Starting a security business

[ax9038]

Hi everyone I have joined this forum in the hope of gaining some valuable knowledge in the field of security and hoping to acquire some advise and guidance in setting up my own business. I do not have any background or knowledge in this industry I have owned my own business in the past in the food industry and at the moment am employed by the NH’s in a clerical role A very good friend of mine who has been involved in security for over 10 years is giving me an opportunity to come into this field with his backing and support a little info on his company is that it complies with Industry Standards, BS7499 and BS7858 holds SIA approved contractor status for the provision of security guarding services, They quality management systems are ISO 9001 UKAS accredited. What he is offering me is a established name and company setup at a minimal set up cost to expand the business in my area My role would be of a operations manager in my area my main duties would be to get contracts in place and employ people for roles all the vetting CRB checks would be done at my friends main office all the tenders and accounts would also go through Head office My office would be like a sub office In return my friend wants a small cut of each contract for overseeing the bigger picture My question is That how difficult is it to get any sort of contracts in this climate can anyone see any hurdles stumbling blocks
Any sort of input help would be greatly appreciated weather it be positive or negative

I would have to give up my job to put my 100% commitment and effort into this business and I have some savings which would help me through first few months my main concern is how difficult is it to get Contracts

 

[sam420]

sorry to be negative, but is it worth giving up your job for a comission based role?

if you go on businesslink . gov there is a huge section and security and crime prevention, this should help you out, good luck and keep us posted!

 

[PlymouthOnline.biz]

Hi Ax

I would have to agree with Sam, It's a hard industry to crack and with the big firms, they will prob undercut you every time.

I wish you luck

 

[ax9038]

Thanx for your input my friend has been in this line of work for over 10 years and has a well established business.The way im thinking is ill be out there on his companys reputation and the setup cost is next to nothing and also i dont know if ill get a oppportunity like this again.The question thats nigling me is how difficult it is to get these contracts and if anyone has experience of the types of methods and strategies used

 

[PlymouthOnline.biz]

Hi Ax

A lot of the times to winning contract is who you know. If you business partner is well connected, then it should be quite easy. Being a new company, businesses do tend to look at the length in time which the firms been trading. It is a very hard market to crack.

Once again, I wish u luck

 

[shaunatsf]

Hi,

Being in the industry myself it is not an easy one. It is very price senstive to begin with and the main issue we have come across in the last number of years is that as long as the individual on the door is certified a pub or nightclub can hire them independently without having to go through a security company. The cost of having each person on the door is significantly less than it would cost them to have a company like yourselves providing the service.

That said one of the biggest problems from a pub or clubs point of view is that if there are any problems it is a real headache for them. If as part of your service you can minimise these headaches and provide detailed reports to them of any incident should a court case arise from it, it is worth its weight in gold to them. Some of these cases last 3-4 years before they are finally sorted.

You need to have very strong USP's in this market. Why should they choose you over another company or doing it all inhouse? What service can you offer them that would be worth them leaving their current provider? What other services can you offer them? (For example we offer a night porter service to the hotels that we work with should one of their night porters not show up). What price per person per head will you be and how does that compare with your competition?

With regard to giving up your full time job I think that is a bit risky, by the time you pay for your insurance, advertising, interviewing and vetting of staff, police checks, and all the licenses you will require there is not a whole lot of money in it at the beginning. Remember even though your friend has all this in place you will still have to pay out for some things and this is always up front. For example your insurance is based on your income (or projected income) and I am sure your friend will not pay for the additional cover.

I currently have a full time job in another business that I run and I do the two side by side as they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. My office job, whilst not entirely 9-5, Monday to Friday, is to a degree within those hours whereas the security company is mainly Friday, Saturday and Sunday and at night. Plus the majority of the people you will have to meet to try and get new business will only really work nights and weekends as thats the trade they are in.

I would continue to work full time and slowly build up your customer base. Apart from anything else, good security staff are hard to find and you dont want to grow faster than your employee numbers can handle. Although there are lots of people out there who would do the job for the extra money these are not necessarily the type of people you want out there representing you. A brand and reputation take a life time to build up but the wrong person on the door of even one club will destroy it in a matter of hours!

Good luck and if you want you can PM me, I would be happy to talk to you about the industry in more detail.

 

[Atilla]

walk away. You'll be doing yourself a BIG favour.

 

[ax9038]

Thank you for all your input i have almost decided that i will have a go and try my luck in this field of work as i have managed to arrange a career break through my employer which means if I’m unsuccessful ill always have a job to go back to. The way I’m looking at it is there is no major set up costs anybody with any further comments advice still warmly welcome