If you don't feel excited and invigorated each and every morning because you are part of this great industry then you had better check your pulse. That's because throughout the recession security has been among the most even-keeled businesses, with the recurring revenue model in particular demonstrating its resiliency. The products and services continue to advance and expand, and are in demand. The ceiling is sky-high as the great majority of the marketplace remains untapped. But there's an additional component of even greater importance: purpose.
"It seems that we all — even our company — sometimes forget why we're here," Bill Zeller, CEO of Lantana, Fla.-based Mellon Security & Sound Systems, recently told me. "From the standpoint that when we go out to sell an alarm system, and people are interested in buying it, they have to be convinced that this is an investment they are making in their safety and their family's safety. I believe in what I'm doing; it's right. I'm not in it just to make a difference, but I think I have."
Zeller made those comments during the executive roundtable discussion featured here. Be sure to check out my Under Surveillance blog ("Remembering Why You're in the Security Business") for some entertaining and inspiring anecdotes from Zeller addressing our industry's core mission of securing and safeguarding people's well being.
With those factors in mind for 2011, how can you not seize each day with gusto knowing the rewards are as much financial as they are fulfilling? It's no wonder — as evidenced by all the participants in that roundtable, and for that matter most folks I encounter who have chosen this industry as a career — that even during sluggish economic times and in the face of almost any challenge optimism reigns supreme among security professionals.
Now that you're in the right frame of mind, how about some incisive business strategies, industry trends analysis and innovative technologies? All of that and more is in store for you inside this, our special 2011 Forecast Issue. But before preparing to conquer the New Year, take a look at my annual month-by-month review of the news stories that defined the year just ended (for the full items, search by headline at securitysales.com) and consider their possible future implications.
Editor-in-Chief Scott Goldfine has spent more than 12 years with SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION. He can be reached at (704) 663-7125 or [email protected].