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

$3.6M

Revenue

$742K

SDE

3.1x

Multiple

Subscribe Free

Read the full deal writeup

Get Free Access

Already a member? Sign in

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.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong for the price. $742k of cash flow on $3.55m revenue is a ~21% margin, and the 3.1x multiple ($2.3m ask) is fair for a 40+ year service business with decades-long anchor accounts. The revenue is largely recurring corporate and institutional coverage, not project work that resets every quarter.
The moat is trust plus a clean claims record. Certain key contracts have persisted for multiple decades despite 30-day termination provisions, meaning clients stay because of reliability and the quality of credentialed off-duty officers, not lock-in. The decades-long clean insurance and claims history is a real barrier in a business where one liability event can be existential.
Security demand holds up in a downturn. Corporate, institutional, and hospitality clients treat physical security as a non-negotiable line item, and the 24/7 recurring coverage is closer to essential facility spend than discretionary. Event work adds premium-rate upside on top of the recurring base.
The operating structure is already delegated, which is rare at this size. A shift-manager layer owns daily scheduling and coverage, and 100+ personnel are 1099 contractors, so the owner is not staffing shifts. A buyer inherits a semi-built management layer and can focus on the customer and pricing relationships the seller currently holds.

How to improve it

Build a real digital acquisition channel in the first 90 days. There is currently no website, SEO, or digital marketing, so even a basic web presence and local search optimization could open inbound lead flow the business has never captured. This is pure upside on a business already at $3.55m through relationships alone.
Stand up formal outbound sales and business development. The owner holds all customer relationships personally and no dedicated BD exists, so hiring or assigning a salesperson to systematically pursue new corporate and institutional accounts diversifies away from owner-dependency and grows the base.
Reweight the mix toward premium-rate special events. The listing notes event work commands higher rates and current demand surfaces reactively through existing accounts. Proactively marketing event coverage to sporting, charity, church, and hospitality organizers should lift blended margins using the personnel network already in place.
Modernize the back office off spreadsheets and paper. Implement scheduling software, electronic timekeeping, ACH contractor payments, automated invoicing, and a CRM to cut administrative drag and reduce reliance on the owner's institutional knowledge. This also makes the business far more transferable and scalable.
Expand geographically into surrounding counties. Penetration outside the core metro is limited, and the existing 100+ contractor network plus manager structure can be extended without heavy capital. Systematic expansion converts existing capacity into new revenue.
De-risk the owner relationship handover during the transition period. Because the owner personally owns contracting and pricing, use the seller's training window to map every key account, decision-maker, and pricing arrangement, then transfer relationships deliberately before close-out. Retention of the decades-long accounts is the whole thesis.

Diligence notes

Stress-test the 1099 contractor classification. A business built on 100+ off-duty officers engaged as 1099 contractors carries real worker-misclassification exposure, especially with a shift-manager layer directing schedules and coverage. Confirm the classification would survive IRS and state labor scrutiny and model the cost if reclassification to W-2 were forced.
Verify customer concentration and contract terms. Several accounts are decades-old but all sit on mutual 30-day termination clauses, so quantify what share of the $3.55m comes from the top few clients and whether any renewal or bid risk is looming. Concentration in a relationship-owned business is the biggest hidden risk here.
Confirm licensing, credentialing, and off-duty employment rules. Deploying off-duty law enforcement raises questions about departmental approval, insurance requirements, and whether officers can legally continue the arrangement under new ownership. Validate that the credentialed personnel pipeline and any agency relationships transfer cleanly.
Scrutinize the clean claims history and insurance program. The decades-long clean record is a stated selling point, so obtain loss runs, current policy limits, and premium history to confirm it, and understand how premiums would move under a new owner without the seller's track record. A single serious incident could reprice the whole risk profile.
Assess owner-dependency in revenue generation. The owner personally holds customer relationships, contracting, and pricing with no formal sales function, so evaluate how much of the retention is the person versus the service. Structure an earnout or extended transition to protect against relationship attrition post-close.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →