Most security companies know their revenue number. Many know their gross margin.
Far fewer can answer a harder question: How much profit should have shown up—but never did?
That gap has nothing to do with mistakes, poor management, or not understanding the P&L.
It happens quietly, without throwing obvious red flags.
As a result, holding margins—or growing them—gets harder year after year.
When Profit Becomes Hard to See
As security companies grow—or try to grow—more things start happening at once.
Decisions overlap. Timing matters. And the impact of those decisions doesn’t always show up where you expect.
Financial statements tell you where you landed.
They don’t tell you how you got there—or whether everything that should have shown up actually did.
On paper, the P&L usually looks ordinary.
No glaring red flags. Just normal variance and familiar pressure, month after month. The business appears disciplined. Controls are in place. Results look reasonable.
And yet, margins keep slipping—or refuse to grow.
Discipline Does Not Eliminate Blind Spots
Even well-run companies have blind spots.
Research from firms such as Deloitte and PwC has long noted that as businesses grow more complex, visibility doesn’t keep pace. The numbers are there—but they don’t always tell the full story.
Two security companies can operate at similar scale, with comparable discipline and oversight, and still end up with very different margin results.
That difference is rarely about effort.
It’s rarely about execution.
It comes down to what becomes visible—and what never does.
This Is Not a Failure
For owners, the first instinct is often to assume something must be wrong—or that nothing else can be done.
But these blind spots are not caused by mismanagement.
They are not caused by error.
They are not caused by inattention.
They show up as complexity increases and outcomes stop tying neatly to individual decisions.
The business runs as intended.
Customers are served. Costs are controlled.
And yet, margins can still feel tighter than expected—without a clear reason.
The Question Most Owners Have Never Answered
For some businesses, the amount is small.
For others, it adds up quietly over time.
In some cases, it barely matters.
In others, it rivals the kind of profit improvement leadership expects from a full year of growth.
Most owners don’t know which category they’re in.
If asked how much profit could have shown up, could you give a number you trust?
In security firms, that number tends to be spread across day-to-day workforce decisions—thin enough that it rarely appears as a single, obvious line item.
Security companies are labor-intensive by nature, so complexity shows up well before an operation would be considered “large.”
Frameworks such as SilverPoint Shield™ exist to ensure ownership is confronted with a question that standard reporting never raises.
Why the Question Belongs at the Top
Experienced business owners know that uncertainty alone doesn’t require action. But it does require clarity and ownership.
Until your number is known, its impact on profit remains unknown.
And if it never shows up as profit, it might as well have never existed.
About Eric Galuppo
Eric Galuppo studies how workforce complexity and scale can create blind spots in profit visibility in private security operations. His work focuses on why margin pressure can show up on the P&L even when the operational drivers behind it are not immediately visible.
About SilverPoint Shield™
SilverPoint Shield™ is a framework for private security operations that establishes how profit visibility questions are identified, evaluated, and—when appropriate—acted on at the ownership level. The process begins with the Shield Check™, a short, administrative conversation that helps put a rough number around the question so owners can decide whether it deserves deeper attention.
Media Contact
Company Name: VAMO Digital
Contact Name: Eric Galuppo
Email:media@silverpointshield.com
Country: United States
Website: https://www.silverpointshield.com
Media Contact
Company Name: VAMO Digital
Email:Send Email
Country: United States
Website: https://www.silverpointshield.com