In an industry where competitors often spend heavily on marketing and paid sales funnels, Mark Lehman built Power Access Control into a projected $8 million to $10 million annual revenue business without spending a single dollar on advertising. The company's trajectory, from a one-man operation founded in 2019 to a commercial security firm serving major Atlanta institutions, demonstrates that reputation and service quality can be powerful growth drivers, especially in sectors where reliability is critical.
Lehman left a secure job at an established security company out of frustration with what he saw as chronic industry shortcomings: delayed service calls, unreturned phone calls, and indifferent customer care. He recognized that in commercial access control, a broken gate or failed entry system is not merely an inconvenience but a significant security vulnerability and operational disruption for businesses. Armed with technical expertise and a refusal to compromise on quality, he set out to build a company that prioritized responsiveness and ownership.
The early years were defined by grit and long hours, with Lehman handling everything from site surveys to late-night wiring and troubleshooting in the Atlanta heat. While competitors invested thousands in paid advertising, he made a deliberate decision that many considered reckless for a startup: Power Access Control would spend zero dollars on advertising. Instead, he staked the business on over-delivering on every contract and letting the work speak for itself. "When you don't rely on ad money to feed your business, your work has to be flawless," Lehman says. "Every project had to be our best billboard."
Lehman also made a strategic pivot to focus exclusively on the commercial sector, stepping away from residential work to concentrate on high-security, high-throughput infrastructure. This specialization led to the launch of Atlanta Turnstiles, a division dedicated to complex turnstile security, optical speed gates, biometric access, and perimeter security integration. Word of the company's uncompromising standards spread through Atlanta's general contracting and facility management circles, and soon commercial giants came calling.
Today, Power Access Control's client portfolio includes Choate Construction, Tyler Perry Studios, Peachtree-DeKalb Airport (PDK), and Fortune-Johnson. These accounts underscore the company's ability to handle high-profile, high-security environments, from media studios to active aviation operations. The firm's growth has been entirely organic, driven by referrals and repeat business rather than paid acquisition.
As Power Access Control gears up for 2027, the projected $8 million to $10 million in annual revenue serves as validation of Lehman's core philosophy. "We proved that you don't need a slick advertising budget to build a multi-million dollar business," he says. "You just need to trust the process, treat every customer like your only customer, and never settle for anything less than excellence." The company's story is a case study in how reputation-driven growth can outperform paid marketing in industries where trust and reliability are paramount. For more information, visit https://poweraccesscontrol.com.
