auto-locksmith

[Autotechnix]

Please ignore post....

[Mick Friend]

Ignorred

[Autotechnix]

Thanks Mick,

 

Didn't realise this part of the forum was public so removed trade related question.

 

Merry Xmas.

[lewis]

Hi all I am looking to get into the auto locksmith industry and would like to pick your brains eg realistic earnings how much I would need to invest to get up and running 

[grahamparker]

50-100k if buying new kit and a lot of good luck and very hard work.

Search the forum there are already many answers to all your questions that have already been asked and answered in great detail.

Do NOT expect to get rich quick, it is a massive learning curve full of pitfalls.

Saying all that best of luck it's not the greatest time to be entering the trade the boom years have long since passed.

[Cameron Avery]

Of the 4 people on my course at Hickleys nearly 7 years ago I am the only one still in the game. One investest most of his inheritance setting up. I was already an established Locksmith with a customer base, and some good "phone a friend" options when I needed help. The training course only skimmed the surface of auto work.

The "easy" jobs every one is doing, the more challenging work is a minefeld and the harder work customers rarely want to pay for your expertise or you require dealer level tools. There is plenty of info on the forum from much more knowledgable folk than me. Auto is less supportive than the rest of the locksmith industry and that isn't always friendly.

Realistically, you don't get the big boy work unless you have a great deal of knowledge, experience, tools and stock.

Even with money to start up, skill and experience takes time to build.

Even if you are very competent, unless you are getting regular customers to pay the bills you don't have a business.

Good luck.

[Southwest Keys]

23 minutes ago, Cameron Avery said:

Of the 4 people on my course at Hickleys nearly 7 years ago I am the only one still in the game. One investest most of his inheritance setting up. I was already an established Locksmith with a customer base, and some good "phone a friend" options when I needed help. The training course only skimmed the surface of auto work.

The "easy" jobs every one is doing, the more challenging work is a minefeld and the harder work customers rarely want to pay for your expertise or you require dealer level tools. There is plenty of info on the forum from much more knowledgable folk than me. Auto is less supportive than the rest of the locksmith industry and that isn't always friendly.

Realistically, you don't get the big boy work unless you have a great deal of knowledge, experience, tools and stock.

Even with money to start up, skill and experience takes time to build.

Even if you are very competent, unless you are getting regular customers to pay the bills you don't have a business.

Good luck.

Following on from this post I can tell you that I invested a lot of money into my Auto Locksmith business and was on the same course as the person who replied above.

He isn't the only one left from that course still doing the business as I am as well, hi mate hope you are well

I was also only the second person ever to pass the course with a 100% score and the course had been running for many years.

That said passing with a 100% score and investing a lot of money wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

I struggled to find work, the main problem I found was as posted above the big jobs went elsewhere and the general public with the smaller jobs just didn't want to pay for new car keys even though they were cheaper than the main dealers.

What really did it for me was another local Auto Locksmith saw me on the road one day and went from posting nothing on social media to filling his page everyday with posts saying how he had been to a job where another local Auto Locksmith could not finish the job.

While he didn't mention my company his posts were enough to make me rethink things, his posts by the way were utter rubbish as I never failed on any of my jobs and there were only two of us in the area.

He had however been in the business for many years and obviously saw me as a threat.

Fortunately I diversified my business and now do very well, I have a great customer base and I am still in the game.

While I absolutely love everything about this trade there is a big learning curve to be had, as stated in the previous post the training Hickleys did really is not enough to make you and all singing all dancing Auto Locksmith, It was decent but for the money I think there maybe better options.

Just make sure you do your homework before getting involved, depending on where you live in the country the competition may be higher than you first thought.

[rapidlocks]

im glad im nearing retirement rather than starting out on the adventure , when i started in auto there was just 3 of us in my area doing car keys all keys lost , today there is over 100 people offering car keys. even my local greetings card shop does spare clone keys and house keys.

the easy jobs have suffered and rates have dropped far lower than they were 10 years ago on these as every man and his dog buys a cheap programmer and competes on price to get the simple jobs .

the big boy jobs do indeed require considerable investment and are a steep learning curve with an awful lot to learn , some as far away from traditional locksmithing as it gets and are more electronics and soldering based , this now gets more complex as each year passes , due to you tube and social media posts and of course china ,  car manufacturers are upping their game and are doing all they can to lock us out of their vehicles , some like the german makes have succeeded for now on their later models , the rest are following them.

it is a never ending investment and never ending work to learn the new systems and the new skills to work on them .

i have 6 children , ive sent them all down other career paths as no long term future left in this one.

do your research , formulate a business plan and then decide if worthwhile as a career choice.

success and earning possibilities depends fully on you , the investment you have and your own dedication , your background also has relevence , ie if you already have skills in auto electrics , diagnostics , electronics , auto technician  etc then this will all help , from scratch its a huge learning curve to progress beyond the bottom feeder jobs.

you will need to put as much time in on the bench learning as you do into working if not more , and this never stops , your ability to learn this way and your dedication to learn will play a big part in success or failure . it takes over your life and your home and can be a cruel mistress as well as a rewarding one.

it is not unusual for an auto locksmith to have between 100k and 200k in their set up on tools , stock and equipment , also dont neglect the all important getting phone to ring so advertising stratergies , website design and of course the basics of running a business on top.

if you make it then its a great trade as always changing always learning and every job is different .