total cash inflow

$117,000

$7,100

$7,200

$7,100

$7,300

$7,200

$7,400

$7,500

Cash outflows

Repayment of Principal

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

A/P Decreases

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

A/R Increases

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Asset Purchases

$55,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Dividends

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Total Cash Outflows

$57,500

$2500

$2500

$2500

$2500

$2500

$2500

$2500

Net Cash Flow

$59,500

$4600

$4700

$4600

$4800

$4700

$4900

$5000

Cash Balance

$59,500

$64,100

$68,800

$73,400

$78,200

$82,900

$87,800

$92,800

Month

9

10

11

12

2013

Cash from operations

$4600

$4700

$4800

$4900

$52,800

Cash from receivables

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Operating cash inflow

$4600

$4700

$4800

$4900

$52,800

Equity investment

$0

$0

$0

$0

$10,000

Increase borrowings

$0

$0

$0

$0

$100,000

Sales of business assets

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

A/P increases

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$36,000

Total other cash inflows

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$146,000

Total cash inflow

$7,600

$7,700

$7,800

$7,900

$198,800

Cash outflows

Repayment of Principal

$500

$500

$500

$500

$6,000

A/P Decreases

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$24,000<