Franchisee Spotlight: Joel Forbes of Signal 88

Joel Forbes has been at the helm of Dallas-Fort Worth’s thriving Signal 88 location for over a year now. The California native got his start in the security industry as a branch manager with Securitas, before making the transition to Signal 88.

With DFW’s rapid development, Signal 88 has found success serving multi-family living spaces, as well as patrolling construction projects like the newly built communities popping up all over the metro area.

Forbes is eager to grow the Signal 88 business along with the DFW community and the local franchisees second business, a security camera surveillance system concept.

What were you doing before partnering with Signal 88?

I am originally from Northern California and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Ppsychology from Vanguard University. I was working as a bartender and one of my regulars was athe vice president of Securitas. We got to be friendly and he thought I would be a good fit for management with the company, so I was hired on as a branch manager for them in Southern California. I worked in Southern California, where my wife is from, for seven years, but I wanted to move out of the area. There was an opening in the Dallas office so I transferred there a few years back.

After working for Securitas in Dallas for a few years, I was recruited to join the Signal 88 team in Dallas as president through my LinkedIn profile. The franchisee of the DFW location also owns a security camera surveillance company and is pretty hands off in the day-to-day operations of the business.

How did you learn about Signal 88, and what made you ultimately decide to commit?

Our franchisee’s daughter heads up our human resources department and she recruited me from Securitas, a direct competitor, through LinkedIn, but I was familiar with the concept. One of the Securitas vice presidents that I had worked with had actually left the company to open his own Signal 88. The business model provides a great quality of life and the franchise system allows you to operate with the support and structure of an established brand while still being able to make decisions about your business yourself.

What were your perceptions of franchising before starting the process?

I was vaguely aware of the basic structure of a franchise system since Signal 88 was a competitor in the DFW market.

Why is the Dallas, Texas the perfect market for your Signal 88 business?

There are a ton of multi-family homes and apartment complexes here that make up the bulk of our business, but the DFW area is also booming and there is construction as far as the eye can see. As the city develops quickly, many of these new communities being built need monitoring. Signal 88’s service allows builders to save the money of having a dedicated guard by hiring us to patrol projects in progress and new housing developments.

The franchise model also works very well for the security industry. We have a national partner to offer insight, structure and process, however we are able to provide local knowledge and take care of clients on a personal level.

What’s next for you and your business? Do you have any development/expansion plans?

I think we’d absolutely like to expand and eventually take over more territories in the area. The franchisee of this location also owns a camera security surveillance company so we can offer patrols and security systems. We serve the entire DFW metro area now and we’ve had success building relationships with construction companies and property management companies so that they hire us on to patrol all of their projects.

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