KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** Things you ought to know about your alarm business / sign up for Group and Private meetings in Vegas March 6, 2024 ********************************* Private and Group meeting schedule now available ********************************* Private Meetings: Schedule a Private Meeting with Ken Kirschenbaum or with Rory Russell of AFS by calling Stacy Spector at 516 987 8428. Register for a Group Meeting by calling Stacy Spector at 516 987 8428
Group Meetings: Tuesday April 9. Group Meeting: 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm – Monetize on your monitoring accounts; new incentive program; learn how to get unheard of incentives from your central station or move to another one. Group meeting conducted by Ken Kirschenbaum.
Wednesday April 10. Group Meeting: 11:00 am to 12:00 pm - Selling and buying alarm accounts; Things to know. Group conducted by Ken Kirschenbaum.
Wednesday April 10. Group Meeting: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm – State sales tax and complex company valuation. Group meeting conducted by Mitch Reitman of Reitman Consulting Group.
Wednesday April 10. Group Meeting: 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm – Central station – dealer relationship; contract issues; understanding the dealer agreement terms and why you need the K&K Rider. Group meeting conducted by Ken Kirschenbaum.
Thursday April 11. Group Meeting: 10:00 am to 11:00 am - Insurance for your alarm business – best options; availability, pricing and claims. Group meeting conducted by Shawn Iverson of The Insurance Center.
Thursday April 11. Group Meeting: 11:00 am to 12:00 pm – Contracts – which ones you need and why you need them. Group meeting conducted by Ken Kirschenbaum.
Thursday April 11. Group Meeting: from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm - The Corporate Transparency Act. Group meeting conducted by Mitch Reitman of Reitman Consulting Group.
Private Meetings with Rory Russell of AFS: Schedule a private meeting with Rory Russell of Acquisition and Funding Services (AFS) to discuss buying or selling security, fire and integration business. Available times to meet with Rory Russell are as follows: Wednesday April 10 and Thursday April 11 between 7:30 am and 11:00 am and 12:30 pm and 4:00 pm. Contact Stacy Spector to schedule a private meeting with Rory. Call 516 987 8428 ALL TIMES ARE PACIFIC STANDARD TIME. Contact Stacy Spector, Esq. for all scheduling at Sspector@kirschenbaumesq.com or 516-987-8428. ************************** Things you ought to know about your alarm business ************************** It’s surprising how many alarm dealers simply do not have a handle on their business; they can’t answer what I think would be information that they should have at the tip of their fingers at any given time. While you certainly don’t need to know every detail or know your financial information in precise detail, you should have a pretty good idea. It strikes me odd when some says, “I have to ask my accountant”. Funny thing is that most who say that probably don’t even have a regular accountant. You should conduct your business, from start to finish, as if you’re planning to sell. You should be maximizing the equity in the business, and in the alarm business that is typically done by increasing your RMR. RMR is recurring monthly revenue, and it’s derived by charging for your “after install” services. Those services can include, and often do include, monitoring, repair service plans and inspection plans. Per Call service and per call inspection may generate better cash flow when you look at a single account, but overall charging all or most subscribers RMR rather than per call will generate the same or more, and it will be more reliable and steady. For example. You have a fire alarm inspection subscriber who you perform an annual inspection [or semi or quarterly] and get $1200 a year. It’s a per call relationship for the inspection service. When you sell that customer’s inspection contract will be excluded from the sale purchase price because it’s not contracted RMR. Take the same account, but this time charge RMR of $100; that’s $100 per month. It’s a term contract with automatic renewal. That contract is worth $3000 or more when you sell the accounts. Alarm [and by that I mean all security systems: cameras, audio, intrusion, fire, environmental, medical alert, PERS and access control] are still valued and sold based on the RMR model; that is, a multiple of the RMR. RMR is generally determined by calculating the gross amount billed to the subscriber and then deducting sale tax and third party monitoring charges. Often the central station basic charge is not deducted; depends on your negotiations. Practical questions about your business you should know As you may have noticed K&K is active in the industry’s merger and acquisition market. We will “broker” a deal if we are the attorneys for one of the parties, seller or buyer. A current list of seller’s we are assisting are listed in The Alarm Exchange in the Merger and Acquisition category. Recently a seller engaged K&K and in order to properly list it on The Alarm Exchange I asked a few questions that any potential buyer of accounts would want to know. I thought I’d share them, because these are the questions you should be able to answer without too much effort; a sign you’re on top of your business. * number of accounts * % residential * % commercial security * % commercial fire * RMR for inspection or service * RMR for monitoring * what cs you go to * how much you pay cs each month [average for all accounts] * number of techs you have * are employees under Employment Contract * where are most of the accounts concentrated * what equipment do you usually use * panels? * software you use? * contracts? If you have a good idea what the answer is to these issues you know your company well. Now all you need to do is keep an eye on what direction the account base and RMR takes, up or down. For quick valuation of your alarm accounts go to https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth To increase the value of your accounts be sure to use K&K Standard Form Agreements and keep them updated: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-contract ************************* STANDARD FORMS Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
