Hi Jon,
  What type of background checking are you looking at? There are several background checks you can specialize in. Are you looking at local or national companies?
  We have done all of the above. None has been too lucrative.We have been doing criminal background searches for National companies for about 10 years. It has taken that long to screen for the companies that we can make a small profit from. We have turned away companies that are extremely fee motivated. They will definitely go with the company that will give them the lowest price. If you think real estate is fee based, it is nothing compared to background companies. We have dropped companies that have insisted that we do a $5 search for $2. If the criminal search comes back clear you can make a $2 or $3 per name profit. If you get a "hit" it can take up to an hour or more to pull all the information, make copies and submit a report. About 25% of the names have "hits" Some of them have multiple convictions.
  This is the downside of the searching for backgrounds.
  The upside is, the searches only take less than a minute to bring up on the courthouse computer. If there are no records you are done. So volume is the key and no criminal records found.
  Ther is no such thing as a national database, no matter what they say. Each state has a ciminal database, but it does not have all the necessary records. Even if they did have a reliable data base, you have to request the search via phone, pay up front and it can take up to 2 weeks to get the results. Clients want there results back in 24 hours or less.
  Anyway, that is just our experience. If you want further information into the employment, education, social security, and credit histories please email me. We no longer do the other searches. They were a nightmare and makes you very vulnerable to claims if something is missed.

Thanks,
Sharon