SOCIAL ENGINEERING SECURITY TESTING BUSINESS PLAN
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I. Executive Summary
Company Description
SentinelHuman (name chosen to reflect human-centered defense) is an Austin, Texas-based firm launching in 2026 that provides managed security awareness and social engineering simulation services. We operate in the information security sector, focused on protecting employees—the most vulnerable asset—for small and medium-sized businesses in regulated industries. Our core offerings combine a proprietary technology platform for simulation and analytics with high-touch managed consulting from a team of expert security analysts. One-liner: enterprise-grade human security, tailored for SMB risk and compliance needs.
We sell recurring subscriptions that bundle software-as-a-service with ongoing managed services, delivering phishing campaigns, simulated voice and text attacks, role-based training, incident playbooks, and analytics dashboards. What sets us apart is our proprietary simulation engine plus a consultative delivery model that maps simulations to regulatory controls and remediation workflows. Target customers are SMBs in healthcare, finance, legal, and utilities. Short-term goals: achieve product-market fit and 150 customers with $1.2M ARR within 18 months. Long-term goals: expand nationally, add automated remediation, and reach $15M ARR by year five. One-liner: repeatable recurring revenue, measurable behavioral change, and regulated-market focus.
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Problem
Over 80 percent of data breaches in the United States involve a human element such as phishing, vishing, or smishing. Employees remain the most exploited entry point, and these social-engineering attacks routinely bypass technical controls like firewalls and email filters.
Small and medium-sized businesses, especially those in regulated industries, often lack dedicated security awareness teams and resources. The result: staff become a single point of failure, exposing organizations to catastrophic financial loss, reputational damage, regulatory penalties, and limited incident detection or response.
There is a critical market gap: existing security tools focus on technical controls and fail to turn employees into an active defensive layer. Based in Austin, Texas and launching in 2026, our managed security awareness and social-engineering simulation service (SaaS plus high-touch consulting) addresses this underserved need for enterprise-grade human security in the SMB market.
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Solution
Despite >80% of breaches stemming from human error and social engineering, training remains generic and infrequent, leaving SMBs in finance and healthcare exposed and noncompliant. Our approach closes the human gap with a single priority: continuous, managed social engineering simulations that create immediate, measurable behavior change. One clear outcome: fewer successful phishing, vishing, and smishing incidents.
We deliver a fully managed service that runs realistic phishing, vishing, and smishing campaigns, provides context-aware micro-training the moment an employee errs, and produces role-based analytics and prioritized hardening recommendations for IT and managers. One clear outcome: demonstrable evidence of effective training for regulators and insurers.
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to empower U.S. small and medium-sized businesses to eliminate human-centric security risks through realistic social-engineering simulations, real-time employee education, and actionable data analytics. We commit to transforming corporate culture from vulnerability to proactive defense by delivering measurable improvements in behavior, detection, and incident prevention. We prioritize customer outcomes, continuous innovation, and ethical responsibility to protect clients’ data, reputations, and bottom lines.
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Key Success Factors
Success depends on delivering realistic, measurable social-engineering simulations that reduce client risk and meet compliance needs.
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Proprietary simulation engine that creates highly realistic, multi-vector attack scenarios.
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Regulated-industry focus driving predictable demand and strong customer loyalty via compliance requirements.
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Managed service delivery that removes operational burden and increases client retention.
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Experienced leadership team led by a CEO with deep security roots ensuring technical credibility.
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Data-driven ROI reporting that makes the service a measurable, budgeted security expense.
Financial Summary
Concise financial snapshot: revenue ramps from $993,000 in 2026 to $3,355,000 in 2028 and reaches $7,904,000 by 2030.
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Ratio |
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
Projected Revenue |
$993,000 |
$2,129,000 |
$3,355,000 |
Projected EBITDA |
-$234,000 |
$358,000 |
$790,000 |
Expected ROI |
IRR 5.15% |
IRR 5.15% |
IRR 5.15% |
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Financial requirements: minimum cash reserve $357,000 (required Feb‑27); break-even reached Sep‑26; full investor payback in 34 months; projected IRR 5.15% and ROE 6.37% by 2030.
Outlook: the model achieves profitability in 2027 and scales to strong cash generation by 2030.
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Funding Requirements
We seek $750,000–$1,000,000 to fund $355,000 in capital expenditures, the first-year operating shortfall, marketing, core team salaries, and a $357,000 minimum cash cushion to reach break-even in September 2026.
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Categories |
Amount, USD |
Capital expenditures (total) |
355,000 |
Proprietary simulation engine (CapEx line) |
120,000 |
Secure Operations Center (CapEx line) |
45,000 |
Marketing (2026 annual budget) |
85,000 |
Core team salaries (annual for five roles) |
620,000 |
First-year operating deficit (EBITDA 2026) |
234,000 |
Working capital (minimum cash Feb-2027) |
357,000 |
Total funding required |
$750,000 to $1,000,000 |
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