Lockout Statistics

by **mattman** » 5 Apr 2009 8:28

I've been looking online, but cannot find any statistics on this, so I was wondering if anyone here knew what percentage of people lock themselves out of their car or home each year. I don't even know if there are any statistics on this in the first place.

If not, could any locksmiths in the group care to share how many lockouts you do each year, and the population of the area in which your business operates? I'm a new lockout business owner, and was trying to figure out what my projected revenue may be in the coming year.

Thanks ahead of time for your help!

- Matt

by **mattman** » 5 Apr 2009 8:50

Oh yeah, in order to figure out the approximate percentage of your area's population has lockouts, I also need to know if you are the only locksmith in your area. If not, how many more are there. I know that there's a number of other factors involved here that I'm not including, but this may give me an approximate number. Thanks again!

-Matt

by **jimb** » 5 Apr 2009 8:56

This will vary depending on how well you promote the company. I worked for a company that has a full page yellow page ad. I averaged 4 to 5 auto unlocks per day and was one of 4 locksmiths. So we probably averaged 16 to 20 per day for the company. Out of these half or more came from auto clubs providing roadside assistants. As far as Home and business lockouts I did 2 to 3 per week. This is in an area with a population of about 2 million.

As far as the number of locksmiths it's tough to tell. A local news station recently estimated that there are about 50 legal locksmiths in the area. The phone book is flooded with scammer locksmiths so it's tough to know for sure.

by **mattman** » 5 Apr 2009 9:54

Thanks Jimb! According to the numbers you gave, and considering that the other 49 locksmiths in your area aren't as busy as your company, since they don't have the same type of advertising, I came up with approximately 5-10% of the population calls a locksmith for a lockout in a given year in your area.

My business is in a rural town of about 3500 people. Then counting the area around the town, I'm probably only serving about 4000 people total. Since I am the only business of this type in town, if 5-10% of the population has a lockout (and they call me) I can probably expect 200-400 calls per year. This will give me an idea of what to expect from the lockout portion of the business, since I'm eventually planning on expanding into rekeying, lock installation, and other services.

I'll see what others have to say in the group, and maybe that will give me a better average for different parts of the country. Thanks again for your help. I appreciate it!

-Matt

by **Engineer** » 5 Apr 2009 15:22

Hmmm... That figure seems a little high to me. I am in the UK, so that probably means my estimates are irrelevant. Here I'd "guesstimate" more like 1 in 500 need a locksmith per year (0.2%). I guess the vehicle business is not as profitable over here sadly.

Whatever, if possible I would seriously give thought to alternative sources of revenue, since your catchment area is relatively small - Will you have a shop that can sell locks, door hardware like bolts, etc?

You do also have a massive plus on your side - Being in an area with relatively few people, they are likely to be fiercely loyal to you - Not like a big city, where people have so much choice. You will tend to know everyone and they will tend to know you. If you do a good job and be fair to people, then I think you might have a great business there - I do hope so!

Good luck with it.

by **mattman** » 5 Apr 2009 17:09

Engineer wrote:
Whatever, if possible I would seriously give thought to alternative sources of revenue, since your catchment area is relatively small - Will you have a shop that can sell locks, door hardware like bolts, etc?

Yes, since there's not enough people in my area to support a full-time locksmith, I am forced to have another job on the side. I am currently working at a full-time job during the week (Monday-Friday, 7:00am-3:00pm), and then doing locksmithing in the evenings and weekends. I would rather be doing locksmithing full-time, but a person has to do what they gotta do to support their family.

-Matt

by **Engineer** » 6 Apr 2009 18:03

Quite right!

My personal feeling is that you have the start of a great little family business there! I do really hope it takes off for you, since it will also probably be of great benefit to the local community as well.

I think having a "day job" as well is an excelent idea to begin with. That will allow you to have a back up souce of income while you "fine tune" your business into what people really want. Please don't be afraid to ask your customers what they would like you to stock or provide. Just because one person wants "giant blue bananas" or something, doesn't mean you should stock them - But if the same items, or similar items keep popping up in people's requests, it might be worth looking into, even if it is not directly related to your "core" business of locksmithing. Just think, if serving coffee is what it takes to bring them into your shop, you can then have displays of all your other goodies to tempt them to buy while they are there!

For the sort of place you are probably looking into starting, you will be treading the fine line between diversification (good) and trying to stock too many different things (bad - too much of your money gets tied down in stock that you could end up spending the next twenty years trying to sell them to turn tham back into cash again).

This is all real basic business advice, so my apologies if it is obvious to you, but perhaps it might help someone else who might read this as well?

The big trick, especially in the early days is to buy only those things you can QUICKLY sell and turn back into cash again - The time will come over the years to build your stock up, but lots of slow-moving stock and no cash (the "cash-flow problem") has been the bane of many potentially good businesses.

Don't forget that everyone LOVES a bargain, so what if it is furry pencil cases you can sell for 5 cents - It will at least bring in people you would probably normally not getting in, so they will see your other items and even if they don't buy that day, they will remember you sold a load of locks and things , next time they are looking for something like that...

Good luck!

by **mattman** » 7 Apr 2009 5:22

Thanks for the advice and tips, Engineer! I really appreciate it.

I did have one great thing happen this weekend. You see, the local newspaper did a story on my new business this past week. Well, after Mass on Sunday, one of my fellow parishioners came up to me. This is a man that I have know for several years, but I never knew what he did before he retired many, many years ago. Well, it turns out that before he retired, he was a locksmith for over 20 years! He said he saw the article, and that he has a lot of tools I could use, and that if I ever need any help on a lock, or need some tips and tricks of the trade, to give him a call. I'm excited because now I have an experienced locksmith that I can go to for help and knowledge.

Thanks again for your advice!

Matt

by **Engineer** » 7 Apr 2009 8:28

That is just brilliant!!! See what I mean about the local community coming together?!

Be nice to him, I bet he's got so many years of experience he will be happy to pass on. After being retired for so long, I bet he will be delighted to have someone else with the same interests to talk to and to be able to help. Locksmithing is by it's very nature a very lonely profession - That's part of why I'm here - So I can talk to like-minded people!

His knowledge will be invaluable, but might be a little dated in places? (I'm not sure how long ago he retired), but please don't be afraid to ask on here as well, especially the higher-security locks, or the downright weird problems life will throw at you occasionally. I've had to ask many times for help on here and people have been wonderfully kind in helping me, both on group and in PMs (you know who you are! - THANK you!).

Locksmithing is such a varied field, it's impossible to know everything - But this group collectively must come close! Has no-one ever realised that just 10 years ago, you were limited in what you could learn to what you could get from collegues? After that, you were on your own, trying to pick stuff up from books, disassembling unfamilair locks etc. Thanks to this group, a professional locksmith can learn FAR more quickly than they could just a few years ago.

Incase you might some across higher-security locks, then think or trying for advanced access on here (if you don't have it already that is). It might be of some help with your business sometime in the future.

by **sevedus** » 13 May 2009 8:57

A recent (Jan/Feb '09) survey sent only to ALOA registered Masters (in all 50 states) asked the specific question, "What percent of your business is automotive lockout calls?"

The range was 0% to 25% with 10% the reported average.

by **mattman** » 15 May 2009 5:12

sevedus wrote:
The range was 0% to 25% with 10% the reported average.

That seems to be the percentage that I am having. The interesting thing is that I started a lockout business, but the majority of my jobs so far have been for rekeying and repairing locks. I don't mind at all. I just expanded my services sooner than I planned.

- Matt

by **! enzygiep !** » 29 Jul 2009 16:27

Is anyone from Scott looking at this board or offering help? Im wondering as Ive got the new lockout for mine but and scared to death to try anything on these bikes. A little help would be nice

by **unlisted** » 29 Jul 2009 16:40

! enzygiep ! wrote:Is anyone from Scott looking at this board or offering help? Im wondering as Ive got the new lockout for mine but and scared to death to try anything on these bikes. A little help would be nice

What are you talking about?