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Being a locksmith can be a rewarding and lucrative career choice. As a locksmith, you get the chance to solve problems and ultimately help people regarding their lock related needs and issues. If you are thinking about becoming a locksmith, then this article is designed to help cover some of the main points to consider.
The locksmith profession is not well regulated. That makes it easier to enter than other professions, but means it is often an over-saturated market with a seemingly endless supply of people entering the profession that call themselves locksmiths with sometimes a very limited knowledge and experience. So, before coming a locksmith, do your due diligence in your area and see how many people and organisations are advertising for locksmith work. The more there are, the harder it will be to win business, the more you will have to spend on marketing and the less you can charge in order to try to win business.
It is possible to earn decent money, but for this you need to be busy. Each job can have a high profit margin although there is usually a relatively low transaction fee. Unlike other jobs, it is not normally a repeat business if you do your job well and it is often a very reactive job (meaning you are waiting for someone to have an issue).
There are a number of ways to become a locksmith and each one has its own advantages and disadvantages:
Learning from an experienced locksmith is the best way to learn the trade and to give you the exposure and experience without the hassle of having to find work. This also requires no investment from you as your employer will provide everything you need.
However, this is the least lucrative route and should be viewed as a long-term plan. You also might have no choice but to work unsociable hours and sometimes for customers that may not ideally want to work for.
There are a few well-known franchises where you can effectively buy into an established brand with a proven operating process. The franchisor will help with your training and ongoing support. This can be viewed as the quickest route to market, but it is the most expensive option and there are often restrictions on where you can operate and what you can offer. It may also be possible that someone else has already taken out a franchise in your area giving them exclusive use of that brand in that area – so it may not be an option.
Setting up as a sole trader or a Limited company is far cheaper than buying into a franchise. But then you are completely responsible for everything with a seemingly endless list of things to do. For example, you have to organise your training and ongoing development, create a name, branding, work out what to buy, implement a marketing strategy, do all the administration, etc…
However, it does potentially provide maximum freedom (apart from the pressure to earn money) and you can set your own hours and pick and choose what jobs to do.
One of the most important things to consider to become a locksmith is your outgoings. The costs of starting a locksmith business should not be underestimated as you need to spend money on so many things including:
On the subject of training, new potential locksmiths make the mistake of assuming that once they have done the training, they are now a locksmith and capable of solving all issues. However, it is simply not possible to do a short (5 days or less) training course and know all there is to know. In fact, you will never stop learning and practising as a locksmith due to the number of different locks and products/technologies coming into the market. Continued training and development is a must.
Most locksmith training courses are practical, but you can never replicate the ‘real life’ situations. In the training room things appear easy: its light, warm, dry and comfortable, but in reality this is not the case, especially when you have a customer looking over your shoulder!
There are some trade associations that do offer a route through exams and qualifications to become an approved/accredited/master locksmith. But due to the lack of regulation, the costs sometimes outweigh the benefits.
After learning the basic locksmith skills, you can think about diversifying or specialising in some other areas in order to increase your income.
For example, automotive locksmith work, safe specialist, retail, boarding-up and CCTV & security alarms. But bear in mind that the investments costs can be high for each specialisation.
To be a locksmith, you will need to be patient, calm, detailed, good with people and organised. If you think you have the right personality traits to become a locksmith, it would be a good idea to contact some other locksmiths for their honest advice.
Locksmiths are normally a helpful bunch if your intentions are good (although might be best to contact someone outside of your area, so they don’t see you as a potential future threat).
It can be an interesting and rewarding job, but it takes time and you need to have a pot of money to start with if you are starting up your own business.
At the start, no one knows you exist and your website will rank nowhere on Google. It has to be viewed as a long-term plan. Once you prove yourself, the reviews and referrals will follow, but it can take years to establish yourself.
I hope this article on becoming a locksmith has been useful to you. If you have any questions or would like to discuss my services please get in contact.
Got a question about a lock issue you may have? Why not have a look at the FAQ page or one of the helpful advice videos on the Media page.