Ron Lovett, Founder of Source Security (Halifax): Halifax Businessman Wins Olympic Entrepreneurial Gold
On February 12, when the Olympic Torch was lit and opening ceremonies were on their way, over one hundred Source Security protectors radiated across Surrey’s Holland Park, an Olympic Celebration site housing a 25,000 square foot entertainment tent and an Outdoor Concert Stage. The Halifax security company guaranteed protection to the tens of thousands of visitors, cultural performers, RCMP musical riders and big name musicians for the duration of the International Games.
Source Security and Vancouver Olympics
This was not Source’s first intimate connection with the Vancouver Olympics, as a band of mindful mediators and beefy brawn followed the entire Canadian lag of the Torch Relay, providing safety in caravan style. The success of winning the Surrey Celebration site contract came out of the company’s bid to supply security for the entire Olympic and Paralympic Games, a $122 million contract. Source Security’s proposal was purely strategic. “We always have punched high above the belt,” says Ron Lovett, founder, owner and president of the security company. He is very pleased they won the Surrey venue as their British Columbian offices had only been in the province for one year. “It shows that we have built a brand so quickly [out here],” he says.
Lovett’s Entrepreneurial Beginnings
So who is this man behind the ever-growing company now having offices in all four Atlantic provinces, BC and soon to be Ontario and Quebec? Like Bill Gates, Walt Disney and the gifted Google creators, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Ron Lovett started his company in his early twenties. After high school, like most grads, he was initially pressured by society, guidance councillors and public bus advertisements to attend university. He realized true education comes from experience, thus leaving undergrad life and embarking on a world-wide soul-searching voyage. From Thailand to Morocco, Australia to South Africa and travel through various European and South American countries, he had the chance to observe and learn from security companies that outsourced bodyguards to nightclubs and bars. He realized this was an open niche area for him to enter once he got back to his hometown of Halifax.
His entrepreneurial spirit was reawakened. He tapped into the past where he was a newspaper boy for three routes at a time and operated his own haircutting business in his mother’s attic for $5 a cut. At the age of 16, he decided one day he wanted to work for himself. “I had three goals: I wanted to own a business, own real estate and have investments.”
What it Takes to be a Successful Businessperson
His youthful dreams are now a reality; besides Source Security, he owns real estate, IT and construction companies. His curriculum vitae also includes being decorated with several prestigious entrepreneurial awards and he is now a member of the International Young Presidents Organization.
His successes have not come easy, however. He says that risk taking, when starting and operating a business, is not optional. “If you’re not up for risks, you may as well get a regular job,” he adds. It has taken a lot of sacrifice. When he first started, he would often work at a Halifax nightclub until five in the morning, sleep a couple of hours, and then wake up again to perform operational duties.
Source Security’s Growth and Connection to the Community
Now that Source Security has exploded exponentially from three employees to its present day 1,500, and providing security at KISS and Paul McCartney concerts, not to mention personal service to Bill Clinton and Tiger Woods, the company is thriving. But Lovett still remains connected to birthplace Halifax. Source Security has donated funds to several organizations in the community including local hospitals, the Micmac Friendship Centre, local sports teams and the Big Buddy Program. Lovett himself volunteers as a Big Brother to children in Spryfield and is also a foster parent.
When asked where he sees himself in the next five to ten years, Lovett replies: “My goal is for [Source Security] to be the top national security company and to have offices all across the country.” In Lovett’s world, dreams are not made of pipe. It’s just a question of by what month in 2015 will Source Security span the entire nation?