Guard Grabber Profile

Describe your product or service: 

“Guard Grabber is an on-demand online marketplace that connects licensed, local professionals in security-related industries to consumers who are in need.”

Describe your company values and mission: 

“Guard Grabber values giving back to its community by being a part of the Pledge 1% campaign, where 1% of revenue is donated to charity. Our mission as a family has always been to foster growth, community, and opportunity, and with Guard Grabber, all these aspects have to come together. Guard Grabber is an online marketplace where growth, opportunity, and community safety are combined.”

How are you funded? I.e. type of funding, number of funding rounds, total funding amount. 

“Bootstrap, one seed round totaling $300,000.”

How big is your team? Tell us a little about them (I.e. co-founders, freelancers, etc.) 

“Our board is five members strong and includes David Pulver (co-founder and CEO), Eugene Pulver (co-founder and President), Josephine Pulver (co-founder and Vice President), Cheryl Pulver (Chief Operations Officer), and Evelyn Ruiz (Chief Financial Officer). We are a close-knit, family-oriented team that keeps each other grounded, humble, and innovative. Our software and development team consists of 11 strong-minded yet cooperative individuals who value the promotion of a safer society and community.”

How did you come up with and validate your startup idea? Tell us the story! 

“We come from a long line of security service providers, dating back to the 1970s when David Pulver, our co-founder and CEO, first started working security at 18 years of age. While working security, David had witnessed various crimes taking place and often considered quicker, more efficient solutions to such troubles. In addition to David providing services, his children also became licensed in the security field.

Through the years, as a security-based family, we have had our fair share of troubles finding clientele, waiting days to be booked for a gig, and waiting to get paid. We have also come to understand the struggles customers face in trying to quickly and efficiently book budget-friendly services. 

As a result, we set out to solve these problems by creating Guard Grabber, a marketplace that allows service providers the opportunity to connect with new clientele and customers to quickly book affordable services.”

How did you come up with your startup's name? Did you have other names you considered? 

“When considering the word ‘grab,’ what often comes to mind is a sense of immediacy, and when combining such an instant word with ‘guard,’ the goal was to bring forth a sense of on-demand, prompt security guard services. To refine such an idea and for verbal ease, the plural of ‘Grab’ was considered and altered to ‘Grabber.’ As a result, the name ‘Guard Grabber’ came to be. In addition, with Guard Grabber being a custom software development company, the word ‘Technologies’ was added, alongside ‘Inc.’ when Guard Grabber became incorporated.”

Did you always want to start your own business? What made you want to become an entrepreneur? 

“David Pulver has been an entrepreneur for many years and has various established businesses within numerous fields. However, Guard Grabber has become the Pulver family's disruption of the security industry as each member brings personal experiences and solutions to the forefront. 

The Pulver family as a whole decided to become entrepreneurs because there was a need for a streamlined marketplace that allows for quick, cost-effective, professional, and local services to be employed. With Guard Grabber, this need is now fulfilled.”

Did you encounter any roadblocks when launching your startup? If so, what were they and what did you do to solve them?

“Our largest roadblock arrived in late 2019, when California's Governor, Gavin Newson, signed the AB5 law, which heavily restricted independent contractors' ability to work. Such legislation essentially banned Guard Grabber from independently contracting individual security guards for services, ultimately shutting down our operations. This new legislation was a heavy blow and forced us to pivot our entire marketplace, which had been in place for approximately 1.5 years with a growing loyal customers list. 

Although AB5 forced Guard Grabber to change its operations, it was for the best as we have now shifted to connecting consumers with security-related companies instead of independently contracted individuals. Our new marketplace is currently being produced with a prospective launch date of mid-2022.”

Who is your target market? How did you establish the right market for your startup? 

“Our target market consists of security, private investigation, process serving, locksmith, and notary companies, who list their professional services in our marketplace. In addition, our target market also includes consumers who are in need of on-demand services that relate to the above-mentioned industries.

The right market for our startup was established when we used various analytics to find which services were most in need and which demographics needed such services the most. We also took into consideration what changes were necessary to create a more efficient marketplace.”

What's your marketing strategy? 

“Our marketing strategy has included social media, calling, email, and advertisement campaigns via agencies such as ZipRecruiter.”

How did you acquire your first 100 customers? 

“Our first 100 customers were acquired through a combination of our marketing strategies alongside word of mouth.”

What are the key customer metrics / unit economics / KPIs you pay attention to to monitor the health of your business? 

“The KPIs that we monitor include growth in our categories and which specific categories produce the most profits. We also focus on our customer and company retention rate, which we try to maintain. In terms of key customer metrics, they are scaled by company size. We provide more targeted resources to larger companies, where the smaller companies also benefit from a more streamlined marketplace.”

What's your favorite startup book and podcast? 

“Our favorite podcast would be from Startups.com, and our favorite book would be ‘Hacking Growth’ by Sean Ellis.”

Is there a tool, app, or resource that you swear by to help run your startup? 

“As a team, we have utilized the apps Slack as well as Asana to remain cohesive and up to date.”

What is something that surprised you about entrepreneurship? 

“What surprised us was the sheer dedication that is needed. We are always working, and it is very tiring. But, we know that the outcome is going to be what dreams are made of, and that is what pushes entrepreneurs like us to continue.”

How do you achieve work/life balance as a founder? 

“We generally take at least one day of the week off, where we can take time for ourselves. At some level, we usually end up working on our day off, but we have the option not to do so. We also generally take the nights off in order to unwind, which is always nice after a long day's work.”

What is a strategy you use to stay productive and focused? 

“We all have different routines to assist in staying productive and focused, but some common grounds include early mornings with caffeine and taking communal breaks in order to discuss and make progress.”

Did you have to develop any habits that helped lead you to success? If so, what are they? 

“Yes. As a family, we needed to develop the habits of consistency, dedication, perseverance, communication, understanding, compassion, coffee in the mornings and sometimes nights, and not settling for less than what is desired.”

What was your first job and what did it teach you? 

“David's first job was working security at a local nightclub in his hometown. This job taught David the ins and outs of the security industry as well as the needs that were present but not yet resolved.”

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