Saturday, January 10, 2009

Locksmith Mesa - Starting a Mobile Locksmith Business (part 1)

Locksmith Mesa. We have 3 parts of this article. This is the 1st part. Part 2 and 3 will be continuing in the next posts. This article was written by George Robertson. Lets get started...

One of the best decisions I ever made in my 62 years of life on this planet was to become my own boss in a field that is never dull, always challenging, and intrinsically interesting. It was not an early decision. In fact it did not occur to me to enter this field until after I'd already spent ten years as a professional photographer. It came about in an odd way, as many serendipitous things do. But regardless of how it came to be, I consider that decision the one that paved the way for me to spend the rest of my working life in comfort and with a good measure of security.

I've since discovered that many people follow a similar course, turning to locksmithing only after finding themselves unhappy in other jobs. I'm not sure how or why so many discover this particular business when looking for an interesting career. In my case it was a natural progression from a rather unique part-time career I had fashioned for myself: That of installing simple door viewers and doing this door to door. Many times my customers would ask if I could install deadbolts for them while I was at it, and after turning down money a dozen or so times I finally got wise and visited a local locksmith supplier who sold me an install kit and a book of instructions. From what I can tell, others come across this idea by doing Internet searches for home businesses, because ultimately this qualifies as such if you, like I do, run it out of your home and structure it as a Sole Proprietorship. In any case, it is obvious that locksmithing has become a popular choice for a chance at self-employment.

After tiring of door to door selling (which didn't take long to do) I hit upon the idea of cold calling. I was still thinking too small, but at the time I didn't know it. Lesson Number One: Don't do this. I was doing it back in 1981 or so when the stigma attached to such endeavors wasn't quite so strong. I'm afraid that calling people out of the phone book and asking if they'd like to have deadbolts installed just would not fly in the present era of terrorism and business rip-offs.

Still, I owe to this period of hard knocks a good deal. I became efficient at installing locks, rekeying locks, and duplicating keys. It was during this one year period that I scrounged together enough money to purchase a small key duplicator and also a lock rekeying kit. I carried these items in the trunk of my car and carried them into my customer's home when needed. I also purchased several boxes of the most common domestic key blanks and by the time I'd accumulated all this stuff my car's trunk was crammed and I was wishing for more room. Also, and most important, I came to realize that driving around in an unmarked car and working out of the trunk was not lending itself well to my credibility.

Lesson Number Two: Start out with credibility. Purchase a small work van, or a large one if you can afford it. Buy signs or have signs painted on it. Use whatever lending power you have, may it be with banks or with family, to locate a used vehicle and have signage made up, even if this is in the form of magnetic signs. Of course all this suggests you start out as a legitimate business, and this is just my point. Create a name for your business (think long and hard about this, as you'll lose any credibility you might initially gain if you keep changing it), have signs and forms and letterheads made up, and dive in.

There is, too, the question of legality. This is a hard subject to field, because the legality of doing business from one jurisdiction to another can differ widely, and even wildly. It is incumbent upon you to do the research and determine whether or not your jurisdiction requires a locksmith be certified, bonded, and/or licensed. You'll almost certainly discover that licensing is the fundamental hurdle, and that is usually taken care of with the signing of a few forms and the payment of a small annual fee. Certification is something else. Not all jurisdictions require this. In my case I found that the state in which I was then living -- Utah -- did not require it. Nor was I required to be bonded, though I chose to do so for the added protection (it is widely and incorrectly thought that bonding protects the locksmith's customer, whereas in fact it is the locksmith that is protected by the bond).

This is the end of part 1. Next lessons will be continue in next post on Locksmith Mesa : Starting a Mobile Locksmith Business (part 2)

1 comment:

  1. Nice post. A business plan is an essential tool if you want to get the right kind of funding for your locksmith business.

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