Today we’d like to introduce you to Maverick Marquardt.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Like most people after graduation (Stetson University 2013) I floundered my first year. By September of 2014, I was living to work and working to struggle. While at a friends wedding, one of my best friends at the time pitched the idea of me moving down to South Florida and take over a security company in South Florida, one of their family’s business, which was on track to lose about $200K that year and was draining revenue away from their other Company.
At the time I laughed and thought I don’t know anything about Security or how to run a company and I’m doing well a TQL but really I told myself what any normal person would say ” THAT WOULD BE INSANE TO JUST LEAVE EVERYTHING AND TAKE OVER A COMPANY IN SOUTH FLORIDA”. The opportunity was too much for my monkey brain and I found myself newly single, bored out of my mind working for the man with a lease expiring (not even sure if I had enough money for another deposit) and realized I would not be able to create success in other areas until I got this monkey off my back and at least try.
A week later I was down in South Florida When I got down here I quickly discovered that there are security had a whole lot of work to do as we have dwindled down to one or two accounts and maybe a handful of officers no employee handbooks, website, Logos, timesheet (Not that I knew what they were anyway), and we had lost about $200K this year.
Definitely became an HR Trial By Fire, but I know I could overcome that weakness by selling. Pretty quickly I won some contracts and also realized that my entire industry is completely and utterly un professionalized from the largest multimillion dollar hedge fund backed security companies to the small mom and pop shops you’d never a heard of. To scale the growth and juggle a new love interest (now we are engaged and parents to our 16-month-old Kennedy), I had to find a way to streamline automate and really bring this industry into the 21st century.
Because I didn’t have a background in security and hadn’t played the game of telephone, I had much different ideas on how the industry should be run.. I figured even the biggest as companies were still stuck in the stone age where if your paper reports, set schedules creating nearly 70% average turnover rates and used price undercutting strategy for winning contracts; and basically, I’m just going to try to do everything completely opposite.
That year I began developed security applications for my officers to use and to sell to other security companies which could do scheduling, timesheets, training tutorials, GPS tracking, and any security report you could think of Arrow had become the very first digital security company, had completely changed its brand, and created a new intuitive scheduling software that made it possible match officers to types of accounts based on personalities rather than availabilities.
Soon after I did this or company’s average turnover rate fell below 5%, I had about 90 officers and revenue of about $2 Million for 2016 which we almost doubled by Q2 in 2017!
Life was good, new family, days from closing on a house, and in the driver’s seat of the fastest growing security company in the nation when suddenly my friend’s dad and I had a following out due to hostile and broken promises which would have made me once again an employee of the man.
So on June 26th, I resigned to keep my freedom and the promise of uncapped success alive…. Que SECURITY MAVERICKS, the literal and metaphorical startup…
Currently, Security Mavericks has 75 officers locally and exploded off the starting blocks with revenue passing $450K in the first 4 months and growing. Security Mavericks starting on January 1st, 2018 will be in all 50 states. In tandem with that, we have just security corporate financing to launch another division called Support Mavericks.
And will provide total customer and company support in all business aspects to achieve nationwide consistency and maintain the highest level of quality as we scale (www.supportmavericks.com) and Solution Mavericks a ragtag high energy security services brokerage and security technology sales firm focused one thing and one thing only…. Closing Deals nationwide. (www.solutionmavericks.com).
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Frequently I ask myself, “Does everyone in this world go through the same things I go through on a weekly basis?”. Yes, there have been many challenges personally and company related.
For instance, personally, I quit my job a week before I closed on my house and then spur of the moment started a company the day before my daughters first birthday and would rival Elon Musk’s working hours any day of the week. I worry about those around me though, as an ENTP type personality I typically am the source of the speed bumps or scrapped plans A, B, C, D because I am a disrupter of the status quo and contentment.
On a weekly basis, I come into the office with some outrageously awesome/bad idea I believe will a game changer for us. Those around me who thrive in the routine of normal (who I have around me to keep me grounded) must cringe each and every time I throw a new project in with the ongoing others or better yet, completely derail nearly finished ones to run in a different direction.
Please tell us about Security Mavericks.
Security Mavericks is a security agency licensed to provide clients with Armed or Unarmed security officers, front desk concierge, patrol units and construction security services.
Our officers, in addition to their new hire class based training, are the only guards in the industry certified in the whatever service category they work. Example, we created a Construction Certification that educates officers on the construction industry, project manager’s role/responsibility, construction projects/timelines, building materials, heavy equipment, contractor’s duties and ultimately their role in the grand scheme of it all plus why doing XYZ are so crucial to our clients.
Security Mavericks is the only company in the world which is completely digital. I have developed a security application which is used at every site, by every officer in the company which allows them to create security: shift activity, incident, checkpoint tours, parking violations, visitor check-ins, see ALL Prior reports and see sitemaps. This app makes us able to manage many officers remotely through GPS tracking and automated report sending where we can send reports in real-time to the clients or see them being submitted instantly through our dashboard. I also sell this to other security companies and clients.
Everything we do is unique to the industry, what I’m most proud of is that team around me. This industry has a reputation for treating their employees like garbage. We have a culture, invest in our officers and give them an opportunity to break the vicious turnover cycle as we only promote from within. Many of the officers have worked for me for years and I know would take a metaphorical bullet if asked, for we have empowered officers who are encouraged to engage with the sites/company by giving feedback and suggestions to make us better!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have started my own company a very long time ago, however, luck or fate as I think of it is the accumulation of connecting with as many people as you can while always questioning how can I/we be better.
Now, this only possible if you live in the unknown (meaning outside your comfort zone), not be afraid to take huge risks with definite potential to get bloodied, but most importantly understanding your intrinsic drive behind it to keep your feet moving and your head down when all things look impossible.
And I believe we learn from experience and if I didn’t make mistakes perhaps I wouldn’t be where I am today!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1200 N Federal Hwy Suite 200
Boca Raton FL 33432 - Website: securitymavericks.com
- Phone: 954 324 8855
- Email: Maverick@securitymavericks,com
- Instagram: SecurityMavericks
- Facebook: FLMavericks
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maverickmarquardt/
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