STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS

    What type of Locksmith will I be?

    Our courses are designed to teach general locksmithing skills, opening domestic & commercial locks, lock repair, lock fitting etc, which are all fundamental skills that all locksmiths should have. Some locksmiths then choose to move into more specialised areas of locksmithing such as auto specialist, safe and vault specialist, access control specialist etc. The one thing these will have in common are general locksmith skills as their foundation.

    How do I start , how much will I earn, and how much will it cost?

    The earning potential of a locksmith can indeed be good, but some factors have to be taken into account. Any new business takes time to grow, and because of this it would be unrealistic to expect earnings of £1000 - £2000 per week when you first start out, as you may have heard elsewhere. Any new business will have start up costs, advertising, tools, insurance, vehicle etc, and all these things have to be taken into account, as it will of course reflect what you initialy earn. These costs will vary though depending on your budget and the type of services you will initially be offering. As with any business, the more work you put into it, the more you will get out of it, and this will only come with time, hard work, and patience. Get some websites going it doesnt need to be expensive but use people that you can trust again you can have a lovely website but if nobody can find it youve wasted your money. Register on as many free directories as you can as this costs you nothing but time and if you get work out of it thats a bonus even if you dont people will start looking at your website and so you will benefit from getting traffic to your website.

Contact your local chamber of commerce and get as much good free advice as you can theres so much to learn from those already established , ask me here at locksmith training merseyside.co.uk as many questions as you like, im always here at the end of the line or on line.

    Where will I get my work from when I first start my business?

    Any new business takes time to grow and become established. Most new Locksmiths tend to be mobile based and therefore do not have the advantage of shop based business's who can profit from passing trade. Phone books for instance are only published once a year so it may be a case of having to wait a while to advertise in these. It is simply a case of letting people know that you are there, work will not initially come to you! Business cards, flyer's, and local newspaper advertising are cheap & simple ways to get your business noticed. Websites are a good form of advertising and needn't be expensive to set up. How you get your business noticed is a matter of choice, but we will show you what we know works, from a Locksmiths perspective.

    Some companies will offer you 'Areas' on Locksmith search web sites for a monthly or yearly cost? They will generally use phrases such as 'Approved' 'Recognised' 'Qualified' locksmiths etc, but this is simply a play on words. Generally you will NOT obtain a great deal of work from sites such as this, and more often not enough to cover the monthly or annual cost? There are though plenty of FREE search web sites that you can advertise on. I personally wouldnt bother getting an ad with yellow pages / thompson local type directries , folk dont use them any more, think about it ,if your locked out ,the first thing you will turn to is your mobile phone and the internet, if your locked out the yellow pages / thompson local is locked in your house, and anyway you get a free listing in those type of directories anyway.

    Some Locksmith Training Companies offer work from third parties after completing their course?

    This is commonly known as sub-contracting, and can be a good way of getting work straight away whilst perhaps waiting for your own advertising to get under way. Take a look through the yellow pages and you will see numerous national Locksmith companies. They do not do the work they get themselves, as they are merely a call centre who will then pass the work onto local Locksmiths who are registered with them. It is simply a matter of choice if you choose to do this type of work. The more work you put into your business, the more success you will have.

Do your home work on these types of companys first , research them and ask a lot of questions- when and how will i get paid , do they take any money from me and if so how much etc , get it all in writing before you agree to anything.