Industry Magazine Source Security Spring 2016 | Page 26

OUR STORY IS YOUR STORY

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
Ron Lovett
Ron Lovett is an entrepreneur and leader with a passion for change. Ron loves
going back to the drawing board by creating companies with a purpose.
Over the years Ron has been recognized with many awards for the success of
Source Security & Investigations and his leadership within the company, including:
•
BDC Young Entrepreneur Award
•
(x5) Atlantic Business Magazine’s \Top 50 CEO Award
•
Junior Chamber International Outstanding Young Person Award
•
Remy Martin Bold Five under 35
•
Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist

WHEN I founded Source Security in 2002,
I wanted to assist with physical security
needs for concerts, commercial businesses,
and festivals in and around Halifax. The
company has since grown to become
one of the leading suppliers of corporate
security services in the nation, employing
a staff of over 1500 full-time and part-time
employees. Change, as they often say,
begins from within. And the changes that we
have made over the years in response to the
struggles that we faced has become one of
the defining characteristics of our company.
Our story can be your story.
Though the company is poised to expand
and is consistently showing growth right
now, that was not always the case. Back
in 2010, Source Security was in financial
trouble and, as a result, the business was in a
constant struggle for survival. The problems
that the company encountered during
that time were both internal and external.

SPRING 2016

Clients saw the physical security industry
as a commodity and, thus, were not as likely
to choose companies not competing for the
lowest price. Additionally, the number of
new, lower priced competitors in the market
drove cost down even further. To put this in
perspective: We had $4.5M in total revenues
and were still in the red by about $800K.
During this time, I decided to relook at
how the company operated and go back to
the metaphorical drawing board. Looking
at my company, I asked myself a very simple
question: “If I were to buy this business today,
knowing what I now know, what would I be
doing differently, how would I operate, who
would I re-hire?” This question led me to a
complete restructuring of the company. The
business was gutted, the company culture
shifted, and a strong focus was placed on
two things: technology and efficiency. Even
so, it was clear that this would not be enough
to overcome the market changes we were

seeing. Thus, we would need to change
the way we operated within an already
oversaturated market. Operating more
efficiently than the competition was simply
not going to cut it.

“IF I WERE TO BUY THIS
BUSINESS TODAY, KNOWING
WHAT I NOW KNOW, WHAT WOULD
I BE DOING DIFFERENTLY, HOW
WOULD I OPERATE, WHO WOULD
I RE-HIRE?”
I went to seminars and read books
looking for the answers to our problems.
During an Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO)
event, the speaker challenged the audience
to go back to their company and see how
different the elevator pitch of the CEO
looked from what the ground level believed
(the workers). When I did that, I realized
how much work needed to be done. I read a

26