Security Owners Group

09/01/2026

Security company owners:

Do you actually know which projects make you money?

I don’t mean:

“We bid our projects at 38%.”

I mean after the technician labor, engineering, project management, programming, commissioning, return trips and everything else required to actually deliver the job...

Which projects made money?

Brad Malone from Navigate Management Consulting gave me a ridiculously simple way to think about this when I sat down with him for an interview a couple of years ago:

Project-level gross profit.
Company-level net profit.

You need both.

Because your projects can average 38% gross margin while the company finishes the year at 6% net.

Both numbers can be completely true.

The bigger problem?

A lot of security integrators can't produce a real project-level gross profit number in the first place.

And when you can't see it, the winners quietly subsidize the losers.

Then you bid another loser exactly the same way.

I unpack Brad's idea in the newest Business by the Bar, including the three conversations I'd have Monday morning with your bookkeeper, PM and estimating/sales team.

This one might make you look at your P&L a little differently.

👇 Video link in the comments.

Don’t take sh*tty advice.

08/25/2026

What the hell does a pot roast have to do with running a security company?

Apparently, quite a bit.

Chris Peterson told me this story and I haven’t stopped thinking about it:

A woman cuts both ends off a pot roast before putting it in the pan.

Her daughter asks why.

“That’s how Grandma did it.”

They ask Grandma.

Grandma says, “My oven was too small.”

😂

Two generations later, they have a bigger oven and they’re STILL cutting the damn pot roast.

Now think about the metrics we use to run our companies.

“A salesperson should generate 3X their salary.”

Why?

Who came up with 3X?

At what margin?

For what kind of company?

I’ve used that number myself, and if you asked me to show you where it came from, I couldn’t.

That’s a pot roast.

This episode of Business by the Bar is about finding the numbers in your business that everybody “knows” are right... but nobody can actually defend.

There’s a simple exercise at the end that you can run against your own sales scorecard in about 15 minutes.

Fair warning: you may end up crossing out more than you expected.

👇 Video link in the comments.

Don’t take sh*tty advice.

08/19/2026

New Business by the Bar is live.
Your close rate is down. Your margin is down. And you have a story about why. Market got competitive. Some guy in town is buying work. Customers are cheaper than they used to be.
Maybe.
Here is the other possibility. Your team has been taking orders for three years. Somebody says a word and the machine turns on. Build the scope, price the scope, send the scope, follow up on the scope. Nowhere in there does anyone ask why the phone rang.
And you built that process. You measure proposals out. You measure close rate on proposals out. You have never once measured whether the proposal was aimed at the right problem.
Your team is not lazy. They are obedient.
I know because I did it for years and blamed the market the whole time.
Link in comments.
Don’t take sh*tty advice.

07/16/2026

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to the SOG weekly engagement list! 🎉

Jay Hobdy, Dave Hull, Jonathan Pezold

07/14/2026

Q3 Mini Mastermind Signups are LIVE! 5 week intensive with 14 other security company owners on how we are all using AI to improve the business. REAL numbers, REAL potholes, REAL results. AAAaaaand, you get 3 months of free Level 3 club membership! Signup link in comments!

Mini Mastermind order page

07/06/2026

New episode of Business by the Bar is live.

The title is "More AI won't fix your business." I know. Sounds backwards. Watch it anyway.

I walk through why owners who are getting real results from AI right now aren't using better tools than you. They did one thing differently. One afternoon of work. And after that, every AI tool they build starts from a shared foundation that already knows their business.

I also built a free tool specifically for security integrators that does the setup for you. Your AI interviews you, one question at a time, and builds your company's permanent context document.

It's free right now. After our August platform launch it moves behind the paid tier.

Comment ONBOARD MY AI on the video and I'll get it to you directly.

Link in the comments.

Don't take sh*tty advice.

More AI is not the answer. More tools, more subscriptions, more pro...

07/05/2026

You've got an AI subscription.

Maybe two.

You've tried it on proposals. Job descriptions. Client emails.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it's garbage. You don't know why.

Here's why: your AI knows absolutely nothing about your business. Every session is day one. You're briefing a contractor who walks in, does one job, and leaves. Tomorrow you brief another one.

The newest Business by the Bar video drops tomorrow. And I'm giving something away free before August that fixes this for good.

Stay tuned.

07/02/2026

Which ones are YOU measuring?

The 4 Metrics Every Security Company Owner Should Be Tracking.

Most security integrators are running their business on gut. Top li...

06/22/2026

Back on the saddle with the Business By The Bar videos! Enjoy! And don’t forget to join our free Facebook group!

What does a security sales manager do exactly?

Business by the bat is back! Let’s talk sales managers and the trap...