1st Media Consulting Group, Inc. Podcast
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1st Media Consulting Group, Inc. Podcast
Pioneering Security Tech: Luis's Entrepreneurial Journey with Surveillance Plus
Can security technology transform your entrepreneurial journey? Discover the answer with Luis, the visionary behind Surveillance Plus, as he recounts his path from the world of franchising to pioneering advancements in security systems. Our episode unpacks how the tragic events of 9/11 spurred Luis to dive into security technology, leading him to partner with an experienced mentor and create a company that stands at the forefront of the industry. His story serves as an inspiring testament to the power of seizing opportunities and relentlessly pursuing innovation.
From the shift of analog to digital systems to the rise of high-resolution video surveillance, Luis sheds light on the evolution that's making cutting-edge security accessible to all. Learn about the technological breakthroughs that have revolutionized the market and made sophisticated security solutions feasible for both commercial and residential use. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or intrigued by the latest in security tech, Luis's journey offers valuable insights and practical advice for forging your own path to success. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that promises to inspire and inform.
Welcome to the First Media Consulting Podcast, the Business Chronicles, where we dive deep into the stories of successful business owners. Here's your host, Didi and Nicholas. Thanks for joining today. Let's talk.
Speaker 2:Good afternoon everybody. I am so excited to introduce to you Luis, who owns Surveillance Plus, to you, Luis, who owns Surveillance Plus, and he's going to share some insight about his business, a little bit of background, and give some inspirational thoughts of those who want to look at starting a business, regardless of what industry, and kind of give some inspirational thoughts of how to go about doing it and some of the things that he shared along his journey to success.
Speaker 3:Luis hello how are you?
Speaker 2:doing sir.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having me, Didier.
Speaker 2:Oh, you're very, very welcome. So let's go right into it. Tell us, tell our listeners, a little bit about your background, if you don't mind.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm currently working with security. I got into the industry about 18 years ago after working in franchising. I work for a big corporation, training franchises all over the States and getting the challenges of new entrepreneurs when they go into business. I got into a position for my franchises after 9-11. They were really concerned about security for everybody and safety Like anything in the industry industry. It changed from that point over and I was in charge to find security uh products, uh solutions for, to protect everybody the customers and the franchises. So I got working with them, uh, investigating what was in the market uh, and it caught my eye because it was something completely new for me. I didn't know anything about security, it just happened to be in a position to research and get some training, travel overseas, travel around the country to see what would make sense for them to partner with. After I did that for the franchise company, I have an opportunity to start it on my own Like anybody else. I got that bug Well congratulations Go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 3:So when I got the bug I tried to do it on my own, and in one of my travelings and getting trade shows I came across with somebody that was in the industry longer than me and he came out to be my mentor and eventually we partnered in this company and we started Surveillance Plus.
Speaker 2:Well, congratulations, man. And I know the industry itself. You know, and I'll let you share a little bit about your business here in a second. But I know you guys, you know, after looking at what you do from video surveillance to site, what is it Sentinel, sentinel, yes, I Sentinel, okay. And then access control and a lot of things that you know, security cameras and all that. So I'll let you go ahead and talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 3:Well, when you're thinking about security, there's a lot of products and factors, especially in electronics. The first thing that comes to mind people is alarm systems, which is a technology that has been developed about 50, 80 years ago and everybody jumped into that wagon. That was the way to do it. We're coming from an era and we all came from analog to digital, so a lot of things changed. Video was one of the things that came out to be more prevalent compared to the traditional alarm sensors and motion prevalent compared to the traditional alarm sensors and motion. Now you only know this motion. Now you can see and see and analyze what's happening. So video is becoming to be one of the main ways to protect the leader, kind of like a point in the arrow on the security factors.
Speaker 3:Video actually have a big transition from analog to digital. Back in the day we used to have a monitor with a camera connected to it. Really expensive because you had to use lenses to kind of so many to think and see details because the resolution wasn't there, so you have to rely on the lenses. Really expensive for most companies because you have to buy a lot of equipment. That was expensive. They couldn't afford it.
Speaker 3:Now that we went to digital. Now we're using resolution, now we're using the little dots, so the more resolution that you have in the camera you can now zoom in digital zoom and get details that you couldn't do before. So it lowered the price and the cost for equipment in overall, allowing more people to be able to use that technology now more commonly. They started in commercial, now residential is becoming the next thing. So now everybody wants to put a camera in the house, even just to, as a doorbell communicator used to get a view and communication using the cell phone that now everybody carries. So it's a big transition in between. But you can see how benefit the technology came across from analog to digital.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and technology like you mentioned is really transforming the security landscape right.
Speaker 3:Absolutely the traditional alarm system. They used to call a third party company to connect with you. Back in the day we didn't have cell phones, so they had to you verify there's nobody there and there was a timeline that you lose when something do happen. Now, having technology to contact you in real time to your phone directly and so you don't have to rely on third parties, not only is more efficient, it's also less costly because you don't have to pay another company to do it. You can do it on your own. As long as you have internet service, we can pretty much send the notifications in real time to a person and you can make decisions on the fly, making even law enforcement even more effective, because now they know exactly what you're dealing with, they can address things a lot faster.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a lot of great information for our listeners. So, luis, what inspired you to start your business? You know, briefly, what inspired you?
Speaker 3:I started with franchising. I mean, my background was marketing and training, so I was training people in business. I seen everybody's trouble into business. That's what they buy. They're going to franchising. But when you try to do it on your own you think you kind of have the formula, which is not the case. I learned really quick that I had to go back to my roots. So I went back to the UCF incubator program, learned how to do the legal part of the business, which is really important to do before you start anything. And then you start to jump into what you know. But you also have to keep in mind that it's not only what you know. You might know the trade, but you have to need to know how to run a business, which is the part that a lot of people lack into.
Speaker 2:You're a really good painter, you can bake, you can do things, but if you don't know how to run a business or market it or move it forward, that's the part that most people are missing, and there are so many ingredients right to running, to starting a business, to running a business, to developing teamwork and and and just really bringing everybody together for the same purpose for your business to help that end user, which is your customer, correct? So what is the secret to your success? What makes you so successful?
Speaker 3:The secret is not to be working with your ego that you don't know at all. It's your basic aligning to people that are doing the things better than you do or they have the experience. So it's thinking about legal I go to an attorney. Accounting go to an accounting expert. Marketing go to an accounting expert. Marketing go to a marketing expert. You cannot do everything yourself and think that you want to do well, because there are people that actually been in your shoes before that. They make mistakes and learn. So why are you going through the same steps when you can avoid those things? So I just basically rely on a group of people that can support your business and have a really good core of advisors and values. They can value and put the company at a different level and a lot faster than you try to do it on your own.
Speaker 2:So what are some of the trends? You know every industry has trends that are really taken off. Is there anything in your industry? Education- Education.
Speaker 3:You have to keep yourself with the trends. If you learn something you think you're doing well, try to do what people do better. What's going on in the industry? What changed? What legal part of change? Is it new tools? Anything you have to do to improve what you're doing? So you always have to educate and continue to educate yourself to get better.
Speaker 2:And that's well stated. What about some of?
Speaker 3:the challenges Every business faces challenges Keeping up with technology and try to do the best you can. Don't lower yourself in services and pricing. You have to compete. As long as you do the right equipment, backup your support, you're reliable and you educate the right equipment, backup your support, you're reliable and you educate the customer what they're buying, there is no problem with pricing. People don't like to spend the money in something they're going to throw away tomorrow. So if you educate them well, they might not do it today, but they might save the money to do it right. That's what I think that makes us unique in what we do.
Speaker 2:I like what you said. People don't want to throw away money that they can give away tomorrow, right. They want something that's going to be of substance that they can use correct.
Speaker 3:There is a good formula I was used for my speech around people. I said there's only three things that I can offer you. It's good, reliable and inexpensive. Now, I can only do two of those at a time. I can only have the three things at the same time. If it's good, it's not going to be reliable. Everything has to be in between a T. Give me two of those and I can definitely make it to you.
Speaker 3:If you're looking to spend something or buy something or invest on something. You want it to last and be reliable. There's a cost associated with it. But if you do it the other way, you know it's not going to last or it's not going to be reliable. So you have to figure out first what you really want. You want to do something temporarily, absolutely. This is what you can do. But if you were looking for something that would be there and work where you need it, it might be considered something else.
Speaker 2:There was always a saying that I was brought up with that says do it right or don't do it. Don't do it.
Speaker 3:If you try to do it in your own inexpensive way, you know. But if you try to do it in your own inexpensive way, you're going to end up redoing that so many times and when you're adding everything that you do and the time and aggravation, you probably spend a lot more than you would really wish to spend in the beginning. So once you understand it, people make the right decisions. That's how I see it.
Speaker 2:Very good, and we're about to wrap up here. So you know there are aspiring entrepreneurs or people who want to own their business, or even business owners. Any advice that you would want to give them through your path to success of where you're at today?
Speaker 3:Go to a professional Team up with people that have been doing the same thing that you're doing it's hardly anything out there that hasn't been invented See what they do right, see what they do best, and kind of team up with them instead of competing with them, and then next thing you know you can do it on your own. That's what I would say.
Speaker 2:Very, very good. So, as we wrap up here, could you provide our listeners with your phone number as well as your website, so they can get a hold of you if they have any questions?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. We have a retail store in Orlando, so it's under Sovereignness Plus. Our website is SovereignnessPluscom and the phone number of the store is 407-877-3500.
Speaker 2:Website is the best way to communicate and you can contact us directly that way as well. Well, Luis, thank you so much for taking time to speak to our listeners and hopefully in the future, we can have you back Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Have any questions, let us know. Thank you, didier. Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in to First Media Consulting Podcast. If you enjoyed the podcast, subscribe today To nominate a business you would like to recommend to be on our show. Go to firstmediaconsultingcom or call.