One of the problems a lot of us have is knowing what records do not survive.
Fire, flood, war, regime change or sheer carelessness can lead to the destruction of records. Very few of us can trace all our lines back beyond a few generations.
I have several friends who are professional genealogists. Things to bear in mind:
- You need to have a precise goal
- you need to express that very clearly
- you need to provide the information you have, with sources where you have them, and indicate clearly anything that is a family story
- A professional genealogist will charge for work done, whether or not it leads to results: neither of you will be happy if they find something you knew already but omitted to tell them about.