✓ August 2026 edition ✓ 14 chapters ✓ Rate calculator included ✓ Immediate digital access
BUILD THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE UNIFORM.
You may already know security. Running the business behind it is different.
A licence does not tell you what a public-holiday shift really costs, how much margin remains after employment costs and overheads, how to fund payroll while waiting for clients to pay, or what systems need to exist once staff and contracts start multiplying.
THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION was built for that gap.
Read the guide to understand the decisions. Use the calculator to test the numbers before you quote.
What You Receive
Your instant access digital download includes:
- THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION eBook in PDF format
- 160 pages of practical security-business guidance
- 14 chapters covering the startup and operating lifecycle
- Practical checklists, worksheets, examples and decision points
- The GuardHERE Master Example Rate Calculator in Microsoft Excel
- Built-in calculator instructions and guidance
- An annual Award rate and business-input update checklist
Built specifically for the Australian private-security industry, with Victoria as the primary worked example and calculator starter inputs for every Australian state and territory.
The GuardHERE Master Example Rate Calculator
The book explains the costing logic. The calculator puts numbers around it.
The included Microsoft Excel workbook provides a practical working model for examining how employment costs, operating overheads and intended profit may contribute to a client charge rate.
The workbook includes:
- Security Services Industry Award rate examples
- Full-time, part-time and casual employment examples
- Weekday, night, weekend, public-holiday and overtime scenarios
- Superannuation inputs
- Payroll tax and WorkCover starter inputs
- Portable long service leave inputs
- Business overhead settings
- Profit-margin settings
- Automatically calculated example charge rates
- Example invoice and client-facing outputs
- Built-in quality and sanity checks
- Guidance for annual Award and statutory-rate updates
Starter inputs are included for all Australian states and territories.
It gives you a model, not a magic number. You must check and adapt the inputs applying to your own business, jurisdiction, insurer and workforce before using the outputs commercially.
A FULL ROSTER CAN STILL LOSE MONEY
Security operators often know the service. The harder part is everything happening behind the deployment.
- A public-holiday shift is added to a fixed client rate
- A quote covers wages but misses supervision, administration or downtime
- Employment on-costs are missing from the pricing model
- The client pays in 30 days while wages are due next week
- The business grows faster than its systems and supervisors
- The owner becomes salesperson, scheduler, payroll contact, compliance manager and emergency contact
Revenue can look impressive while the profit quietly leaves through the back door.
THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION connects the pricing, workforce, compliance and operating decisions that determine whether the work is actually sustainable.
What This Guide Helps You Do
- Understand the main steps involved in starting and operating an Australian security business
- Connect licensing, workforce, pricing, contracts and operations rather than treating them separately
- Understand the real cost of employing and deploying security personnel
- Model charge rates using wages, on-costs, overheads and intended profit
- Recognise underpricing, cash-flow and margin traps before they become expensive
- Build stronger operational systems, documents and management controls as the business grows
It helps explain how the parts of a security business affect one another, because winning work is only a win when the rate, contract and operating model can carry it.
What the eBook Covers
Starting with Stronger Foundations
Understand the Australian private-security environment, the responsibilities involved in becoming a business operator and the decisions that should be made before accepting work.
The guide examines licensing pathways, business structures, registrations, insurance, service selection, branding and market positioning.
Building Practical Operations
Explore how policies, records, reporting processes, assigned responsibilities and internal controls support more consistent service delivery.
The focus is on what needs to exist behind the scenes, not simply what the business says it can do.
Employing and Managing Security Personnel
Consider recruitment, onboarding, employment arrangements, supervision, workplace safety, fatigue, wellbeing and the responsibilities involved in employing or engaging workers.
Understanding Costs and Charge Rates
Move beyond adding a simple margin to the base Award rate.
Understand how wages, penalties, superannuation, insurance, payroll tax, portable long service leave, operating overheads and intended profit can affect the rate charged to a client.
Protecting Cash Flow and Margin
Examine how weekends, public holidays, overtime, rostering decisions, contract terms, invoicing and debtor cycles can change the financial result after the work begins.
Growing Without Losing Control
Consider when supervision, systems, technology and management capability need to change as the business expands.
The guide also addresses sustainability, succession and the challenge of building a business that is not entirely dependent on its owner.
WHO THIS GUIDE IS FOR
THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION is designed for:
- Security professionals preparing to start their own business
- New operators applying for or recently obtaining a security-business licence
- Owners preparing to employ or subcontract personnel
- Operators who understand security work but are less confident with pricing and the business back end
- Small security businesses wanting stronger pricing, workforce and operating systems
You do not need to read it cover to cover. Start with the issue in front of you: licensing, setup, pricing, employment, contracts, cash flow, compliance or growth.
This is a working guide for people prepared to build the business, not a shortcut around the work.
Written from Real Security-Industry Experience
THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION was written by Jason Sexton, founder and Principal Security Management Consultant at GuardHERE Consulting.
Drawing on nearly two decades of frontline, supervisory and security-management experience across Australia and New Zealand, the guide was developed after repeatedly seeing capable security operators struggle with the business systems behind the service: licensing, Award costs, payroll, pricing, contracts, workplace safety and operational control.
It is practical, operator-to-operator guidance from someone who understands both sides of the uniform.
Instant Digital Access
- Purchase the eBook + Calculator
Complete your order securely through GuardHERE Consulting. - Download the Files
Access the 160-page PDF and Microsoft Excel calculator after payment. - Start Where You Need It
Work from the beginning or go directly to the chapter or calculator relevant to your current decision.
Current Edition
- Edition: First Edition v1.1, August 2026
- Format: PDF + Microsoft Excel
- Delivery: Instant digital download after payment
- Licence: Single purchaser with internal business use permitted
Important Things to Know
Select the heading below to view important purchasing and usage information.
Important information before purchasing
View details ▾
THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION is an educational security-business resource written for the Australian private-security industry.
- The eBook is supplied as a digital PDF and the calculator as a Microsoft Excel workbook.
- Victoria is used as the primary worked example, but the guide addresses the Australian private-security industry more broadly. Licensing and regulatory requirements vary between jurisdictions.
- Award rates, statutory costs, licence requirements, insurance premiums and regulatory expectations can change.
- The guide does not replace current regulator information or legal, accounting, employment, tax or other professional advice.
- The calculator provides an illustrative costing model only. All figures and assumptions must be checked and adapted before commercial use.
- The purchase does not include individual consulting, Editing Assistance, licence-application completion or preparation of business documents.
- Purchase provides a single-user licence for the purchaser and internal use within their own business.
- The files must not be shared, forwarded, resold, rebranded, published or incorporated into products supplied to others.
- The product does not guarantee licence approval, clients, compliance, suitable rates, profitability or business success.
Frequently Asked Questions
Select a question below to view the answer.
What is included with my purchase?
View answer ▾
Your purchase includes the 160-page THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION eBook and the GuardHERE Master Example Rate Calculator.
The products contain practical guidance, checklists, worksheets, costing examples, calculator instructions and annual update guidance.
Is the guide only relevant to Victoria?
View answer ▾
No. The guide is written for Australian security businesses, with Victoria used as the primary worked example.
Licensing and regulatory requirements vary between states and territories, so readers must confirm the requirements applying in their own jurisdiction.
Why should I buy this when information is available online?
View answer ▾
Regulator websites, Award information and general business resources can answer individual questions, but they rarely explain how licensing, pricing, employment costs, contracts, cash flow and security operations affect one another.
THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION brings those subjects together in one structured Australian security-business guide and includes a practical Excel calculator, checklists, worksheets and worked examples to help you apply the information.
Is this suitable for someone just starting out?
View answer ▾
Yes. The guide is primarily designed for security professionals preparing to start a business and newer operators building their commercial and operational foundations.
Existing small-business operators may also find the pricing, workforce, compliance, systems, welfare and growth sections useful.
Does the eBook complete my business licence application?
View answer ▾
No. The guide explains the broader licensing landscape and the responsibilities involved in becoming a security-business operator.
It is not a completed application or a jurisdiction-specific licensing package.
What does the Master Example Rate Calculator do?
View answer ▾
The Microsoft Excel workbook demonstrates how Award wages, employment on-costs, business overheads and intended profit may contribute to a client charge rate.
It includes configurable business inputs, example employment scenarios, calculated outputs, quality checks and annual update guidance.
It does not provide a guaranteed rate. The purchaser must verify and adapt all inputs before commercial use.
What software and format do I receive?
View answer ▾
The eBook is supplied as a digital PDF and the calculator as a Microsoft Excel workbook.
You need software capable of opening PDF files and a compatible version of Microsoft Excel. Calculator formulas, validation and other functions may not operate correctly in alternative spreadsheet programs or older software versions.
No physical printed book is supplied.
Does the purchase include consulting or Editing Assistance?
View answer ▾
No. This is an instant digital product.
Professional consulting, licensing packages, editable business documents and structured Editing Assistance are available separately where more direct support is required.
Can I share the files with another person?
View answer ▾
The purchase provides a single-user licence to the purchaser, with internal use permitted within their own business.
The files must not be forwarded, resold, uploaded, rebranded, published or distributed to other businesses or individuals.
Will I automatically receive future editions or rate updates?
View answer ▾
Your purchase includes the edition and calculator available at the time of purchase.
Future editions and annual updates are not automatically included. Existing purchasers can request a paid review and update of their calculator inputs for a small fee. Discounted upgrade access may also be offered when a substantially revised edition is released.
How do I access the files?
View answer ▾
The eBook and calculator are available for download through your order confirmation after payment is completed.
