Love
a Good Mystery?
Classes on
"How to Become a Private Detective" have enjoyed great popularity
in adult ed programs and I think I know why. For as long as I can remember,
mystery writers have delighted us with tales of amateur sleuths who always
outsmart the professionals. It's logical, then, that some of us would
deduce that we could be solving fascinating cases that have others stumped.
But becoming a private detective isn't the only way to satisfy an urge
to solve mysteries.
During our
visit to Tuscany, my sister Margaret, brother Jim, and I were being given
a tour of the Etruscan Museum in Murlo by our sister Nancy. Since Nancy
had worked on the excavation from which the artifacts in the museum originated,
she knew a great deal about the things she was showing us. She casually
mentioned that she had personally made a discovery that had completely
altered a popular theory about Greek and Etruscan influences. "Good
detective work, Nancy," I thought.
All of a
sudden, my mind flashed back to our days growing up with early television
and I remembered that Nancy was the one who loved solving the crimes on
Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In fact, she was usually the
first one to finger the villain. Her life as an archaeologist has given
her the perfect vehicle to keep solving mysteries without having
to deal with living criminals.
If you love
to put together the pieces of a puzzle or love to follow clues to their
conclusion, you could easily utilize that skill in designing a business.
Persistence, clarity and good problem-solving abilities plus a love of
the hunt are what's needed. Add to that a bit of expertise, a network
of "sources," and an active intuition, and you could have the
concept that keeps you happily engaged solving problems for your customers
and clients.
While the
possibilities go on and on for ideas that would thrive on detective work,
one of the most promising is to be a professional finder. What might you
find? Almost anything and everything that needs finding, it appears. Here
are some ways others have done it:
Lost
loves. Wondering what became of that adorable redhead who broke
your heart in the seventh grade? Even if you aren't looking for someone
from your past, plenty of other people are. And those who are computer
savvy know that much of the legwork can be done in cyberspace rather than
in musty old county clerks' offices. Businesses, too, use the services
of private agencies to do background and credit checks. Not as romantic,
of course, but another opportunity.
Locations.
Out-of-towners visiting my hometown of Minneapolis frequently ask to see
the Mary Tyler Moore house. It's one of our famous attractions (and, yes,
it is an actual residence). Films and television programs aren't the only
businesses that need to find appropriate backdrops for their work, however.
Magazine editors, advertising agencies and photographers also use the
services of location scouts who find the perfect place for a shoot and
make the appropriate arrangements. (This would have been an ideal business
for my father, who thought driving around town was high entertainment.)
Information.
Tracking down information and doing in-depth research is another perfect
occupation for wannabe detectives. Information brokering has, of course,
become a hot business in the past several years. "It comes as a surprise
to people who love to dig for information," says info broker Carl
Hansen, "that not everyone wants to spend time locating data. Many
people who could happily run such a business don't realize what a valuable
service they have to offer."
For more independent
souls, this offers endless opportunities for gathering and compiling data
that interests them and is useful to others. Jack and Marcia Kelly, for
example, followed their own curiosity and ended up compiling a directory
of monasteries and retreat centers that take in paying guests, combining
a passion of theirs with a void in the market. Independent researchers
are also employed by a host of businesses, writers, television producers,
and marketing firms.
Things.
Until a friend introduced me to John Dunning's mysteries, I had never
heard of book scouts. But I learned a lot about book scouting from him
and, also, from another book called Book Finds
by Ian C. Ellis. A book scout works independently to track down valuable
books which are then sold to dealers or private collectors.
All sorts
of profit center possibilities exist for tracking down hard-to-find items.
For example, when Southwestern decor and cuisine became trendy throughout
the U.S., one scout specialized in buying items from the Southwest, which
he sold to restaurants wanting to duplicate a Santa Fe ambiance in other
parts of the country.
Then there's
the young aristocrat in London who specializes in tracking down antiques
for an elite clientele. Most such businesses are highly specialized, rather
than all-purpose. You might think of it as being a freelance buyer with
the entire world being your marketplace.
If you're
looking to add a touch of mystery and adventure to your life, creating
a business that allows you to sleuth has all the necessary elements. As
G. K. Chesterton pointed out, "There is one thing which gives radiance
to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner." Why
should Agatha Christie have had all the fun? Why not create your own business
with lots of corners?
There's
more where this came from.
Order Winning Ways now!
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