- Licenses, insurance, and legal review
- Obtain custody permission, preserve originals, follow public-record and privacy rules, and never alter source records.
- Revenue models
- Fixed-fee packages, hourly support, recurring retainers, and clearly scoped add-on services.
- Suggested pricing
- Planning estimate: $0.75–$4 per page or $1,000–$8,000 by project scope.
- Ongoing expenses
- Insurance, software, equipment, training, secure storage, marketing, taxes, and subcontractor support when needed.
- Marketing
- Create a sample index and contact rural churches, municipal clerks, and historical societies.
- Risks and common mistakes
- Working outside the written scope, weak privacy or record controls, underpricing travel or revisions, and making guarantees.