Fantasy Franchise Portfolio, Week 2: Technology & Security

Welcome back to the gamification of franchise businesses!

Last week we kicked off our inaugural season of Oakscale’s Fantasy Franchise Portfolio, where we help you match multiple brands to maximize your small business investments. Make sure to read up on our previous matchup about Outdoor Home Improvement.

For week two, we’re moving down field with two more top players in an industry we’ve been researching and investing in for the last year: Technology and Security.

Context

As we revealed in our industry snapshot last year, Technology and Security franchises saw a surge when the 2020 pandemic hit. With video conference and collaboration tools at an all time high, companies had a greater need to protect their assets, both digital and physical at the office. Tech and security go hand in hand now more than ever. 

Geography

Ideal locations for this industry matchup will be dense metro areas. New York City, given the amount of new project builds coupled with dense population and high crime areas, would be a strong location.

Matchup

The two brands we’re pairing this week are Surveillance Secure and Signal 88. Let’s meet our teams. Surveillance Secure has been offering surveillance cameras, integrated access control systems (including touch-less solutions), video analytics, and perimeter sensors for years. The security franchise made headlines last year when they launched a franchising opportunity. Surveillance Secure has since carved out an enviable piece of the market share, especially in the Maryland, DC, and Virginia area. Marquee brands like Pepsi, Hyatt, Marriott  entrusted Surveillance Secure.

Signal 88 is the leading franchise opportunity in the security guard and patrol industry. The brand finds its unique niche in between the large, global competitors and the local sole proprietors. Born during the technology age, their modern service model is centered upon cutting-edge technology and the people who use it. They offer full service security for residential and commercial clients, as well as customized security for home, office, schools and other facilities.

Synergies

Both brands are commercial security firms, but one only offers physical security guards and patrols, while the other only offers electronic security and access control. It’s usually the same decision maker in charge of both electronic and physical security, so if you’re marketing one of these brands, it makes strategic sense to integrate both of them as complementary services. 

This synergy ultimately reduces sales and management overhead by enabling businesses to score more points with fewer plays so to speak. Remember, companies prefer fewer vendors. When it comes to security, it’s added risk to have multiple vendors. If you can find one person or owner that you trust to protect your hard-earned assets both physically and electronically, that’s a big win. Only one phone number you need to know for any issues with cameras, access control, and patrols. 

Referability

When it comes to an industry like security, trust is paramount. Guests need to trust their residents, residents need to trust their landlords, and landlords need to trust their vendors. Business referral hinges upon this trust, and from a franchise organization standpoint, it’s imperative to reinforce that trust at every level of the sale. Interestingly, one franchisee actually already owns both of these brands. She owned Signal 88 first but after constantly referring out business to other electronic security companies, she saw the opportunity to refer business to the only referral she knew she could fully trust, herself. That’s a powerful case study that proves the efficacy of this matchup. Like Brady and Gronk. Talk about two players who trust each other!

* * * 

Ultimately, physical security and electronic security go hand in hand. Unless you have a physical security guard at every corner of an apartment complex, which is very expensive, you need cameras to monitor and detect activity wherever you don’t have a physical presence. Cameras alone also won’t secure a property 100% of the time as the camera can only detect activity and notify people, it can’t physically address the situation.

Like any good sports franchise, you don’t want a jack of all trades. No offense to my favorite player, Kordell “The Slash'' Stewart, but you want specialists. The same goes for the security industry. Clients want experts in the field. That’s why franchises make a lot of sense here. Signal 88 will train you and support you on all aspects of physical security while Surveillance Secure does the same with electronic security. And with Surveillance Secure, the franchisor handles all of the technical integration so there’s no need to go back to school or hire a six figure IT expert. 

With this matchup of two strong players, you’ll give new meaning to the word “scoring safeties.”