Established SoCal Private Security Company, 29-Year Los Angeles Guard & Patrol Operator

$1.8M

Revenue

$760K

SDE

3.0x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a nearly 30-year-old licensed private security firm operating across the greater Los Angeles market, providing unarmed guard services and vehicle patrol to 40-plus active client sites. The client base spans retail and shopping centers, hotels and motels, churches, apartment and HOA communities, and a long-standing public-sector school district contract. Roughly 70% of revenue comes from recurring vehicle patrol and 30% from standing guard posts, all under annual auto-renewing service agreements, which gives the business a genuinely recurring revenue profile rather than one-off project work.

The economics are attractive for a service business of this size. Revenue has grown from under $900K in 2023 to a projected $1.8M in 2026, with SDE climbing from roughly $355K to $760K over the same window, all achieved through referral-only growth with zero advertising spend. Client retention is strong at an estimated sub-3% annual churn, and the cost structure is light with no owned real estate and only a 5-to-6 vehicle fleet plus cloud-based dispatch tools.

The key structural feature is the California BSIS security license, which the seller personally holds and has agreed to help transfer. The business differentiates from large national security firms through consistency of guard placement and personalized service rather than price. A previously-proven but currently dormant growth vertical in distribution and logistics center security represents clear expansion optionality for a new owner willing to add a formal sales function.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is unusually clean for a security services firm this size, with roughly 70% of revenue tied to recurring auto-renewing vehicle patrol contracts and sub-3% annual churn. SDE of $760K on $1.8M revenue implies a 42% margin, which is strong for a labor-heavy guard business and suggests disciplined scheduling and pricing.
The moat is the combination of a 29-year referral reputation and the California BSIS license required to legally operate. Contracts auto-renew annually and the business competes on consistency of guard placement rather than price, which insulates it from the race-to-the-bottom pricing that plagues national commodity guard firms.
Security is genuinely non-discretionary and the business has demonstrated it, growing consistently through economic downturns including nearly doubling revenue from 2023 to the 2026 projection. Retail, HOA, hospitality, and public-sector sites all keep paying for physical security when budgets tighten because the liability of dropping it is too high.
The operator advantage is obvious: the company has never spent a dollar on marketing and has a proven, currently-dormant distribution center security vertical to re-enter. A buyer who simply installs a basic outbound sales function is bolting a growth engine onto a business that grew to $1.8M purely on word of mouth.

How to improve it

Re-enter the distribution and logistics center security vertical the company has serviced successfully before. These are 24/7 multi-guard, low-liability sites that drive high revenue per account, and the operational playbook already exists, so this is execution rather than experimentation.
Build a formal outbound sales and marketing function, which the business has literally never had. Even a single dedicated BDR working the LA industrial and commercial property manager network could materially accelerate new site additions given the referral-only base already proves demand.
Audit and re-price the existing contract book at renewal. With sub-3% churn and clients staying for consistency rather than price, there is likely room to push annual escalators of 3-5% across 40-plus sites without meaningful attrition, dropping straight to SDE.
Systematize guard recruiting, scheduling, and retention, since labor is the single largest cost and constraint on scaling. Reducing overtime and turnover through better shift management and referral bonuses protects margin as new contracts are added.
Resolve the BSIS license dependency immediately by having a qualified employee or the buyer obtain their own California BSIS Qualified Manager credential. The current license sitting with the seller is a concentration risk and a Day 1 priority to de-risk the business.
Layer in higher-margin add-on services to existing accounts such as alarm response, mobile inspection reporting, or armed post upgrades where clients qualify. Selling more to the existing 40-plus sites is cheaper than acquiring new logos and deepens switching costs.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize the revenue growth curve from under $900K in 2023 to a projected $1.8M in 2026, because roughly doubling in three years for a referral-only business needs explanation. Confirm how much of the 2026 figure is contracted versus projected, and pull actual trailing-twelve-month invoiced revenue rather than relying on forward projections.
The BSIS license is held personally by the seller and is required to operate legally, so verify the exact transfer mechanics and timeline with California BSIS before closing. Structure the deal so payment or a meaningful holdback is contingent on the license being successfully transferred or a Qualified Manager being in place.
Examine client concentration within the 40-plus sites, especially the long-standing public-sector school district contract. Determine what percentage of revenue and SDE the top three to five accounts represent, their renewal dates, and whether any are up for competitive rebid.
Validate the SDE build-up and normalize for owner labor, since the seller personally holds the license and appears operationally involved. A $760K SDE that assumes the owner works full-time as the Qualified Manager may overstate true cash flow once you pay for a replacement licensed manager.
Review the labor model closely including guard wages, overtime, workers comp experience modification, and any independent contractor classification exposure, which is a live legal risk for security firms in California. Confirm all guards hold valid BSIS guard cards and that the company is compliant with California wage-and-hour rules.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →