Security Company Business Plan Template for Guard Companies
This plan comes from the company Mike Evans built from scratch into a multimillion-dollar international security firm.
The short answer
A security guard company business plan has to prove one thing: that your bill rate covers your labor cost with enough left over to run the company. Our 11-page plan template walks through that math in nine financial sections, from start-up funding to ratio analysis. Year 1 comes filled in as a worked example. You complete Years 2 and 3.
What a lender or the SBA wants to see
The U.S. Small Business Administration describes two plan formats. A traditional plan is detailed and comprehensive. The SBA says lenders and investors often request it. A lean plan is short and high level.
If you are asking for a loan, write the traditional plan. The SBA lists these sections:
- Executive summary. What your company is and why it will succeed. Include financial information if you are seeking funding.
- Company description. The problems you solve, who you serve, and your advantages.
- Market analysis. Your industry, target market, and competitors.
- Organization and management. Legal structure, org chart, and who runs what.
- Service or product line. What you sell and how it benefits clients.
- Marketing and sales. How you will win and keep clients.
- Funding request. How much you need over the next five years, what it is for, and whether you want debt or equity.
- Financial projections. Forecast income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets.
- Appendix. Supporting documents such as resumes, licenses, permits, and contracts.
The financial projections carry the most weight with a lender. For a guard company, that section is mostly labor math.
What makes a security company plan different
A generic plan template will not get the numbers right. Security is a labor business. Four things set it apart.
- Revenue is hours times rate. You sell billable hours. Your sales forecast is the number of hours you will staff each week multiplied by your bill rate. Every other number follows from that.
- Your margin lives in the bill rate. The gap between what you bill and what an hour of labor costs you is your gross margin. Labor cost is more than the wage — it includes employer payroll taxes and workers' comp on every hour. If your bill rate is set too low, adding clients makes losses bigger, not smaller. Test your rate in the free bill rate calculator.
- Insurance is a real cost line. General liability, workers' comp, and professional liability are not optional extras. Workers' comp scales with payroll. Lenders will expect to see insurance in your operating budget.
- Licensing affects your timeline. You cannot bill until your state issues the company license. Your plan's start date and cash needs should reflect that wait. See our state licensing hub.
One more: payroll float. You pay officers weekly or every two weeks. Clients may pay 30 days or more after invoice. Your start-up funding must cover that gap. This is the line most first-time plans miss.
What's in the 11-page plan
The plan follows the traditional format the SBA describes. The narrative sections cover your company, services, market, management, and marketing. Section 9 holds the financials.
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| 9.1 Important Assumptions | The assumptions behind the worked example, and the ones a lender would otherwise have to guess at |
| 9.2 Start-up Funding | Start-up expenses, assets, and where the money comes from |
| 9.3 Personnel Plan | Officer hours, supervisors, and office staff by year |
| 9.4 Sales Forecast | Billable hours per week × bill rate, by year |
| 9.5 Break-even Analysis | Billable hours needed to cover fixed costs |
| 9.6 Projected Profit and Loss | Revenue, direct costs, gross margin, operating expenses, net profit |
| 9.7 Projected Cash Flow | Cash in and out, including the payroll-to-collection gap |
| 9.8 Projected Balance Sheet | Assets, liabilities, and equity at year end |
| 9.9 Business Ratios | What the ratios say about the business |
Year 1 is filled in as a worked example so you can see how each table ties to the others. Years 2 and 3 are left blank for your own numbers.
Year 1 worked example
The sample company staffs 350 billable hours per week at a $32.00 hourly bill rate.
| Line | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billable hours per week | 350 | your figure | your figure |
| Bill rate | $32.00 | your figure | your figure |
| Revenue (350 hrs × 52 wks × $32) | $582,400 | ||
| Direct costs (officer labor) | $361,100 | ||
| Gross margin | $221,300 (38.0%) | ||
| Operating expenses | $160,000 | ||
| Net profit | $61,300 (10.5%) |
How the numbers tie:
- 350 hours × 52 weeks = 18,200 billable hours a year.
- 18,200 hours × $32.00 = $582,400 revenue.
- $582,400 − $361,100 direct costs = $221,300 gross margin, or 38.0% of revenue.
- $221,300 − $160,000 operating expenses = $61,300 net profit, or 10.5% of revenue.
- Break-even: $160,000 operating expenses ÷ 38.0% gross margin ≈ $421,100 in revenue. At $32.00 an hour, that is about 13,160 billable hours a year, or about 253 hours a week.
So the sample company covers its fixed costs at roughly 253 billable hours a week. Every hour above that adds about $12.16 in gross margin.
These are illustration figures, not a forecast for your company. Replace them with your market's wage, bill rate, and costs.
Who this plan is for
- New guard company owners applying for an SBA-backed loan or bank line of credit.
- Owners raising money from partners or investors who want to see the numbers.
- Anyone testing an idea before quitting a job. If the break-even hours look out of reach, you find out on paper, not in your bank account.
Get the business plan
Professional package — $449. The 11-page business plan with financial statements is included. You also get all 53 templates, 4 eBooks, a PowerPoint proposal deck, a bonus marketing set, and done-for-you branding of every document with your company name and logo. See the Professional package →
Business plan only — $24. Buy it on its own using the button below, or download the free watermarked sample first.
Professionally prepared templates, not legal advice. Requirements vary by state — have an attorney review before use.
What is inside
An 11-page business plan with the full financial architecture a lender expects — not a marketing summary with a revenue guess at the end.
- Executive summary
- Company description and ownership
- Services and market
- Marketing and sales strategy
- 9.1 Important Assumptions
- 9.2 Start-up Funding
- 9.3 Personnel Plan
- 9.4 Sales Forecast
- 9.5 Break-even Analysis
- 9.6 Projected Profit and Loss
- 9.7 Projected Cash Flow
- 9.8 Projected Balance Sheet
- 9.9 Business Ratios
Who it is for
- Owners applying for a business loan or a line of credit
- Founders who need a plan for an SBA lender or an investor
- Anyone modelling what a guard company actually costs to start
- Companies formalising a business that started informally
How to make it yours
Every place your business details belong is marked with a bracketed token — [YOUR COMPANY NAME], [YOUR ADDRESS], [YOUR STATE] and so on. The financial sections carry a worked sample column so you can see how the figures connect — profit flowing into cash flow and onto the balance sheet — before you replace them with your own.
What it is not
The industry-comparison column in the ratio table is deliberately left empty, with a pointer to NAICS 561612 sources. Inventing industry statistics would put made-up numbers in front of a loan officer.
Questions
- What should a security guard company business plan include?
- The SBA lists an executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization and management, services, marketing and sales, funding request, financial projections, and appendix. For a guard company, the financials should show billable hours, bill rate, labor cost, break-even, and cash flow.
- Does it include financial statements?
- Yes — start-up funding, personnel plan, sales forecast, break-even analysis, projected profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet and financial ratios.
- How do I forecast revenue for a security company?
- Multiply billable hours per week by your bill rate, then by 52. In the sample plan, 350 hours a week at $32.00 is $582,400 a year. Build the hours from real or likely posts, not a guess.
- What is a good gross margin for a security company?
- The sample plan shows 38.0% in Year 1. Your margin depends on your wage, payroll taxes, workers' comp rate, and bill rate. Test your own numbers with the bill rate calculator before you commit to a price.
- How many years of projections do I need?
- The SBA suggests forecasting the next five years, with more detail in the first year. The template fills in Year 1 as an example and gives you Years 2 and 3 to complete. Extend it if your lender asks for more.
- Are the numbers filled in?
- There is a worked sample column showing how the statements connect, so the structure is visible. You replace the figures with your own.
- Can I use this plan for an SBA loan or a bank loan?
- The plan follows the traditional format the SBA describes and provides the financial statements lenders normally ask for. Whether a particular lender accepts it, and what they conclude from your numbers, is their decision — ask yours what they require before you submit.
- What format is it?
- An editable Word .docx, around 11 pages.
Professionally prepared templates, not legal advice. Requirements vary by state — have an attorney review before use.
