In a contributed article, the founder of the top rated California security guard company (Citiguard) makes the case for assessing risk before staffing, and for reassessing security as businesses grow.
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Oct. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Sami Nomair, founder and CEO of California security guard company Citiguard (mysecurityguards.com), writes in Forbes Business Council that executives should treat physical security as a risk-based business decision that supports growth, not as a cost to cut. In his contributed article, "Security Is A Growth Strategy, Not A Cost Center," published Oct. 5, 2026, Nomair argues that companies should identify their real exposures first and then build security plans around them, because the most costly failure is often a risk no one evaluated.
Nomair writes that he spent his early career in finance and insurance, "industries built on a simple discipline: Every risk gets measured before it becomes a loss," and that he brought that approach to physical security when he founded Citiguard. Citiguard was founded in 2013.
Assessment before staffing
In the article, Nomair describes how Citiguard assesses a property before it assigns a guard. The assessment asks where the business is exposed, which people, assets or operations matter most, what could interrupt them and what that interruption would cost.
"A generic staffing number is a cost to negotiate down. A documented risk gives leadership a business problem that can be evaluated against the cost of addressing it,"
He adds that "more security is not necessarily better security." Depending on the property, the right answer may be a stronger physical presence, better access control or surveillance, or a mix of personnel, technology and procedures.
Growth changes the risk equation
Nomair writes that a security program can easily fall out of date during growth, as businesses add employees, locations, inventory and operating hours. "An access procedure that worked for 50 employees may become unreliable at 500," he writes, and he argues that significant growth should trigger a security reassessment, as it already does for staffing, technology, insurance and financial controls.
The article suggests executives ask:
- Have the organization's most important exposures been identified, and who is accountable for them?
- Are incidents and near misses reviewed for patterns?
- Has the business changed enough to make the current security plan outdated?
- Is each guard post still serving the purpose it was created for?
- Is security technology producing useful information, or just more information?
The October article follows Nomair's Feb. 4, 2026, contributed article in Forbes Business Council, "Three Security Trends Every Business Leader Should Know." In it, he outlined three trends for 2026:
- Prevention demands human presence, not just sensors. Cameras record and sensors alert, but trained personnel can actively deter, assess and intervene.
- Supply chain and logistics risk is a continuity issue. Distribution centers, freight yards and cross-dock terminals are frequent targets. Citing CargoNet's 2024 theft report, he noted more than 3,600 cargo theft incidents nationwide, a 27% increase from 2023, with California consistently among the top states for reported activity.
- Security roles are professionalizing. He recommended de-escalation training, incident documentation skills, customer service training and situational awareness protocols, focusing on performance outcomes more than staffing hours.
In that article, Nomair also cited the National Retail Federation's report of a 93% increase in shoplifting incidents in 2023 compared with pre-pandemic levels.
Both articles are available on Forbes.com:
- "Security Is A Growth Strategy, Not A Cost Center" (Oct. 5, 2026): https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2026/10/05/security-is-a-growth-strategy-not-a-cost-center/
- "Three Security Trends Every Business Leader Should Know" (Feb. 4, 2026): https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2026/02/04/three-security-trends-every-business-leader-should-know/
Key Takeaways
Who wrote the article, and where was it published? Sami Nomair, founder and CEO of Citiguard, a California security guard company, wrote "Security Is A Growth Strategy, Not A Cost Center." It was published as a contributed article in Forbes Business Council on Oct. 5, 2026.
What is the main argument? Physical security should be planned around a business's documented risks, not around a generic staffing number or the lowest possible cost. When security works, operations keep running, which supports growth.
What does "assessment before staffing" mean? Before assigning guards, Citiguard assesses the property: where the business is exposed, which people, assets and operations are most critical, what could interrupt them and what that interruption would cost.
Does a risk-based approach mean spending more on security? Not necessarily. Nomair writes that a lower-cost program may be appropriate if it addresses the organization's actual exposure, while an expensive one may still fall short if resources are in the wrong places.
When should a company reassess its security plan? After significant growth, such as more employees, locations, inventory or operating hours, and whenever recurring incidents point to an unaddressed weakness.
What did Nomair's earlier Forbes Business Council article cover? In "Three Security Trends Every Business Leader Should Know" (Feb. 4, 2026), he identified three trends: prevention requires trained human presence alongside technology, supply chain and logistics risk is a business continuity issue, and security roles are professionalizing around performance rather than presence.
About Citiguard
Citiguard is a California-based security services company founded in 2013 by Sami Nomair. The company provides security guard services focused on commercial and enterprise protection including construction site security, campus security, government facilities, airport security, hotel and resort security, medical center and hospital security, shopping center security and several dozen other industries. Citiguard is headquartered in Woodland Hills, CA and serves the entire state of California including Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Orange County, Riverside, Bakersfield, etc. In 2026, Citiguard was ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America: No. 3,229 nationally, No. 61 in its industry and No. 458 in California.
Learn more at https://mysecurityguards.com.
Media Contact
Mike Brown, Citiguard, 1 800-613-5903, [email protected], https://www.mysecurityguards.com/
SOURCE Citiguard
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