I learned an important rekeying lesson today

[maintenanceguy]

I've had a few businesses. Some were profitable, some weren't. I've had my backside kicked more than a few times in business and learned some "trusims" from the experience.

The most important one is probably "Always do quality work". Even if you think you're doing someone a favor by doing something the cheap way, you're not.

They end up with something inferior to remember you by and you end up making less money for more work. (for instance: Trying to get an old worn lockset to limp along is always more work than just installing a new one).

Only offer your customers one quaily of work.

Oh, and charge for everything you do. The promise of future work for a free key never pans out. Be fair, be honest, be helpful, but be sure to charge for it.

[zeke79]

Very very sound advice. Price yourself for quality. How good of a job do you think you do? Do you think your work is sub par to others in the same trade in your area? Do you think your work is better or on par with others in your area? What is the current pricing layout in your area? Undercutting prices not only hurts you, but hurts the trade as a whole. I am not saying to gouge people, but do not undercharge either. Price accordingly and remember that the hardest part is getting new customers, but once you get that call also remember that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers. Once you have a good customer base you are well on your way. Add customers here and there and this is where you will slowly watch your business grow. A great customer might get a break here and there on those simple jobs such as removing a broken key when you were already 5 blocks away anyhow. Do keep in mind that commercial customers should always see consistent pricing. Prices that vary for the same work to them might make it seem as though you are unorganized. Save the little discounts for those who need it such as good property owners who have several condo/rental properties, apartment complexes etc. IF THEY PAY ON TIME TREAT THEM VERY WELL. Make their jobs a priority and try your best to not keep them waiting.

Another great ides is to simply approach other locksmiths in the area and explain yourself and ask how they price their services. Explain to them that by getting together as a group you can discuss pricing and set the prices competitively between all of you. This is a nice way to establish good communication channels between yourself and the other locksmiths. If you think this will hurt you, you are wrong. Be sure to swap business cards with all of them. THEN, when you get a call for a job you are not equipped to do you can refer the customer to another locksmith. He in turn will do the same when he is busy on another job, out of town etc. If you find that you send work to one locksmith and never get any work referred to you from him then do not send him work. Send it to another locksmith who returns the favor. If you convey your intentions to them and let them know the purpose of getting together 90% of the time they will do it as they see it as mutually beneficial.

This is a great opportunity to learn, establish contacts for situations that may arrise such as you not having a certain part. Most smiths will sell or loan you a part to complete a job in which you simply replace his part or pay him up front for it. This allows you to not leave a customer waiting in some cases for an order that may arrive in 3 days.

I keep business cards for another locksmith, building contractors, electricians, plumbers, etc. Whenever I am somewhere and overhear that someone is having trouble with getting a plumber, electrician etc it gives me a chance to introduce myself. Then I supply them with the card of someone I know who does good work for the services they need AND I can present them with my card for any work they might need in the future. This does a great job of leaving a lasting impression on people.

There are alot of tricks to running a business. I am still on that learning curve but have an advantage of a family who has always owned businesses for 3 generations. If all goes well I'll make the 4th generation of a full time self employed business owner. It is something that makes me happy and I really love to do it. I am the type of person who really works hard, but I need to have that carrot out in front of my cart to achieve the best work I can do. If I know the harder I work, the more I make, you can dang well bet I'll be working my arse off all day everyday. When I am in a situation that gets stale and I am no longer learning on the job and the advancements in salary etc go stale also I dont have that carrot out in front of me and I turn into that guy from office space. "Ya see Bob, it's not that I'm lazy. It's that I just dont care. If I work my arse off and the company ships a few more units I dont see a dime of that money. So where's the motivation". Now I do way more than enough to not get fired but I am not stupid either. Why work a 60 hour week when my raise at the end of the year is going to be the same as if I worked 40 hour weeks and I have advanced just about as far as I am realistically going to without transfering into a new job. That is when I know it is time to start exploring new ways of making a living. I like to go home at the end of the day and be fulfilled. That is what locksmithing does for me and that is why I am pursuing it as a business.

Enough of my rambling. With what you have just read, you get a glimpse into my already twisted mind and I am not sure anyone here needs to see anymore of what is stored away in there .

[freakparade3]

That makes sense Zeke, thanks. I am trying to learn the running a business part as I go along. I do good work, I may not be as fast as some others but I make sure the job is perfect before I leave. I do need to talk to other locksmiths in my area, when it comes to payment I make it up as I go along. Thanks for all the input guys I know I have alot to learn.

[freakparade3]

One more thing Zeke. "Pardon me, but I think you have my stapler".

[kg4boj]

There is almost NEVER a good reason to file down the top of a lock cylinder and or the pins... go get a good .003" pinset and if you really need it to be sloppy, you can put one of the pointed bottom pins with the point down where the top pin should be, this will safely add a measure of slop to the lock. I did this on a pool gate lock (double ended deadbolt with a spring latch) with a stair stepped "pull out key" witch had the first 3 cuts as #5 and the last 2 at #3 (kwikset) depths, with all the peaks milled flat witch took the number of broken key extractions from 3 a week down to almost never, since the gate was very heavy and the customers continued to use the key as a handle instead of the convienient handle placed there on it for them to use.

You might consider having some shims made to make fine adjustments in the depths of your well worn keys as well as a nice key micrometer or dial indicator and depth charts to show how far you are off and constantly keep your machine in check.

[Raccoon]

hey freak:

FYI, I have a locksmith that used to service this town, and he had a habit of using pins that were 0.008 longer than they should be. I can't tell if he did this intentionally to thrwart off people from decoding keys or working on his customer's locks, or if he did it for some other reason, but all of his keys were born shallower than the lock's spec.

I recommend acquiring a few of the manager's (less used) keys and inspecting their quality and wear, then measure them with a set of calipers. Chances are the previous locksmith pulled the same trick.

[Raccoon]

Also, the experience above aside, there is another possible cause. Just because they may have been Kwikset keys, does not mean they were Kwikset locks. Its possible you were dealing with Arrow, Weiser, Yale or even Schlage cylinders with a KW1 profile plug.

Check the cut widths of one of the old keys against a depth-space key to see if the line up. The pin-to-pin widths are so similar, but the give-away is the shoulder-to-first-cut distance. You can sometimes decode a key using the wrong decoder and cut it using the wrong spec, and yet the two specs are close enough that the key still works. Kwikset, Weiser, Falcon and Arrow are all VERY close on spacing and many of their cuts approach 0.001 distance.

[kg4boj]

.008? where did he get pins like that? do they make pins in .001 increments?
thats kind of nuts. rule of thumb for me is NEVER go with shallower pins than required, ie no clickey locks. if the lock must rub, then it shal rub A *LITTLE* not a lot. Most locks and keys are made of brass for a reason, the lock wears to the key, and the key wears to the lock. Keeping that in mind, its possible the locks were keyed .010 over or 2 steps in most .005 pinning kits, witch I have seen since sometimes the charts that come with them are innacurate, then the pins wore down just a little.

[globallockytoo]

.008? where did he get pins like that? do they make pins in .001 increments?

Yes they do. Both LAB and ILCO make and sell kits with .001 diff pins.

[freakparade3]

The lock was a schlage with an SC1 keyway. After I took the old lock apart I found that the pins were so worn they have groves in all 5 of them, the bottom of the pins were squared! I think I still have them around here, I'll see if I can get a good picture.

[HeadHunterCEO]

maybe you
Should of tried to sell them a stand alone exterior cypher type lock

ala an Alarm Lock Trilogy exterior

why?

code can be changed easily , rugged enough to handle ham handed people beating on them day in and day out, no worry about tenants losing keys because you can just change the code.

I like them, i sell them in this type of instance constantly. makes everyones life a little easier

[Raccoon]

the bottom of the pins were squared! I think I still have them around here, I'll see if I can get a good picture.

Measure them for us if you would. I'm curious if these are kwikset pins in a schlage by a lazy locksmith/hardware store who only had a kwikset pinning kit handy.

[kg4boj]

maybe you
Should of tried to sell them a stand alone exterior cypher type lock

ala an Alarm Lock Trilogy exterior

why?

code can be changed easily , rugged enough to handle ham handed people beating on them day in and day out, no worry about tenants losing keys because you can just change the code.

I like them, i sell them in this type of instance constantly. makes everyones life a little easier

For some reason the management wants a keyed lock... no simplex or otherwise, I dont always mind rekeying it, or making thousands of keys, but they almost never break off now that they have that stair step pullout key.

[freakparade3]

Measure them for us if you would. I'm curious if these are kwikset pins in a schlage by a lazy locksmith/hardware store who only had a kwikset pinning kit handy.

Well I could not get a good picture of the pins so the wear showed up. I did measure them and the best I can figure they are Schlage pins, just used way to much! Raccoon if you want to check them out I'll send you the pins and the plug from the lock just PM me your address. It would be nice to have another opinion.

[Raccoon]

I would take you up on that offer if I had a good digital camera, but I don't feel I could contribute to this thread with anything more than confirming your caliper measurements. Would be nice to see the pins; if anyone else wants to do a photo review.