Starting your own 24 hour locksmith business and ideas to consider.
With the relevance and history of locksmithing in our society, and the uniqueness of the craft, locksmiths, at least to the public never seem to go our of business. It is not just rising crime rates that keep a locksmith with food on the table, but the need for people to feel safe while in their homes.
If you are thinking about starting your own locksmith business, here are some key points and ideas that
Emergency locksmith feel you should consider.
Mobile or shop - based. Mobile locksmiths normally work from a van, and the mobile phone becomes their best friend. The advantages here is that the overheads consist of a van, and related costs, such as petrol and insurance. The disadvantage is that as you are not in the high street, so marketing your business becomes harder. Also, the range of services is somewhat limited, as key cutting and selling products becomes almost impossible.
Shop - based however, brings with it more exposure, and a potential to offer more related services such as key cutting and sell security related products. This market is expanding too, so CCTV systems and security lights, could be profitable items to sell in a shop. The disadvantage to a shop owned locksmith business, is that the overheads are far higher. Not only do you need a vehicle like your mobile locksmith cousin, but you also have the cost of the shop. Rates, electricity all come to play their part in your expenses.
Other factors may determine this choice for you, such as finance, and family commitments. Shops cost money, and you may not have the money to hand to start a business, and you are may struggle in today’s climate to secure credit. The only option is a Mobile business.
Perhaps you need a family home, and the shop has a three bedroom flat on top of it, making it an ideal family structure as well as a business one. Time to open the shop.
Working out a bottom line income, which is how much you need to earn to pay all the bills is key to any business venture, and this is how you should begin. Once you know this, you are in a better position to make a choice.
However you choose to establish yourself as a locksmith, remember you can switch from one format to another if you find one is hard going.
Training. It goes without saying that you need to ensure your training is up to speed. Like many professions, a locksmith never stops learning, and it is not unheard of for a locksmith to own a £500 tool that picks one lock. If you can become a Master Locksmith, then not only have you earned your stripes, but you have a very good selling point to customers as well.
Marketing. All businesses need marketing, whether they are shop based or otherwise. Locksmithing, tends to lean towards traditional marketing such as word of mouth, and traditional forms such as the Yellow pages, newspaper ads, and cards in shop windows. With the information age, the internet maybe an avenue for you to explore, lets face it you’re reading this right now and mobile web technology is established. Whose to say that the next time someone finds themselves locked out of their house, they don’t use their phone to look on the net to find a locksmith?
The key to all businesses is to find the USP, or unique selling point, and emphasise it to promote your services. Finding your USP as a locksmith may just be an extensive range of services, though if you can offer a USP that other locksmiths cannot, then this could give you an advantage in the market place.
Always ensure you have plenty of stationary like business cards. We maybe in the information age but a number written down in front of a person is worth a thousand web searches.
Being professional. Once your business is up and running then you have to be professional, no matter how bad the hangover. You have to be prepared to work and work hard, even if you don’t feel like it. Should you let a customer down and they go elsewhere, then the chances are they will return to the locksmith that was at their house when they were locked out. This locksmith is now making a sale on fitting new locks. This work could have been yours, had you bothered to show up.
Consulting. With an impressive knowledge of locks, you are in a good position to give advice. Whether you market your knowledge in this way is up to you, but sooner or later someone is going to ask your opinion whereby they are going to tap your professional knowledge. Why not market this knowledge as a consultant? You will have to tread carefully here, as an old lady who asks which lock should be fitted to my front door is not going to want a £300 bill to turn up for you speaking a sentence, and this would not be a nice thing to do either, but the warehouse owner who wants to know how to secure his warehouse, well that is another story. This naturally leads to other areas of home security and related consultancy. Why not expand it?
Locksmithing is a rewarding career, with possibilities to expand, and yet it still has the scope to be a steady source of income if you want to stick with traditional locksmith services.
If you decide to start your own
locksmith London business, good luck!