Monthly Archives: August 2011

Yo!Ranter Interview with SafeMart CEO Brad Morehead

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Hi Brad, Thanks for doing this interview with us. Can you explain to us what your business is about?
SafeMart has been described as the Amazon, Zappos or eTrade of Home and Commercial Security.  Founded by a paramedic, SafeMart delivers professional-grade home security systems and commercial security solutions across the country with a focus on delighting customers at prices 30-70% less than the competition.

How did you come up with the idea for this business?
My partner Chris came up with the original idea for the business.  He saw that the internet was changing other industries, but home security remained the same.  That combined with proven wireless technologies for protecting property really made this an interesting opportunity for us to help customers protect what is most important to them with our award-winning service while also giving them the best value in the industry.

What makes SafeMart so different?

  • #1, we care about protecting the customer.  It seems so simple, but this really is a big deal.  From how we design the security systems to how we try to make it easy for our customers to reach us, we really want to make it the best experience in home security for our customers.  You can reach us in so many ways to make sure you are getting what you want…Twitter - @SafeMart, Facebook - SafeMart, Phone, or web.
  • We also use remote delivery and service technology better than any other company in the home security industry.  Our unique internet delivery model gives us a leg up on the competition so that we can protect what is most important to you faster, more efficiently and more effectively than any other company.
  • Our biggest challenge is getting customers to understand that they can install their own systems easily.  What’s interesting is how many of our customers are policemen, firemen and military.  They know how straightforward it is to install your own system and they appreciate doing it this way because they know the job will be done right.  Some of our customers even work for other security companies!  They come to us because they like our service and products for such a great value.

What is your marketing strategy?
It is primarily word-of-mouth.  We try to delight each and every customer so that they can’t help but tell their friends and neighbors about us.  SafeMart stands for Safe & Smart.  When you have our Safe & Smart security at prices that are well below the competition, you tend to tell people about it.  We really love how much our customers have helped propel our growth.  It helps keep our costs low, which saves them money in the long run too!

How do you use Social Media to promote your business?
Social media is a great tool to communicate with customers.  We primarily use it to keep in contact with our customers about new products, innovative ways to use the systems or new features in our service.  Blogs, Twitter and Facebook represent our primary channels of social media.

What qualities do you think are needed in an entrepreneur?
Another entrepreneur (Alex White of The Next Big Sound @shalek) uses the phrase “Relentlessly Resourceful” about successful entrepreneurs.  I like that phrase a lot.  You have to be tenacious, resourceful, resilient and tough.  Our team strives for perfection every time and we expect it of everyone around us.  That toughness and resourcefulness when things are challenging will help see you through.

We also talk about knowing that there is always a solution.  If there is a problem, there must be a solution.  It empowers us to look at things in new ways and to search for new products, services and strategies that will help our customers.

Do you believe entrepreneurship can be taught?
Absolutely entrepreneurship can be taught.  Just like at one point, some poor music teacher taught me piano and a coach taught me basketball.  I wasn’t ever going to play at Carnegie or Madison Square Garden, but they did teach me those skills at some point.  We may not be able to teach everyone enough that they become the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, but we can give them skills that allow them to fulfill their entrepreneurial potential to its greatest degree.  In the end, it’s the intersection of talent, education and decision-making/risk-taking that create entrepreneurs, not any one of those things alone.  It’s important to teach entrepreneurship.  Just like it’s important to teach piano, basketball, math and physics.  While there is only one, Stephen Hawking, MIchael Jordan or Steve Jobs, teaching these skills broadly helps all of us understand what it takes to succeed in those areas and it elevates the entire community.

What are your plans for the future?
We plan to continue to protect our customers.  We are finding new avenues for growth every day with customers that are literally demanding our service.  It’s very exciting to see.  It’s an extremely tough and competitive market, but we have some great new services that we are rolling out for our customers.  As I said before, we are relentlessly resourceful and focused on delighting our customers, so we’ll continue looking for new opportunities to serve them and protect them.

 

Brad Morehead is CEO of SafeMart (Bolster LLC Security) and a Licensed Home Security Professional and Do-It-Yourselfer that is passionate about technology and innovative products to secure families.  Learn more at: SafeMart(www.SafeMart.com)  Follow Brad: @BradMorehead to get more great tips.  Brad has worked in entrepreneurship, home improvement, investment banking, private equity and venture capital/angel investing.


Hey EJ and Airbnb, SafeMart Can Help

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It has been nearly impossible to avoid hearing about the unfortunate situation involving Airbnb and one of its customers–known as EJ through her blog posts.  EJ rented her home using Airbnb’s service and came home to find that the home had been vandalized and she had been robbed of valuables and irreplaceable personal items.

Situations like this get us worked up at SafeMart because this is something that can be prevented and is a major reason why we push LiveWatch Interactive Services and home automation–you should always know what is going on in your home!

In order to illustrate how helpful a system can be in preventing a situation like EJ’s, let’s assume that when you rent your home out, you want to:

  1. Store valuables in a particular room or closet;
  2. Only provide access to certain rooms;
  3. Change the locks after the tenant’s stay; and
  4. Maintain the ability to actually see your home during the rental period.

First, you’ll want to add a security system that uses cellular communication and that has interactive services.  This does 2 things:

  1. The system cannot be disabled by cutting the phone line (because it doesn’t use a phone line); and
  2. Gives you access to your system from anywhere in the world (see the iPhone app interface to the right).

To secure the room where you’re storing your valuables, a door contact that monitors the opening and closing of a door as well as a motion detector that monitors movement will do the trick. You can also monitor the container where you store your valuables by using a wireless door contact and setting your interactive services settings to alert you if the container is opened.

EJ’s biggest concern after the incident was that the keys might have been copied–naturally she was scared that the vandals might return.  Avoid making copies of keys altogether by installing a door handle that works with your security system that doesn’t require a key.  This gives you the ability to lock and unlock the door remotely and will also allow you to give the tenants a passcode rather than a key.  Using SafeMart’s LiveWatch Interactive Services you can delete the passcode remotely after the tenant has left and add a new passcode for the next tenant.

Lastly, if you want the ability to see the inside of your home while you’re renting it, add a wireless IP camera to the system.  Our cameras can be controlled remotely and don’t require a physical connection to the Internet in your home!

Anytime a customer purchases a system after they’ve been burglarized, we feel awful.  While we are always happy to help after the fact, it is even more exciting to prevent issues rather than react to them. If you have people coming into your home, please take the above precautions to make sure that even while you’re not there, you have control over your home.