Hiring a Security Guard for Your Business: 6 Things You Need to Know

If you are thinking of hiring a security guard for your business, you have plenty of considerations to make.

You need to have trust in the company used, understand the costs involved, have access to relevant training and certification, and observe any insurance in place. Throughout this article, we’ll outline six things you need to know before hiring a security guard for your business.

1. How Will Hiring a Security Guard Benefit Your Business?

Before you start picking apart different security firms, you need to ask yourself whether having a security guard will benefit your business. There are many reasons for wanting to hire a security guard including:

• Your store is located in an undesirable location

• You want to discourage theft regardless of location

• You need to control crowds – in bars and clubs

• You want to keep your premises secure after closing time

Typically, security guards are hired by financial institutions, retailers, residential homes, schools, and parts of the hospitality industry. If you’ve come to a final decision and you’re ready to hire a security guard, continue reading for further considerations.  

2. Average Costs

When paying for a security guard, you want to make sure you are not being ripped off. Whenever you interview a prospective security guard firm, you need to establish the payment frequency, rate type and costs, agency supply costs, and uniform costs. 

Once you have all of the payment information, you need to weigh it against the considerations in this list.

The most expensive security guard firm may have the lowest client rating, and the lowest-costing firm may have the highest rating. Make your decision based on services first, and then factor in costs. 

3. Length of Service

If you’ve found a fantastic security company without digging around, there is a chance their services are too good to be true.

Make sure you research companies to find out how long they’ve been providing security, as well as any oyster credentials. To gather some of this information, you may need to head over to social media pages, where you can observe their interactions with clients. 

4. Reputation

Vetting a company has never been easier, thanks to the power of a simple Google search. You can easily find out about a company’s reputation by searching for reviews online.

When looking at reviews, you should make an effort to have a deep dive into historical reviews.

Just because a company has a small run of poor reviews, it doesn’t change potentially great services provided in the past. Naturally, this will cause concern, but you can ask about any negative reviews during the interview. 

5. Certification and Training

No matter which company you choose to use, you must ensure they have the correct compliance documentation. If your chosen company fails to produce such documents, cease contact with them immediately.  

Outside of licensing documents, any security guards hired by your business must be competent in all relevant areas. For example, if they are required to carry a firearm, they must have training certification to prove certification.

If you are having an armed security guard, you will need to put in a bath order for spares including 9mm ammo, which is a common caliber.

6. Insurance

If everything looks clear, you still need to make sure the appropriate insurance is in place.

Typically, expect to see auto liability, workers’ compensation, and general liability. When meeting to discuss insurance, ask that your business is added as additionally insured – you don’t want any grey areas.  

Hiring a security guard can be a huge benefit to businesses and can improve the bottom line in some cases. Before choosing a security guard firm, carry out due diligence and explore the company’s reputation, licenses, certifications, and insurance. If anything looks out of place, trust your gut and move on.