Babylon Security How to build Brand & Trust in a Murky Industry

Rick from Babylon Securities shares how he's transforming the physical security industry through professionalism, transparency and a community-focused approach. We explore how a medical science graduate created a thriving security business that competes with established players by setting higher standards.

• Babylon Securities differentiates itself through transparency and professionalism in an industry that has historically been "murky"
• The company's origin story began with Rick's frustration with his previous boss, despite having no security background
• Physical penetration testing reveals alarming vulnerabilities in building security – "a high-vis vest and clipboard can get you anywhere"
• Real-world example of a thief stealing nearly 100 laptops from a law firm by appearing to be authorized staff
• Rick's entrepreneurial advice: "Let your work speak for itself" rather than relying solely on marketing
• Community engagement is central to their business philosophy, including sponsoring staff members' outside interests
• Their security philosophy centers on ensuring "your fun doesn't impede someone else's fun"
• Annual custom hoodie designs created by staff members serve dual purposes of team engagement and marketing

Thank you for listening to the Provo Playbook by Qubit Promote. Stay tuned for future episodes.

Find out more and visit our website: https://www.cubicpromote.com.au/

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the next episode of the Provo Playbook by
Qubit Promote.
Today on our podcast we haveRick from Babylon Securities.
Rick, thank you for joining me.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Thank you, charles.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Obviously, we're joining youfrom the Australian Gaming
Exhibition, so I'm having agreat time.
How did you find the show?
So far, so good?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
I've managed to get a lot of free stuff, grabbed, a
lot of coffees grabbed a Freestuff, grabbed a lot of coffees,
grabbed a lot of pens, so I hada great time Brilliant stuff.
Rick, would you mind sharingwith the audience out there a
bit about your company, what youdo at Babylon Securities and
your role there?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, I'm the director and co-founder of
Babylon Security.
We're a physical securityprovider.
We provide the muscle and thegood looks.
We hope for a lot of pubs andclubs around the city.
We also do things like events,whether they be sporting or
music events and stuff like that.
We do a bit of bodyguarding aswell, so we have a lot of
interesting-.
We're going to need a bit ofthat.

(00:51):
Of course, we're ready to go.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
That's why I'm here.
Love it, love it.
So what makes BabylonSecurities different from the
rest of the other securityagencies out there?

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Babylon Security.
Most of our other competitorsis that for a long time,
security as an industry has beenvery murky.
It's been Imagine Sydney,australia, especially.
We're pretty notorious for it.
So we've had a lot of theselong-established companies who
have done security in a very,we'll say, old-fashioned way,

(01:19):
and what we try and do is wewant to try and make it
completely different.
So we want to try and be verytransparent, very honest, and we
try and do is we want to tryand make it completely different
.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
So we want to try and be very transparent, very
honest, and we're trying to dothings with a high level of
professionalism and pride inwhat we do as well, so over the
couple of years, can you sharewith us your early days, how you
first started out and what aresome of the changes that you've
seen over the past couple ofyears?

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, it's funny the story of how we started out.
It's not a very noble story.
We started entirely because Ireally hated my boss and I was
very upset that was kind ofpicking on me.
So I thought me personally.
I actually grew up, I studiedmedical science at university,
so I didn't have a securitybackground, but I just thought
that as a security guard myself,I could understand and try and,

(02:00):
you know, do things a bitdifferently, and so we were very
lucky in the beginning.
We managed to grow veryexponentially and we've seen a
lot of changes in the industrysince then.
We have, I think, had a bit ofan impact on the industry
because I think we bring a bitmore sort of energy and, I guess
, youth and more like modernapproach to security as a whole.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Well, from what I could gather from you is that
you bring in a lot ofprofessionalism.
So, for the audience out there,babylon Securities is one of
our clients and there is adifference between working with
we have different clients andwith Babylon Securities.
I can attest that they'reincredibly professional, very
precise on what they want, whatthey need, and it's a breath of
fresh air.

(02:38):
So I do know for a fact thatyou bring professionalism to
your day.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, we do.
Look.
Professionalism for us is ahuge part of what we do.
Security a lot of the stuff wedo is high risk.
So if we don't got our I's andcross our T's, we're going to be
in a lot of trouble, whetherthat be just in terms of the
risks we might put ourselves upagainst or whether it just be
compliance issues.
So we try and mitigate all thatby holding ourselves to an

(03:03):
extremely high level ofprofessional reflects in our
work and then, down the line, itreflects into our clients and
our ability to get more clients.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
It's interesting you should use the word risk,
because I know nothing about thesecurity industry before I met
yourself.
For the audience out there,what would be the top three
riskiest things, whether it be amental risk or physical risk or
compliance risk?
What are the top three risks inyour industry?
We've got plenty of risks, so Ican sit here all day and talk
to you about risks Coming fromour industry.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
We do kind of understand risks that most
businesses aren't aware of.
Right Like, we do a servicecalled a penetration test, so
similar to say how a hackerwould be able to break into
someone's cybersecurity.
We do it with physical and it'sincredibly easy.
You know, it's crazy to thinkwhat a hive is best and a
clipboard it can get youwherever you want, really.

(03:56):
Yeah, so it's a lot of timesthere's other risks involved in
terms of, like, the actual sortof safety of your patrons and
your venue and your colleaguesand your workers.
All that sort of stuff is stuffthat we have to think about
every day.
So some might call us paranoid,but we like to say we like to
just, you know, risk mitigate,you know.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
That brings me up a story that I remember from a
couple of years ago.
There was a person with aclipboard they may or may not
have a high-vis vest, that I donot know but they went into the
10th floor of a commercialbuilding and on this floor there
was a law firm, and this lawfirm would have rows and rows of
lawyers and rows and rows oflaptops.
And this person went thereafter hours and there was staff

(04:35):
present at the time as well andthey went table by table
cleaning up laptops and no onebatted an eye Exactly they
thought they were staff.
And at the end of the day.
The next morning the staff cameback in and they were all
yelling out where's the laptop?
Walk on, nick.
I believe the damage was almost100 laptops.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, and I 100% see that happening.
Keep an eye on everything.
Make sure everything runssmoothly.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
What's some of the advice that you would give to
other entrepreneurs or businessowners starting out today,
especially considering thecurrent climate, because I
believe you started a touchafter COVID, which is obviously
a very challenging time.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Yeah, look, we did start just after COVID.
It was quite challenging interms of picking up work.
There was a lot of securitycompanies that were all hungry,
that throughout the part youknow, all of covid had been, you
know, struggling, and as soonas covid ended they all were
kind of clawing at each otherfor work.
But I guess it's it's it's moreabout you know, let your work
speak for itself.

(05:30):
It's really easy for you tomarket and sell and try and
pitch your ideas to whoever youlike, but unless your work isn't
a positive reflection of whoyou are as a business, you're
not going to grow.
For our business ourselves, wethink that because we had
ourselves to such a high levelso early, it meant that we

(05:50):
managed to compete with thebigger companies very quickly.
Focus on doing your workproperly and the work will come.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
Amazing.
I cannot help but agree withthat.
All right, let's talk aboutbranded merchandise.
A superhero power, and you wereto give a security gadget
branded with your logo to allyour staff and crew, or not just
for your staff, maybe for yourentire industry.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
What would it be?
Superhero comics.
I love talking aboutsuperheroes and I always think
my favorite superhero is.
So if it was up to mepersonally, I think having a
Batmobile would be fantastic.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Are there any memorable or unexpected security
situations that you've neverfound yourself on your team
inside that you share with theaudience?

Speaker 2 (06:32):
Well, there's millions that I can think of A
lot of them 18 plus that you'dfind unbelievable.
But a lot of times it's themore positive stories that we
think stick with us better,helping a lost child find their
parents it's always stuff that'sreally positive for us.
But for us the big thing isthat I think my favorite part
about our company is that welike to sort of give back to our

(06:55):
community and, whether that bewhere we encourage our own staff
and employees, if they have anysort of interests or they play
a sport outside of the company,we'll sponsor them, we'll help
them out.
Best memories usually come fromthese things outside of
security, where we join them inthings they enjoy doing and
we're part of that and helpingsupport that.
So it's really engaging in thecommunity, and then that's where

(07:16):
the few good stories come in,for personally and for your
business, don't get me wrongwe're all capitalists but at the
end of the day we are lucky tohave grown to the extent we've
grown in such a short time andwe think a lot of that is due to
the community we've builtaround us.
Not obliged, but we feel likeit's a privilege for us that
we're able now to support thatcommunity that helped us get to

(07:37):
where we are.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
But there's a lot of synergies because you're in the
business of keeping people safe.
At the end of the day, you'repaid for it by certain venues,
but the venue wants people to besafe, exactly.
You're exactly in the rightbusiness.
Yeah, and helping the communityis helping the business in a
way.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
I mean we were saying before about how security has a
bad name.
Oh, I guess culture.
We realize that a lot of timesat the places we work at, people
are there to have fun.
We're just there to make sureeveryone, so your fun, doesn't
impede someone else's fun.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Love that phrase.
Your fun does not impede onsomeone else's.
Yes, exactly, we have to quotethat.
So thank you for being acustomer of cubic.
Really, exactly, did you sharewith the audience out there the
type of merch that you purchased, then share how you've utilized
it with be a team or maybe aclient, and what, what
differences make for you?

Speaker 2 (08:27):
yeah, so actually, we do get a lot of merch in terms
of uniforms.
We do have a lot of staff and alot of different venues have
different uniforms, so we dopick up a lot of my merch there.
We also like to get extra stuffhere and there just to keep our
guards happy in terms of likebeanies, gloves, hoodies, all
that sort of stuff, but the onewe're really excited about is
what I'm wearing today.
Actually, it's our 2025 wintercollection Babylon hoodie.

(08:50):
Every year, we try and do a newhoodie design, so our guards
help us design the hoodie.
Oh nice, yeah.
And then whichever design weall agree is the best one.
That's the one for the year.
So, and then whichever designwe all agree is the best one,
that's the one for the year.
So, is this designed from youor from when they did it?
No, yeah, it's one of the teamthey designed this.
Wow, and that's this year'sdesign.
So we've given out alreadyabout 100.

(09:11):
So we're going to need actuallya new order.
It's incredible.

Speaker 1 (09:14):
So you've engaged your team and part of your
marketing campaign.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
Exactly so traditional security design, but
it's a design that these boyslike to wear everywhere.
It's fun, it's exciting, itkeeps them engaged, keeps them
happy.
It's also good marketing for uslong-term.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
That's also amazing.
Well, thank you for your time.
Thanks, Charles.
Thank you for those out therelistening to the Promo Playbook
by Ghibli Promote.
Stay tuned for the next andfuture episodes.