24/7 Off-Duty Law Enforcement Security Provider, 40+ Year Midwest Contractor

Full Editorial Writeup

This is a Midwest security staffing operation that has run continuously under one owner since 1982, coordinating credentialed off-duty law enforcement personnel for corporate, institutional, hospitality, nonprofit, and event clients across a major metro and surrounding counties. The model is asset-light and home-based: the owner controls customer relationships, contracting, and pricing, a shift-manager layer handles account scheduling, and a network of 100+ credentialed 1099 contractors performs the actual work. That structure is why the owner does not build individual schedules or staff shifts, which is unusual for a business this size.

Revenue splits between recurring corporate and institutional coverage (facility security, vehicle patrol, access presence, radio monitoring, first-response) and higher-margin one-off event work for sporting, charity, church, and hospitality clients. Standard assignments bill at roughly $70 to $95 per hour against 1099 contractor cost, producing a healthy gross spread and $742,483 in cash flow on $3.55m of revenue, a 21% margin.

The durable feature here is client stickiness: several key accounts have stayed for decades despite mutual 30-day termination clauses, and the company carries a clean decades-long insurance and claims record, which is a genuine moat in a business where one bad incident can end you. At a 3.1x multiple on $2.3m, the pricing is reasonable for a boring, cash-generative service business with real switching friction rooted in trust and personnel quality.