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Through the Door: The Insider's Perspective on Running a Business
Join us for our new podcast series, “Through the Door: The Insider’s Perspective on Running a Business,” curated for Nevada business owners and leaders. Each episode features interviews with thought leaders who share stories of their journeys and experiences and provide insights and strategies for growth and success.
Our podcast serves as a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs and executives who are looking for solutions and information to help elevate and open doors for their business.
For more information visit nsbank.com/podcast
All price references and market forecasts correspond to the date of this recording. This podcast should not be copied, distributed, published or reproduced in whole or in part. The information contained in this podcast does not constitute research, recommendations, representations or warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements of any information contained in this podcast and any liability from Zions Bancorporation, N.A or its divisions (including direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage) is expressly disclaimed. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. or any of its divisions. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is not providing any financial, economic, legal, accounting or tax advice or recommendations in this podcast. In addition, the receipt of this podcast by any listener is not to be taken as constituting the giving of advice, investment or otherwise, by Zions Bancorporation, N.A. to that listener, nor to constitute such person a client of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Copyright reserved by Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Nevada State Bank is a division of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Member FDIC
Through the Door: The Insider's Perspective on Running a Business
Trust but Verify
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In the latest episode of “Through the Door,” Megan Comfort sits down with Steve Krystek, CEO of the PFC Group of Companies, a Las Vegas-based security and training firm and multi-company enterprise serving clients across the country. With more than 30 years in military, law enforcement, and protective services, Krystek shares how he built PFC from a side venture into a multi company enterprise rooted in discipline, trust, and adaptability. He opens up about scaling a business the right way, navigating a major internal fraud crisis, and why reputation over revenue remains his guiding principle as he leads a company where the stakes, and the expectations, are always high.
All price references and market forecasts correspond to the date of this recording. This podcast should not be copied, distributed, published or reproduced in whole or in part. The information contained in this podcast does not constitute research, recommendations, representations or warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements of any information contained in this podcast and any liability from Zions Bancorporation, N.A or its divisions (including direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage) is expressly disclaimed. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. or any of its divisions. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is not providing any financial, economic, legal, accounting or tax advice or recommendations in this podcast. In addition, the receipt of this podcast by any listener is not to be taken as constituting the giving of advice, investment or otherwise, by Zions Bancorporation, N.A. to that listener, nor to constitute such person a client of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Copyright reserved by Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Nevada State Bank is a division of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Member FDIC
Welcome Steve Krystek
Thank you, and welcome to Through the Door, The Insider's Perspective on Running a Business. I'm Megan Comfort, Director of Business Banking at Nevada State Bank. And this is a podcast where we interview business owners, entrepreneurs, and business and community leaders. And we get to learn from their stories and experiences running companies, organizations, and making some big decisions throughout their time. So today I have a guest here with me. His name is Steve Christik. He's the CEO of PFC, the group of companies. His professional history includes 30 years of military law enforcement and security and corporate leadership experience. He founded the first PFC company in 1997. And since then, he scaled PFC to a group of 19 companies with over 450 clients and more than 1,700 employees across 22 states. PFC offers, encompasses the full offerings, sorry, encompasses the full spectrum of private security, consulting, and contracting services for high net worth families, fortuneless companies, and government agencies. So thank you so much, Steve, for being here today.
Identifying a Void in Tactical Training
So we typically start these podcasts off with um learning a little bit about your origin story. So, you know, jumping into this field and um starting this business, like how did you get into it and then arrive at kind of where you are today? Yeah. Well, uh, it all started when I was in the military. And I saw a a void in in the training industry that that I thought I could help fill, which involved uh teaching integrated use of force tactics at that time. And and that that really turned into an opportunity where I could uh you know live out my my passion and and actually start start making money with that uh while I continued on in my career and uh and then just continued to build on it from there and doing more and more training, different types of training, you know, adding to the services we were providing and and just took off.
From Law Enforcement to Entrepreneurship
So you have a really fun story because I do love how you kind of started your business because you stayed employed and had like a steady, essentially W-2 wage job up to a certain point until your business really started needing more of your attention to where you kind of had a to make a decision. Can you share a little bit about kind of that moment of where you had that clarity where you're like, I either need to go all in or keep this as like a part-time gig? Yeah. Yeah, that was a really pivotal time in in my career and and really in the history of of the organization because it was uh it was around the mid-2000s where um I was a full-time police officer here here in Las Vegas and um loved police work, loved um the the job and and and everything that uh that I was doing to help make the community safer. Um but then I had this business that I had had started uh previously, and and that was the the part-time job and and as that continued to to grow and build and um you know gaining more client relationships and and then actually getting uh some some contracts in place where I knew, okay, I've got a three-year uh pipeline of work, uh, you know, I I did have to make a decision because I couldn't I couldn't devote what I needed to in order to to make the business successful while still having having a day job, so so to speak. And uh the uh the police agency here really made it easy for me because I remember my uh exit interview with uh at that time uh Captain Stavros Anthony, who you you might know. Um and he said, Listen, you know, you're you're leaving on the best of terms. We hate to see you go, but you're gonna we know you're gonna be very successful and we're proud of you. Um and if it doesn't work out, you can come back to the police department anytime you want within three years, and you don't have to go through the academy again. So I was like, hey, this is this is no risk. Uh well, low risk, right? And uh and yeah, so that gave me the the confidence that I needed to really really go go for
Jumping in Feet First vs. Having a Safety Net
it. Aaron Powell See, I but I love that you share that story because I think that that's a tough point for any business owner that's getting into business is like when do I make that leap? Like I've seen people do it way too prematurely or kind of haphazardly, like they don't really have their stuff in place, but they just got a lot of moxie and they just kind of go for it and hope for the best, thinking like, if this is all I have, you know what I mean? Then I'm gonna, I'm gonna make it a success no matter what. And there's so many variables with running a company that you don't realize until you actually start doing it. So I always try to preach, and maybe it's because I'm a banker, but that side of it where it's like, hey, if you have the opportunity to build something and show proof of concept, but still maintain some level of stability for your own personal income, or at least make sure you have enough cash in the bank to support yourself while you're building this out because you don't know what you don't know. So if you go into it and you don't have some type of thought process of managing that risk or security around your own personal circumstances, you can actually really hurt yourself more than help yourself. And so you talking about that decision of I had three years worth of a pipeline of work. I knew that I was leaving my employer on good terms and that it was potentially something I could fall back on if I needed to, knowing that you probably didn't, but just having that security blanket was probably nice. Um, and then just making sure that, yeah, I know that I'm good. So if I can't make three years worth of a pipeline more of a success for future business, then you know, what are you doing? It's like uh having collateral on a loan, right? That's a risk, right? But I've got something to fall back on and there's options and uh you just always try to choose the best options. Yeah.
Recruiting a Team From Known Collagues
So tell me about your like first couple of hires. So you kind of venture out and do this, you know that you have contractual work. Like where did you find your kind of people or how did you start building out a team? Yeah. So in in our industry, uh it's it's full of subject matter experts on the front end on you know execution and delivery. So uh I was really fortunate to have a pretty, pretty tight-net uh friend group and and group of colleagues that uh had had seen what PFC was doing in in the early years and when uh when I really took that leap and and was dedicating myself to it 100%, I think that was motivating for for others who wanted to uh also see see some of those opportunities that were being
1099 vs. W2 Hires When Starting a Business
created. Um but I think it was really important early on to uh not invest too early in full-time W-2 employees. Um so so there there were a number of 1099 uh staff that we had that that would be engaged for special events or for training courses or you know, special projects. And you know, that made it affordable, that made it flexible. Um and then as we grew and we had more steady work that that was you know permanent instead of temporary, then then it made financial sense to uh commit more to W-2 staff and say, okay, this is gonna be a full-time job for you. And you know, once you're in, you're never getting out because we're not gonna we're not gonna stop, we're not gonna slow down, we're just gonna keep going. And uh and so that that helped quite a bit.
Keeping Payroll in Check While Growing
How did you learn that? That's like how did you learn that element in business of, hey, I need to be a little bit more nimble with my cash flow and make sure that I'm not like keep like basically increasing my break-even point to where I have to have this level of income to cover all of this payroll and these expenses. Like, did you have mentors or how did you learn it? So I love how you explain that because I wasn't thinking that at all. I I it was it was common sense. That's the banker in me. Well, and and and you articulate that very, very well. But um it was common sense and it was really looking at at our work uh on a project-by-project basis, because you know, until probably uh 2010, um, starting in 1997, it wasn't until it was probably 2007, I think we had our first full-time permanent contract that that had consistent receivables on on a monthly basis. Aside from that, it was project to project, a week here, a month there. And and so so it just it made sense to engage people accordingly, um, you know, aligned with the the work tempo and the unpredictability and the volatility volatility of the work that was sort of ebbing and flowing. Um so I couldn't make those commitments to anybody, even though you know I might have wanted to. Um so so when it was time and as the organization matured and we got more business and you know, then we started bringing on you know more more full-time W-2s. Aaron
Create a Flexible Strategic Plan
Powell Did you do any like business plan or I guess strategic planning, you know, to really understand like where where are my revenue streams in this business? Is that something that you did early on? Yeah, and you know, it was it was a little bit of a push and pull because there was what what we wanted to do, and then there was what we needed to do to be able to do what we wanted to do. And and so so it was a little bit of a dance, and and you know, what I noticed is that I would, you know, sit down and write a business plan, you know, maybe for the next six to twelve months, because that's that's all I could really see with with our industry at least, and then uh you know, adjust along the way. And it really wasn't until the organization grew more and more that that I was able to forecast further out and and really, really get strategic. But uh sometimes the business plan writes itself and and you end up taking taking turns or diversifying or expanding into areas or markets that you didn't expect to um because of opportunity. And because even though you didn't see it coming, you know that it's going to do something positive for for the overall uh business and and you know future ventures. So you you jump on it.
The Business Plan Writes Itself
I love that you say the business plan writes itself sometimes, because I do agree with you. You can't have such a plan in your head. And I remember when me and my husband started one company, he laughed at me because I wanted to do a business plan. And I'm like, I'm a banker and I do this for a living, so indulge me. Okay, we're gonna go through this process because I want to know what that we have a plan. It just made me feel better knowing we had a plan. Um, and so doing that, going through that process, I felt like, oh, this is fail-proof. It's kind of dumb to say now because it did not go that way at all. Like my business plan couldn't have been so far off from what actually happened because COVID hit and that was a nightmare to deal deal with. But it taught me that it's still good to have a plan. But during that moment, he was intelligent enough and had a lot of knowledge in the industry that we were in to be able to pivot quickly to where the opportunity was, which is a very challenging thing to do. So I I agree with you that it's like you can't have a plan that's so black and white that you can't like open your eyes around like what other opportunity or what other things might exist, because then you might be missing some great things.
Have a Default Framework
For sure. Well, it's also good to have a a a framework, at least to to default to, because you know, the I think the the saying goes that you know, all all plans uh end up going not as planned, right? So um if you at least if you have a starting point and you have some parameters and you have a framework uh to follow, if you need to have somebody else take over for a short period of time for life reasons or what have you, then uh at least you have a roadmap. Yeah. I'm we had a prior guest on here that talked about that. He was in a skydiving accident and almost died. Um and luckily he had a team that kind of understood the vision, was able to take off because otherwise that could have been really detrimental.
Working In vs. On the Business
For sure. So tell me about the business administration and like finance part. Like what at that point was your role? Were you more hands-on and actually direct working with clients? At what point did your role, because you didn't start as CEO, right? Like you didn't get to do the CEO stuff. You had to do that plus all the other stuff. So tell me a little bit about kind of that transition from like working in on, I guess, in the business to then working on the business. Yeah, definitely a lot of lessons learned there. And and and I actually didn't feel like I earned the CEO title until many years later, once we'd had uh, you know, certain amount of revenue, certain number of clients. Um but uh but I I was very much uh the operator working in the business, um, never having the opportunity to really work on the business. And I also didn't know how to do that yet. I still needed to learn a lot and and uh you know uh see that modeled for me. Um but
Finding Talent to Run the Business
um you know early on that uh that that finance HR uh business administration role um was actually handled by one single person. And uh it was me initially until you know I realized, okay, well, I can't teach classes and and you know perform services on security details. You can't be allowed to be able to do that. And also be the back office. It just it's not gonna work. So um I want to say it was probably 2006 or 2007 uh that uh I hired employee number full-time employee number two or three. And uh Wow. And she was uh the chief administrator. That was the title she had. And and that was business administration, HR, finance, answer the phones, office manager, um, everything. And uh How did you find this person? Um there there was an ad. Um we had a number of candidates respond to the ad and and did a bunch of interviews and and uh she actually had a really good pedigree. She was um you know pr pretty high up in business administration at IBM, but you know, looking for uh anything. And you dabble in the tech world, so you're familiar with that. Exactly. Yeah. So that it was it was a good fit and and uh interviewed a number of people and uh she was she was the best candidate. So
When Embezzlement Happens
but as as as you know the backstory, you know, that that then turned into some some other lessons learned years later. Aaron Powell Yeah. And that's I think so this is something that breaks my heart about small businesses when they start making hires and you know, they get busy. They need a good team, and you should. You can't do it all. Like I think that's a misconception of everybody thinks they can do it all, and then you start realizing that you need to start finding some really good people to surround yourself with. And sometimes that can be challenging, but you have to trust at some point and find the right people, and you can do as much vetting as possible to figure that out. So in this particular situation with this individual, tell me a little bit more about like as her role grew in your company. And then essentially the point where like a moment happened, which we're we're building up to audience. So hang on, hang on there for a second. Um, where you started realizing that no, she was stealing money from me. Yeah. Yeah. So um the first year and a half, I'd say, um, very, very positive, um, very effective. Um things seemed to be going perfectly. Uh as time went on and and we got busier uh because of you know a strong strong back office presence and front office, um I was able to uh do do more in the field and and you know less really really where it mattered in in in the uh uh administrative needs. And so starting in in 2009, I think, to to 20 2012, uh she had uh orchestrated a pretty pretty elaborate and and and sophisticated system of embezzlement in small amounts over the period of of three years through through different different schemes. Um everything from uh credit card use to uh some some payroll discrepancies to some uh wire transfers that, you know, looking back were were questionable, uh and even uh uh using our car rental uh program with with Hertz to rent vehicles in other people's names and then have those vehicles paid for by friends of friends to generate the cash. Yeah, it it was very elaborate once once it all came out and we started looking into it. Um but what was interesting is that uh they were all very small amounts over a period of time. There were no big transactions that like, whoa, wait, what is this? And and we were busy. We were doing a lot of business, and and a lot of the business that we were doing, you know, involved uh expenses, car rentals, wire transfers, 1099 payments, on and on and on. You know, once a week, I I'd take a look at everything and and looks like we're busy, money's coming in, money's going out. The problem is that there was a lot of money going out to the wrong places and the wrong and the wrong people, which which I didn't catch until uh until the day that it all it all blew up and she just completely disappeared and and uh and and then we we s saw a couple uh you know grant grand finale transactions the day of her disappearance, which were like, okay, that now we need to, you know, forensically investigate all this, which uh which which
The Accumulative Cost
we started doing. Yeah. And I I remember you talking about that where you said one day she just didn't show up to work and you were worried. Oh yeah. You were genuinely thought maybe something had happened to this person. And then you started then trying to find her, right? And that's how you kind of unveiled what she was really doing. Yep. Do you mind telling the total of the embezzlement amount? Sure. It was um a little over $300,000 over over over the course of, you know, two and a half or three years, which um it's a lot of money. It's a lot of money for and for a growing scaling business, that's detrimental to a business. Luckily, it didn't cripple, like I mean, it it hurt you, but it didn't end the business.
A Test of Resiliency
So how did you start to kind of get out of that? Because crimes like that, they don't really get punished, if you will, right? Not not very well. Not not to the point that uh, you know, uh restitution does anything to to make up for it. But um, you know, it it was really one of those sort of defining moments in in not just the the company's history, but um my resiliency and decision making as a as a leader. And um, you know, there there were some tests before that, but that that was really the um the the biggest first test. And um, you know, luckily we we just have the best team, you know, an amazing, amazing group of uh, you know, men and women that uh were were volunteering to go uh you know without pay for uh you know one payroll, two payrolls, because that was actually the the biggest ex still is our biggest expense. And and you know, when we were looking at at the damage that had been done and some of the the last uh wire transfers when she disappeared, you know, that that was the first thought. It's like, well, I'm really not sure how we're gonna make the next two payrolls, maybe the next three payrolls, because you know, we're waiting for some clients to pay their invoices and this and that. And so, so we got really creative with some of the work we were doing and and uh getting some advances on some things and we were able to to cobble it together. But uh I just bought a new car and I was thinking to myself, I'm gonna have to take this back to the dealership. Like take the kinkies, give me back that money. It's yeah, yeah, that that's more important right now,
Trust But Verify
right? Um, so uh yeah, a lot of lessons learned, but uh I think the biggest is you know, trust but verify. You know, I I I gave a lot of trust because um, you know, that was her job. And I hired her to do that job and we did the vetting, did the backgrounding, she checked out, great references from her previous employer. Um, but uh but there there were uh there was a lack of checks and balances at that time um because you know we were just going in so many different directions. Still a small company,
Mitigating Risk with Dual Control
yeah. Yeah, yeah. So what are I mean, you kind of mentioned some of them, but looking back at this situation, the red flags, like what would you say were like the main red flags where you're like, man, if I would have just done this sooner, I absolutely would have minimized the loss and would have like uncovered it. Aaron Powell I think the the simplest, and uh you know, I'm sure uh it might have made an impact is is just kind of a two-person rule and have have at least two people um who are maybe in different departments, um and maybe don't Talk that often. Um Yeah, they're not best friends. Exactly. They're they're not gonna conspire, hopefully. Um that that have access to the the same same accounts, there, there are regular checks, there are regular reports. Um even myself, you know, I take take ownership of maybe not looking at the the bank accounts and other accounts as often as I should have, again, because I was busy and we're successful and money's coming in and going out and everything's good. But um but just being a little more engaged when you don't have all those resources, you don't have multiple people that have been uh vetted to actually perform the that quality control. So that's a that's a basic one. No, I agree. And and this the embezzlement thing for me is like such a big issue for small businesses that I really want people to understand like the importance of what you talked about, dual control, like just checking the balances in your bank account. Like there's so many scams and schemes and all kinds of different things out there. And they target small businesses because they know you don't have resources. They know that you're busy, that you aren't necessarily like looking at it or have like these teams, right? And all these layers of control in place to be able to find and identify that stuff to minimize loss. And so it can go unchecked for a really long time. And uh, it makes me so sad when it happens to clients because number one, it's absolutely devastating. You just don't know how bad it is, right? It's like the initial shock and panic of it happening. And then you start going through it all and it's like you can't unring a bell. Like the damage is done. It's not likely you're gonna recoup any of it.
Fraud Protection vs. Embezzlement
It is not something that fraud protection can necessarily um protect you against, right? Fraud protection protects you against fraud happening, not necessarily embezzlement, because they know that you have those fraud systems in place. So they figure out a way around it. And so it really is just checks and balances and making sure that you're paying attention to it. So for any business that's out there, if you are not looking at your bank account and you're not doing these things, please do them. Please. It's so important. It doesn't matter how small of a business you are. You absolutely need to make sure that you're checking.
Lessons Learned Early On Pay Dividends
Sure. Yeah. Well, and now, uh, despite us having a a much better and bigger team with you know good business practices, I still look at it every single day. I love that. The trauma. See, the trauma really scared you straight. You're like, I need to do this. It worked. I'm glad it happened then. Yes. And not now. Exactly. Now that you 19 companies. The bright side. Yeah, exactly. I I love that the level of optimism too. That's entrepreneurs for you, though. It doesn't matter what terrible thing happens, you'll still be like, eh, but you know, the silver lining is this.
Diversifying Business Offerings to Scale Up
Um, so past that terrible thing that happened. Now let's talk about like the scaling part, right? So you're growing, you the business plan is somewhat writing itself, you're seeing some opportunities, and you were doing more kind of like training um and some executive protection work. What was next for the business? Like how did you start to really scale it? So in in our industry, you know, training is always the backbone, uh, but but training uh is is popular uh for short periods of time. Uh and you have to have a lot of customers to be able to make training any sort of dependable revenue stream. Uh with security clients, uh those clients that want executive protection or residential security, event security, travel security, uh you can you can rely on more consistent longer-term contracts in in business. And and it was realizing that if we get one, two, three, four of these and we've got a one-year contract or a two-year contract, that's that's the foundation for everything else. That that allows us to uh catch our breath a little bit, you know, put put some uh some some effort and attention elsewhere, maybe take other risks because, you know, like we can reasonably predict that we're gonna be able to cover payrolls and salaries and and other operating expenses for a longer period of time. Uh and then that that's where the business plan starts to write itself, because uh sometimes you you get these opportunities that uh aren't aren't really what you were looking for, but then you think about it and you find a way to make it fit and and you you plug it in and all of a sudden, you know, you're surprised by the new success that you didn't really anticipate. But now now what are you gonna do with that and how can you turn that into something that maybe even creates a a a new division or a new company or a new service line? And so um you always have to be on the lookout
Sourcing Talent as Your Business Scales
for that. Have you had any issues with like employ like finding the right employees as you scaled? I know that there's a lot of companies over the last several years that said, I can find people that need jobs, but they don't necessarily have the skill that I'm looking for, which is a struggle for a lot of employers, especially when they're trying to grow. Did you ever come across that issue, or how did you kind of maintain a strong pipeline of people? You know, in our our industry, uh there's generally good talent pools in in law enforcement and and military personnel retiring or or maybe just uh you know deciding to leave before retirement and and they want to get into the workforce. So I I think because of the training that we've provided to a lot of uh professionals that are uh receiving this training for occupational purposes, so they're you know active duty military or they're actually uh active law enforcement officers, we we try to offer that uh that that second career for them. Um so we may have uh relationships or we may have connected with uh employees that work for us now who were working for a law enforcement agency or in the military five, 10, 15 years ago, and they remember us and we remember them, and then when they become available and they're looking for work, uh that's that's the best pipeline ever because there's there's some prior knowledge and history there. So we're not really rolling the dice with with some of the uh the folks. We know we kind of know what we're getting, but but as you scale, um you have to be able to um you know rely on that less and less because um you're gonna be going into new markets and you're gonna be hiring people that you know you don't know them, they don't know you, so you have to have you know good good practices and processes in place to be able to, you know, identify, screen, you know, vet, then select
Workforce Defining Company Culture
and train. Is that like something that you kind of have in your thought process around company culture? Aaron Ross Powell Big time. Yeah. Yeah. Because a lot of the the way we operate now and and the culture is defined obviously by by who's there and what their experiences are and what they're looking for from being on this team. And and that uh that really dovetails into our company core values and and how that um how that's conveyed, you know, not only to to our customers, but to everybody on our team. Yeah. I remember one time hearing you kind of talking to a customer and vetting a customer because you kind of interview clients just as much as they're interviewing you to make sure that it's a
The Business of Private Security
good fit. Um tell me about kind of that the sexy side of your business, if you will, the executive protection piece. Like I don't think a lot of people understand kind of how that side of the business works. It seems very unique from the perspective of you there's a lot of concierge type of work involved. Like it's not like Jason Bourne or like the born identity. You know, what you would think about with executive protection is like there's a kidnapping. You know, get in the car. So tell me a little bit about that side of the business. Yeah. And do you still is that still a good piece of or a core piece of of PFC or it is. It's one of our one of our biggest uh offerings and and and and still to this day, especially uh in light of you know world events and and assassinations and assassination attempts, you have uh C-suites that are a lot more concerned about that, and it it's gotten their attention. So I'm shocked when important people don't have security. Trevor Burrus, Jr. I used to be. I'm not shocked anymore, unfortunately. And uh you know security is usually uh an afterthought and it's uh uh you know it's a cost center, not a not a revenue generator. So it's it's usually last on the list. So we have to be able to make the business case that uh that we're just like insurance. And and here's what we can save you if you know you use us and it actually prevents or mitigates uh the risk that could cause major losses in in various forms, right? But uh but no, it it it's uh it it's it's a big part of our business. Uh if uh if we're doing it correctly, it's it's very boring and it's not sexy at all. And and you know, we try to try to communicate that to our clients, especially the ones who are resistant of it, because uh more often than not, somebody who hasn't had executive protection before doesn't want anybody following them. They don't they don't want to give up any privacy, they don't want anybody overhearing their conversations in the car if they're being you know driven by by somebody. And uh and so we we just have to uh work hard at at getting that buy-in and and showing them that there's there's a way that it can be done where you're comfortable and we're providing you know added value while keeping you safe. And uh more often than not, it's just about you know moving them from point A to point B swiftly, smoothly, getting them to their meetings, making sure we're just enabling their ability to do business. And and if that translates to them being more productive, then that helps our business case.
The Power of Word of Mouth
Aaron Ross Powell Do you typically grow like your areas of business? Is it through networking and relationship connections or just through strong reputation and word of mouth? Like how does how does that work? Because it's not something where you can like have an Instagram, you know, ad and generate it that way. Yeah, it it's it's 90% referrals and uh and reputation. Um especially with with a lot of our our clients, they'll they'll make a decision to to go with one company like ours or another based on who else we're working for or have worked for and what they've said. You know, we we can do the best pitches, the best proposals and presentations, get up there and and blow them away. But uh usually it boils down to, oh, you're you're working for so-and-so? Okay, well then then we want you to. Um so reputation. Reputation is everything, right? Um but uh
Less is More
Yeah, we we also have a a a decent online presence, not a not a strong one, because there's a lot that we can't we can't share, we can't promote, and we don't. Um we never we never would. Aaron Ross Powell, Jr. Your clients probably appreciate that because those individuals they don't want you to be taking pictures on their private jet or you know, posting things that might, you know, divulge, I don't know, them in their name or something. So anonymity is probably very important. Aaron Powell Absolutely. Well, and that's uh very, very aligned with our company motto, which is less is more. You know, and and that that's uh uh greatly appreciated by by a lot of clients. And and and I've gotten the feedback from some clients that that that was really the differentiator because the, you know, there are there are companies and competitors of ours that uh they go the other direction. You know, they they have a flashy Instagram, they like to they like to talk about the clients that they have, sometimes specifically, sometimes in generalities, but but even even that, you know, is it it kind of uh goes against the code uh in our industry, at least for for certain companies at certain levels. And uh we'll we'll we'll stay where we're at doing how doing what we're doing. So yeah, less is more. I like that statement, especially in, you know, an industry that you're in, that's probably very
The #1 Differentiator
important. I we um did a study, our small business survey, we just released it uh April 2nd, and there was some survey information around like our industry, banking, um, and how the number one differentiator is trust and reputation. Like you if, especially as an institution, if people don't trust that you're gonna keep their money safe and that you are a safe institution to work with, then you're not gonna get many clients wanting to come to you, right? Like that's the number one thing that people are typically looking for. And so, you know, I agree that it's not really like a public review that's going to do it. It's more of a personal thing of like, hey, what do you know about this company or these people? And can I trust them? Like, is this going to be a good idea? Yeah. So I love that you kind of grown this business very quietly, basically. And trust is a hard thing to uh promote. And and yeah, you can't say I'm trustworthy. Yeah. Because then you're like, Are you? Why are you saying that? Yeah. If somebody else says it and you trust them, that's different. That you bring up a really good point. That's actually very true. We can't start running ads, guys. No, no ads on banking about how trustworthy you are. We have to have people say that.
Pull In Experts to Overcome Growth Obstacles
Um so what was next for PFC? Was there ever a moment where you were struggling with getting over, I guess, a hump of a certain revenue level to where you felt stuck? And any moments there that you can kind of share with us? Yeah, you know, I think um before I got stuck, I I could see the potential sticking point. And and this was uh this was probably 2013, 2014 time frame. Um, and uh Tony Shepard, who who you know, uh great guy. He uh he he really helped us and and me get get to that next level. And um, you know, Tony's background was uh 30, 30 plus years running, you know, much bigger companies, been the security industry, corporate, commercial, government. So uh there was a lot that I could learn from him, you know, to good my good fortune. He was wanting to retire in Nevada. And so he said, Hey, I'll give you five years. Um, you know, bring me in, you know, I'll help grow the business. And so he he was the president of PFC Safeguards for for five years. And uh and and what we were able to do in that five years uh was was remarkable. We doubled in size. Um I I learned a lot along the way. I had, you know, a mentor down the hall, um somebody who I'd also, you know, known and and uh and he had been mentoring me uh from a distance over the over the years. Um but that that was a really pivotal time to um really set the stage for the next period of growth. Um and you know, we didn't know it at the time, but uh, you know, he he retired, semi-retired in in 2019, and then right around the corner was COVID in 2020, right? And so, so I I you know that I looking back, you know, that that was definitely one of the best uh best decisions I I made was to to bring him in and and uh set us up for the COVID years and and everything beyond. I love that you decided after having such a mature business that there was a moment in time where you needed to bring in some expertise and a partner essentially to help you get to the next level. Like you recognize I can't do it alone. I have to find someone that's going to add more value and be a thought partner with me to figure out how to grow it.
Scoping Out Mentors
How did that like mentor-mentee relationship start? Because you had built up a very which is nice. You didn't put an ad out in the paper for I need a business partner, it's gonna help me grow the business. It was someone that you curated a relationship out of like trust and respect for many, many years. Did you like meet him one day and then just be like, Can you mentor me? Or how did that work? No, it went back probably 12, 12 years or more before that. And um, you know, he was running his own uh in in addition to his full-time job, he had a side uh training business for uh driving, drive driver uh instruction. And he had a State Department contract and they wanted uh some shooting skills in um conjunction with the driver training that he was providing. And so uh they wanted to do it in in Las Vegas and and that's how he he reached out and you know, I don't know how he he found found me or us at that time. But uh anyways, we we got together, we did did a joint training class and we'd been greatest friends ever since. And um and and I I saw everything that he was doing and and was always asking questions and trying to, you know, learn from him. And and uh that that was really how I was able to figure out how to navigate, you know, uh growing the business and running the business. And and since uh and since we had that that foundation for so many years, uh, you know, when it came time for for him to uh retire uh eventually and and I was able to work with him for his last full-time, you know, five years, then it uh it just worked out perfect. Aaron Powell Sure. Is that no, you know, or just he does he loves to drive easily. Well we we we sort of joke that you know once once you get jumped in, you don't you don't get out. And and he's still a consultant for us and and a senior advisor, and he has you know, he has his his tasks and his projects ever every year. And and uh and I mean we're working on five things together right now, but it's uh it's a much slower pace. It's you know, when he has time, when he wants to, and between all of his uh, you know, motor home trips and everything else. So it's it it's great to be able to provide him, you know, that kind of that kind
Productivity and Purpose
of balance. Yeah, and still be tied to something he's obviously passionate about. Like that I mean that sounds like the dream retirement for me, you know, is that I still get to work, but when I want to on your tracking. And then I still get to go do fun things. And so you're never fully out of the workforce. I don't I feel like Americans, they love to work, right? It's like such you're so used to productivity and just being productive, it's you almost feel like when you stop is when you know all the health issues and the problems start coming because you're you know, not doing what probably you're you're meant to do. Aaron Powell Sure. Well, and it's purpose too, right? You know, so if you if you feel passionately about something and it gives you purpose and you get excited to, you know, wake up and and go do that, I mean, that's why stop? I mean, that that's some of the uh the most rewarding things in life.
Vetting a New Partnership
So question about the partnership, just because we've had prior episodes where people have had partners, and I love having this discussion when people take on partners because that is one of the reasons why businesses fail, is like when you bring on a partner and it you don't either you're not really clear from the beginning how you're gonna break up and what that looks like, or like what the exit strategy is. And so you set yourself up for another hurdle or or potential catastrophe down the road. Was that something that you guys thought about very carefully when you were curating this partnership to ensure that it wasn't going to end badly? Absolutely. And and you know, to to Tony's credit um and and I guess my my willingness to uh listen, we uh we had uh a very good framework uh on the front end, on the back end, in the middle. You know, the the roadmap was was very clear. And and uh anything could have happened along the way, but um we knew um what the outcome was going to be at every step. And and you know, that's only 50% of it. Obviously, you have everything in writing, you've got attorneys draw it up, everybody agrees, it it's it's crystal clear. Um, but then the other half of it is, you know, do you trust the person? Have they demonstrated good character? Uh, you know, what has their their past been like? And and you know, are there any red flags because of maybe how they conducted themselves in in previous partnership scenarios? Um so if you can check all those boxes and everything is is is looking up, then um then that's the best you can do.
Having the Hard Conversations
I mean, it's a logical approach to it. I always think it's interesting when people put emotion to the curation of a partnership, meaning like they don't want to talk about fighting or how they'll break up or and I'm like, those are that's technically. To me, a red flag. If you can't have a normal conversation about something that's hypothetical, hasn't even happened yet, then that's a problem because nothing is happening right now. Like nothing is bad right now. So why on earth is this an off, like, you know, off-topic discussion that you just cannot have? Because you have to be able to talk about that. Cause then if you don't and you continue through the course of entering into partnership with that person, that's when if things start going awry, it's a mess. And it's really hard to unravel and untangle that in a way where both of you guys feel good about it. So much nicer when you just remove the mystery. Yeah. And you're very clear. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Well, and it also makes you feel good when you know you have that default plan in writing. So if if you know everything goes sideways, then you know that that's what's going to uh get you through it. But but it it's it's ideal and you don't really have to worry about that too much. And and you can just talk it through and you can, you know, reach a reasonable agreement on on various things that you know is where both parties are looking out for each other. Yeah.
Threats and Opportunities of Artificial Intelligence
So as a business that's in security and um, you know, an industry that I would say is always like kind of reviewing, you know, potential threats to certain things. What are your thoughts around like AI and kind of thinking about things that are on the horizon that might impact your business, maybe opportunities or also threats to certain things that you do? Is that something that you've kind of thought about as a company or leveraged? Of course. Um all of all of the above. And and you know, you have to start doing that now, otherwise you're gonna get you're gonna get left behind. Um, we we are um a little bit insulated uh from some of the the AI advancements um with respect to just how uh executive protection and residential security and and the human side of that works. Um that that being said, there there are ways that we can we can leverage AI to our advantage and and and we have to at least be thinking about it and and designing options for our clients where it's it's incorporated and integrated into our security plans and security deployments because most of our qu clients, especially in in the corporate world, they want to do more with less. They want they want less um humans, they want less faces, they they want less security in general, but they still want the same level of security. So, you know, how can we uh more more thoughtfully design a security program around um, for example, you know, cameras that have AI analytics and and you know somebody is monitoring a number of cameras that are covering a number of spaces, and and that replaces putting an actual person in that space to to to cover it and and and monitor it. So uh you know we're we're seeing a lot more of that and then and then figuring out how we can actually uh staff more skilled, um higher trained, more experienced personnel because we're we might we might reduce our headcount for a particular uh security force by 20, 30 percent. So now we can afford to to pay more and and hire better people that are going to perform at higher levels, which also typically reduces um HR issues and and other um you know trickle-down effects. So uh so yeah, it it's it's still still evolving. Yeah. But uh, are you hearing of any new like cybersecurity or like AI threats that might be of concern? I know that we're seeing it heavily in the banking industry, targeting small businesses again. We try to message so much around the new fraud and like bank impersonation that's happening. This open, I think it's called open source type of thing that fraudsters are using now, where it's AI bots that are able to refresh a customer profile like me or you based on data leaks and the the dark web versus regular web to come up with all most current up-to-date information that they can get on you to try and convince you that you need to act and do something and mess up and give them information that then results in in loss. Is that something that you experience in any way? Or your cust your clients because they're high profile? We we are seeing some of that in the uh in in the threat management space, meaning uh there there may be more threats generated with specific mentions and and client names just out there on the dark web or or through open sources uh in in an effort to either either mislead or it maybe steer uh efforts and and attention in in other directions while you know something may be occurring elsewhere. Um, we have a a twenty four-seven intelligence center that's constantly monitoring these things for for clients. I know I've seen it so crazy. It's like Iron Man's Cave. They they do they do interesting work for sure. And uh and and and thank goodness somebody's looking out for you know the these clients who who need it because uh it's it's just nonstop. And and and that that's essentially protective intelligence. And so um so what what our analysts are doing is they're they're sifting through what's real, what's fake, what's credible, what's you know, probably unlikely, and then and then filtering that for um accurate alerts and and reporting to our clients so that you know they have uh timely, relevant, and actionable intelligence to be able to make good decisions about their safety and and what protection measures make sense. Wow, that is that's super fascinating. I could talk forever about all these secretive spy activities that you do. Um
Reputation Over Revenue
but I have one last and final question. And thank you so much because I think you've offered up so many great things for other businesses to kind of learn and make sure that they have curated around. Um, but what is the guiding principle that you have in business or in life that you would want to share? Um I I guess there's there's two big ones. Um the the first would be uh uh reputation over revenue, or reputation is greater than revenue. It's one of our principles of doing business for our our company, and and you know that that holds very true in our industry, um, as we were discussing uh before. Um but you know, revenue is gonna come and go, it's gonna ebb and flow. Um, if if you if you want to do this um for a short period of time, then knock yourself out. If you want to have longevity and you want to be around for a while and you want to have have a good name and and you want to be able to gain new business and more business just purely based on on that name, um, then experience matters, the right kind of experience
Listen More Than You Talk, Give More Than You Take
matters. Um the the other one um is also business related, but it's also uh a little more personal in that that's uh it's very simply um you know, listen more than you talk and give more than you take. You know, and and I've seen this uh really uh return a lot more than I, you know, would anticipate because in in our organization and and really in our in our industry, you know, you've got uh a lot of experts and you've got a lot of people that want to tell you what they think. They have strong opinions, they have big egos, and um they know it all. And and they they just sort of suck the life out of the room and nothing nothing really gets done. Um but but I I'm very proud of our team because by and l by and large, uh most of the people, you know, they're they're there to learn, you know, which starts with listening and and they absorb it, their sponges, you know, they take it and and then they they share it. Um and and uh obviously giving giving back and and uh providing providing value is something that will will always put you at the top of the list for for other people or or clients. Um because if you if you're giving something without any expectation of anything in return, you know, whether it be you know information or you know, sometimes services on on a on a limited basis, you know, if it's a if it's a loss leader and it makes it makes sense for for the long term, you can do that. But but really just always looking out for the the other party, whether that's an employee, that's a client, that's a business partner, and and thinking first, you know, well, what can I do for them and what can I do to help this relationship versus what am I gonna get out of this deal? You know, again, that's that's short-sighted. Yeah, what's in it for me? It's never gonna last very long. Yeah. I love I love those two. I love uh that's like such a dynamite thing for you to say, like reputation over revenue. Absolutely. Because once your reputation is gone, what do you really have? That revenue will never really be there. No. Um, and then same, the, you know, listen. I need to actually listen more, talk less. That's probably I feel like you directed that at me. Um, and then but the give more than you take. I say that in a similar way, meaning like I I just love helping people. And so if you really come from a place of genuinely caring about individuals, it comes back to you tenfold. Absolutely it truly does. Like I've I mean, I think any successful person that I found, it really is because they care more about who they're helping and what they're doing than necessarily what they're getting out of it. They know good things will happen to them, especially if they just take care of the people that are in front of them. Yep.
Thank You Steve Krystek
Absolutely. But thank you so much, Steve, for being here today. And please don't forget to subscribe, like and subscribe. You can uh subscribe anywhere where you listen to podcasts. And again, if you want to see our beautiful faces, you can actually go to YouTube and watch the full episode live or recorded. I keep saying live, but that's not true. Thank you.