Bodyguard: a guide for pros
What customers ask, how to win the job, and what to put on your profile.
Offering bodyguard
You provide close personal protection for clients, planning routes, assessing risks and staying near the client during events and travel. Your value is disciplined planning, trained officers and a clear plan that the client understands.
What customers ask
- What is your plan for getting me in and out of this venue safely?
- Will your officers stay with me the whole time?
- Can you protect my family as well as me?
- Do you work with my own driver and staff?
- How do you assess the threat before the job starts?
How to win the job
- On the first call, ask for the client's threat history, the itinerary, the venues, the number of people to protect and the existing security, then confirm the scope in writing.
- Complete a written threat assessment before quoting the full detail, and share the findings with the client's approval.
- Write the route plan, the arrival and departure times and the backup routes, and brief the client and team before each movement.
- Confirm each officer's license, authorization and insurance in writing, and send the proof to the client before the assignment.
- Keep a secure record of the itinerary, and share it only with the people who need it for the assignment.
- Send a written debrief after each assignment with any incidents, changes to the plan and recommendations.
What to put on your profile
- List the types of protection you provide, such as event protection, travel or residential protection.
- Describe your planning method in plain steps, without giving details that could help a threat.
- State the licenses and insurance your company holds, and where they apply.
Follow-up that helps the customer
- Offer a review of the threat assessment at the end of each assignment or after any change in the client's risk.
- Suggest a site security review for the client's home or office.
- Recommend a debrief with the client's staff so the next assignment starts with clear roles.
Licenses and permits
Personal protection work is commonly licensed, and rules on the license, the registration and any authorization for weapons are set by each state or local licensing agency. Have the company license, every officer's license and the required insurance current before any assignment, and check the rules for each location.
Questions
Do I need a special license for close protection?
Often a security or protection license is required, and rules differ by state and local area. Check with your state or local licensing agency before you accept assignments.
What should I do if a client's threat is not credible?
Document your assessment in writing and explain the reasoning to the client. Do not take the assignment on a threat you cannot assess.
How do I handle a client who wants to travel abroad?
Confirm the rules for protection work in each country before you take the assignment, and check with the country's authorities and a licensed professional in that place.
About this guide
This national guide is written and checked by infinibell. Rules and conditions differ by place, so local pros are credited on guides for the cities they serve, not on national ones.
Edit history
- Oct 29, 2026: Drafted by infinibell to our content guidelines.
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