new auto lockout business is not a success

[vector40]

I suspect it would be enormously expensive.

[2octops]

There have been a lot of good tips posted by some folks that have been there. One of the best is having a land line wil the company name forwarded to your cell. We have several of those and it works very well.

Another was proper signage on your vehicle. You want your name to be seen by the public everywhere they look. Have a local sign shop help you with an eye catching design and plaster it on your car with colorful vinyl. Heck, put it on your wifes car, your parents, your kids, your neighbors....basically anyone that you can talk into it. It's called name recognition. The more people see the name, the more they think about it.

When I was starting out, I had lage obnoxious decals on my truck. After a few months, I started hearing comments like "I see your trucks every where I go" but I only had one truck

One thing that did bother me about your original post was the fact that you were sending stuff out. Everyone gets tons of junkmail each day and it all goes in the same place.....the trash.

Ge some signage and get out and beat the pavement. Dress nice, shower and shave and go pass out a few hundred business cards around town. Hit every car lot, grocery store, convience store, stores in strip malls, post office, police departments, banks...basically everywhere people will go and get out of their car but most importantly, do it in person.

I've been in business for many years and still pass out several hundred cards each month.

Another trick with cards...never give them one. Always give the person 3 and tell them you are doing it so they can have one to keep, and a couple to give out if they run across someone that might need some help one day. It's amazing how many people will actually put them in their wallet and hang on to them.

[AUGOLDMINER]

Change the name of your business so that it is the first in the phone book under locksmith

[AUGOLDMINER]

if you are the first in the phone book and someone calls information to get the number of a locksmith to get there house or car unlocked you will be the first for the opr to give.

this works for most service call type businesses

[2octops]

That is not correct.

Many times, depending on who the carrier is that runs the directory assistance, they will give out the number of the newest person to run an add with them instead of the first on the list in alphabetical order.

Then again, sometimes they just give out the one with the neatest name.

My company name starts with an O, and I get calls all of the time from people that called directory assistance and I know there are a ton of AA, AAA, AA-Able, AAAA-Able, AAAAA1, A1, 1 listed.

[lokkju]

many times it is also based on location, especially if the caller is on a landline. However, even Sprint (a US cell carier) does this. If you call information, they know where you are, and the results that they generally give first are the ones closest to you - but again, it does depend on carrier

[raimundo]

sounds like you open car doors, but do not make that many car keys, you will want to get into this soon as you can, as its a part of the car business, and you can pick up money at County impound lot auctions on saturdays if you make them, don't go too cheap on price, and sell you service as professional, not as cheap. Make a memordable business card and give them to your customers, also if you know friendly police, they sometimes come accross this sort of business, although in some areas, they also offer free openings as part of the police service, you can complain to the city council about this, call it "restraint of trade", politicians are impressed by people who talk like that. Super markets gas stations, taxi companies and a lot of other local service industries may be willing to post your business cards, if you get to know them, they won't do much for you if you don't come back a few times a year. its just like the telcos, they help the ones they know. I did not see a location where you are, but winter should help, people are under pressure and long coats sweep keys and other objects on the seat out of the car and into the snow where its instantly lost. Also, the pressure to get it done without delay is another part of winter. So they are more willing to pay to get an opening and less willing to breake their own window, and have no time to wait til the spouse comes home from work and finds the spare key for them.

[RodVT]

You would only make about half your current price per call, but if you contact AAA and/or the other roadside assistance companies you could find yourself quite busy....

[xnoobandrew]

probably stuff that are in common use everyday.

Wood Pencils with your number and company names.

Just put like a hand full in libraries and cafes.

[fsdhy]

Like the guy a post or two above me said, get a partnership with AAA or some LARGE locksmith company. Promise them very good rates, or commission on referrals. Be prepared to do a lot of work for not much money at first.

HOWEVER, I run a business that has been around since 1947. I can't stress enough HOW MUCH MONEY COMES FROM RETURN CUSTOMERS AND WORD OF MOUTH. Even though you'll find it tough at first, eventually you'll get off the ground. Make sure you give a lot of cards to customers after the work is done. Be as friendly and professional as possible. The next time, or if they tell a friend, you'll get the job directly instead of having to go through your partners (AAA/locksmith).

[ldnlksmth]

always carry a lot of cards with you. Everyone you meet gets a card. Tell them to put it on their dashboard. When you give them your card (and make sure they see you do this) write '10% off next service) on the back. They will remember and call you. In my area, we have a large company that does parking lots. They own or manage something like 9000 parking spaces within the city and they have a towing company that is contracted to unlock cars. Something like that would keep you hopping (I did mall security, and at least once a day I was calling my favorite locksmith to open a car). Offer your services to any place where a lot of money is spent (i.e. spam/racetracks). Offer them an exclusivity deal where you will charge them (not the customer) less money if they only call you for the service. Makes the business look REALLY good, keeps you busy (the racetrack I worked at needed 30+ lockout calls a week typically). Radio ads for lock work aren't the best, because people need to find your number under stress.

Knock on doors and give them cards to put in their cars. When I first started, that was a huge thing for me.

Every customer that calls you should be given cards to pass along to their friends. Give them 10% off. It doesn't cost you much, but makes the customer feel like they're getting a deal, which will make them call you.

[Wreckmaster]

Well, you'all are probably going to hate me for this, but I give away lockouts. I have a wrecker service and to get more tows from some companys I offer their employees free lockout and discounted tows. This has worked well for me as it gets me exposure, people remember what 'favor' I just did for them, and I get more work. I earned a comercial towing account that was giving my 10 tows a day because I unlocked a car for free.

Since you do not have other services to offer, I wouldn't recomend giving away services. Perhaps you could make them a free key copy or something. I'm not a real lockie so I do not know if this is feesable.

I would recomend hooking up with the motor clubs. The above post was right. You will not make as much profit per call. But get yourself some impressive signage for your vehicle. The motor clubs will try to work your tail off. As you travel around town with your fancy signs, you will get noticed. Some clubs you can research are AAA, Road America, Allstate, Cross Country Motor Club, Pop-A-Lock, United States Auto Club, Geico, Good Sams (RV club), I can't think of others. If I remember some, I will post them. I do not work for any clubs right now, so I have no contact info to share.

Get a land line forwarded to your cell. A cell only buisness is a trust issue for some people.

Perhaps stretch out into other aspects of auto locksmith skills. I know of a lot of cars that get impounded for illegal parking, then abandoned at the impound yard, then they need keys made to auction them off. Yu could learn to impression a new key, or just swap out the cylinder and rekey it later in your shop. I did like the idea of the transponder chipped keys.

Just keep trying, get your name out there, take good care of your customers. If you build it, they will come.

[Wreckmaster]

I just rememberd this when I went out to the truck to get breakfast.

First, look the part of a trained profesional. If you wear a hat, get one made with your company name and a logo or number on it. Get some nice polo type shirts embroidered with your company name on the breast. For colder weather do the came to a jacket or consider screen printing the back. Wear clean clothes. I remember a towing company a few years back that made their drivers wear ties and keep clean uniforns in the truck. If they got dirty they changed. I thought this was off the extreme end, but he got noticed, and got repeat customers.

Second, Take a trip to Wally world, or the like and pick up a few things. A one gallon gas can, a high quality 4-way lug wrench, a hydraulic trolly jack 3 ton should be enough, I good set of jumper cables (4 gauge wire and at least 20' long 25' to 30' would be better) and maybe one of those portable battery pack jump start boxes (this is nice for when you can't get your cables hooked up). Possible future tools would be a set of lug nut removers for stripped lugs. I would recomend also carrying a few pieces of wood 2x4 about 6" to a foot and a couple of 4x4s same length and one about 3 or 4 feet. These are useful as cribbing when your jack is not tall enough and makes great tire chocks to keep your car from rolling away.

With these tools you can offer spare tire insilation, jump starts, and gas delevery. These tools will run you abot $150 depending on the quality of them. Make sure you have addaquite insurance (dang I can't spell today) before offering these services. Make sure you have a good knowladge of how to preform these services, as tire changing is a massive liability, imagine if a tire you installed comes off after a few miles and totals the car. I am not trying to scare you off, just scare you into being responsible. I provide these services daily without incident. Understand that most spare tires are for temporary use only, and make your customer aware also.

By offering these services it makes you a better choice to the motor clubs. And they will give you more work. Also, by offering these services, you will sometimes be put in harms way, as in, cars break down on the road. You wil want to protect your self from other motorists. At the minimum wear a reflective safety vest. I would suggest, if the budget allows it, adding some kind of warning lighting to your vehicle.

These are a few ways to add to the bottom line without a big investment. They will give you more exposure. But if you are the type that does not want to get your hand dirty, stick to lockouts.

[Wreckmaster]

I just rememberd this when I went out to the truck to get breakfast.

First, look the part of a trained profesional. If you wear a hat, get one made with your company name and a logo or number on it. Get some nice polo type shirts embroidered with your company name on the breast. For colder weather do the came to a jacket or consider screen printing the back. Wear clean clothes. I remember a towing company a few years back that made their drivers wear ties and keep clean uniforns in the truck. If they got dirty they changed. I thought this was off the extreme end, but he got noticed, and got repeat customers.

Second, Take a trip to Wally world, or the like and pick up a few things. A one gallon gas can, a high quality 4-way lug wrench, a hydraulic trolly jack 3 ton should be enough, I good set of jumper cables (4 gauge wire and at least 20' long 25' to 30' would be better) and maybe one of those portable battery pack jump start boxes (this is nice for when you can't get your cables hooked up). Possible future tools would be a set of lug nut removers for stripped lugs. I would recomend also carrying a few pieces of wood 2x4 about 6" to a foot and a couple of 4x4s same length and one about 3 or 4 feet. These are useful as cribbing when your jack is not tall enough and makes great tire chocks to keep your car from rolling away.

With these tools you can offer spare tire insilation, jump starts, and gas delevery. These tools will run you abot $150 depending on the quality of them. Make sure you have addaquite insurance (dang I can't spell today) before offering these services. Make sure you have a good knowladge of how to preform these services, as tire changing is a massive liability, imagine if a tire you installed comes off after a few miles and totals the car. I am not trying to scare you off, just scare you into being responsible. I provide these services daily without incident. Understand that most spare tires are for temporary use only, and make your customer aware also.

By offering these services it makes you a better choice to the motor clubs. And they will give you more work. Also, by offering these services, you will sometimes be put in harms way, as in, cars break down on the road. You wil want to protect your self from other motorists. At the minimum wear a reflective safety vest. I would suggest, if the budget allows it, adding some kind of warning lighting to your vehicle.

These are a few ways to add to the bottom line without a big investment. They will give you more exposure. But if you are the type that does not want to get your hand dirty, stick to lockouts.

[ldnlksmth]

The whole 'roadside assistance' thing is a great idea if your area is big enough to make it worth your while.

As suggested, another way to go is to graduate from lockouts to automotive lock specialist. There's a guy in my city and that's all he does. He's the best there is and every other lock company here calls him for automotive work (other than lockouts). He is certainly not hurting for money being the only one that works on cars. A lot of dealerships call him too as well as insurance people.