A commercial security firm founded in 2019 without venture capital, private equity backing, or a single dollar of advertising is now projecting annual revenue of $8 million to $10 million for 2027. Power Access Control, started by Mark Lehman in Atlanta, has built its business entirely on reputation and service delivery, according to the company's account of its growth.
Lehman left a secure position at an established security company out of frustration with what he described as delayed service calls, unreturned phone calls, and indifferent customer care. He argued that in commercial access control, a broken gate or failed entry system is not merely an inconvenience but a significant security vulnerability and an operational problem for a business.
The early years required Lehman to handle every part of the work himself, from morning site surveys to late-night wiring and troubleshooting in the Atlanta heat. The company also made an operational decision that many in the industry considered risky for a startup: it would spend nothing on advertising. Instead, Lehman relied on over-delivering on every contract and letting completed work generate referrals. "When you don't rely on ad money to feed your business, your work has to be flawless," Lehman said, adding that clients with critical issues were not placed on a two-week queue.
Power Access Control also chose to focus exclusively on the commercial sector, stepping away from residential work to concentrate on high-security, high-throughput infrastructure. That focus led to the launch of Atlanta Turnstiles, a specialized division handling turnstile security, optical speed gates, biometric access, and perimeter security integration.
The strategy matters for an industry where marketing budgets and paid sales funnels are common growth tools. Power Access Control's client list now includes Choate Construction, Tyler Perry Studios, Peachtree-DeKalb Airport (PDK), and Fortune-Johnson. Securing an active aviation operation such as PDK, along with high-profile media facilities and multi-building commercial installations, signals that reputation-based referrals can carry a security contractor into large-scale work. Additional information about the company is available at https://poweraccesscontrol.com.
For facility managers and general contractors in the Southeast, the company's trajectory illustrates how service reliability can function as a differentiator when selecting security vendors. For the broader commercial security sector, it offers a counterexample to the assumption that substantial ad spending is required to scale. Lehman framed the revenue target as validation of the philosophy he started with six years ago. "We proved that you don't need a slick advertising budget to build a multi-million dollar business," he said. "You just need to trust the process, treat every customer like your only customer, and never settle for anything less than excellence." As metro Atlanta's commercial landscape continues its rapid boom, Power Access Control presents itself as a case of organic, reputation-driven growth built on service standards and zero ad spend.
