Lockies day Job

by **bowleya** » 18 Nov 2006 17:08

I have to admit that i read a thread about a guy looking into training as a lockie and i said go for it. Some people answered there were shortage's in other skilled areas and maybe he should look there. I love running my locksmith business but i must admit that i run my business primarily between the hours of 5PM and 6AM and weekends because as much as i love it i could not survive financially on what i earn. My day job is a Production engineer and i know fellow lockies how are Builders and chippies, this makes me ask the question
"How many lockies out there have a second skill they fall back on to when work is short"

by **toomush2drink** » 18 Nov 2006 19:43

Please dont take this as a dig as its not but this is the very reason why most cant survive as a fulltime lockie.There are far too many doing it part time to earn a bit of extra cash thus making it harder to survive as a full-time lockie. Everyone i speak to who finds out what i do says "oh thats good money isnt it?" Its these type of people that take a 2 day course and do it for extra cash even though they already have a trade behind them.
How many chippies would be happy if a lockie showed up on site and started putting together roofing joists or stud partitions etc ? Yet it seems to be perfectly acceptable if its the other way around, a strange situation eh ?

Sure lockouts are good money but they dont make up the bulk of my work or earnings but this is what the part timers are after and focus on hence they cant make a living from it.

by **SteveW** » 18 Nov 2006 20:21

As Toomush says there are too many part-timers in the lockout market, and no one is gonna make a living from doing lockouts alone. To survive as a full time lockie you have to do it properly, business plans, marketing, VAT registration, uniforms etc...

When you look like a serious company then you can go for the serious work. Plonking an add on Yell.com and the like will not cut it, you have to chase contract work, local counsels, maintenance, housing associations etc. That's where the real money is. Turning up with some picks and a few locks dumped in the back of the car is not going to impress!

The importance of marketing can not be underestimated either. To get enough work to survive you have to be prepared to spend some serious money.

When your day job is costing you money in missed work, that's when you should consider going full time. until then stick with the day job.

by **bowleya** » 18 Nov 2006 21:10

Gents , I can see where you are coming from, but what i am trying to say is that we all started somewhere. I have been running my business for Three and a Half years with each years profit growing as i go. I will go fulltime in the near future but i feel until i can do automotive and Access control systems there are toomany others in the marketplace. Just how many lockies out there have done a Four year Apprenticeship???? most have probably come from other trades that is what i was asking and if they occasionally return to there original trade. Maybe the way to go is a scheme where only timed served lockies can display a logo that denotes being time served to use on all advertising literature.

by **keyman** » 20 Nov 2006 13:25

I don't often post just look through all the posts ,this one caught my eye.
I'm a member of the MLA and being locksmith 5 years and a carpenter for 22 years for a large housing association in the midlands , we have 25000 houses and flats ,and i'm lucky if i get 10 lock outs a week .Yes we do evictions but they are planned and only happen 1 day month most of my working week and that includes call out is spent on repairing Upvc windows and doors,the odd break in and board ups.I guess what i'm trying to say is think hard and long before you spend all that hard earned money on locksmith courses and tools.A battery circular saw and a few sheets of shutter ply will make you more money

by **SteveW** » 20 Nov 2006 19:52

Well if you must know, i used to be a professional musicain and music teacher. But i havnt had to fall back on it yet :lol:

by **UNFORGIVEN** » 21 Nov 2006 19:55

i have other skills other than beeing a locki im a carpenter/joiner also an glasier but i seem to get buy (just at times) but when it comes to my locksmith work i offer a 24 hr call servise and i do what i call a DROP AND RUN wich is basiclly if some one needs me i stop what im doing and go to then strait away no questions asked i treat every lock job no matter how small as an emergency this is very very pleasing for the number of estate agents i do work for. I am lucky how ever when i work for a building contractor friend if mine he has an understanding that if i leave a job of his to go do my own work he knows i will always return when im done
this i think is very hard to find in some other company owners but he is a safe guy and we have an understanding
funny enough me and this particulor guy are going soon to tender for a large cleaning contract (not a locki or chippys job i know ) but it would be a day to day job for me with regular income on a weekly basis
and no i wouldent be cleaning it would be up to me to employe peopl to do the work and i would just be the foreman

sorry slightly off subject lol

but ive always been told its good to have a trade to fall back on as a back up but dont worry mate if you caqn afford to advertise more then hopfully more work will follow but i must say beeing in the right place at the right time also helps i dont know when this is but when it happens ill let others know

beeing a lockie everyone and all my friends think that all lockies are minted i do know of a few lockis that are worth serious wedge but there the lucky ones some others i know are lucky if they get one job in 2-3 mounths
but thats the way life goes

sorry to everyone if it seems that ive rambled on a bit and i appologise for my spelling and grammer

kindist regards

by **2octops** » 21 Nov 2006 23:30

I am across the pond from you guys, but here's my story anyways.

I was a mechanic when I started locksmithing as a hobby. Several years later (as someone else mentioned) I started tracking the calls I could not run during the day because of my real job. I was loosing more money in one day consistantly that I was bringing home in a week. That was when I changed my lifestyle.

I started out doing automotive and residential and worked very hard to specialize in automotive. After my first year, I was established and was working nothing but the automotive market. That was the first time in my life I had more money than I honestly knew what to do with.

I hired a second guy and taught him how to do autos and bought him a van. I started trying to learn the commercial business and suceeded in that. Residentail still meakes us money, but not nearly as much as the auto and commercial.

7 years and 4 vans later, I am still runnig my small business. We normally stay about a week backlogged on our commercial work and have our weeks planned out for months in advance doing automotive work for auctions and dealerships.

I still do mechanic work at home to relax and to keep my skills sharp, just in case I ever do have to fall back on my previous career. I hope that never happens, but I still have my tools and knowlege so it would not be a hard move to make.

by **ponsaloti** » 22 Nov 2006 13:11

unforgiven, did i spot you conducting some under-cover investigation last week. is this the site you hope to be tendering for?

by **UNFORGIVEN** » 22 Nov 2006 15:17

i wouldent have thought so but what exsacly do you mean ?
and where in essex are you from ?

by **ponsaloti** » 23 Nov 2006 4:50

i saw you eyeing up some sqeegies at a car wash. i now live bye the beautiful essex riviera.

by **UNFORGIVEN** » 24 Nov 2006 6:12

hmmmm

i have no idea but this is not the site i intend to tender for no lol

by **lunchb0x** » 1 Dec 2006 6:25

hear in australia, the trade is restricted, other tredesmen or anyone who does a course on key cutting cant buy picks, and any locksmith company will not sell too them. where i work their are 9 tradesmen on the road and 4 apprentecis, and we are still overloaded with work

by **NKT** » 12 Dec 2006 15:59

The bulk of my income (just about) comes from locksmithing. I'm fairly lucky in that my two other companies don't really need much attention, or if they do it can always wait a few hours, so lock-outs and call-outs are easy to deal with.

I've a few big companies that use me for various work, but, like most things, they are not every day events. Without a huge advertising budget, nor are lock-outs.

I am definately a "pro" locksmith, and nothing like a cowboy, I get lots of repeat business (No, not call backs!) Where I am (Preston) the competition is pretty fierce, but I'm slowly getting there. I should hope so, I've been doing this for 18 months now!

Future threats are companies like Homeserve (based up the road and with dozens of vans, two of their guys live within 500 yards). Current threats are the DIY places, and cash cows are the jobs you get where someone called a national first!

Hopefully there will be some legislation brought in at some point to regulate the industry. However, the way these things are done it might well put most small locksmiths out of a (legal) job, with only those backed by a large company able to take the months off to "train" and the fees for said training, as well as the costs of missed work.

by **Tozzy** » 13 Dec 2006 19:13

The thing that I was wondering was: You commit yourself to a job, turn up and you find you know nothing about the lock's design because it's not one that you've studied before which means you can't pick it. What happens? Do you send someone else or?

Lockies day Job

Lockies day Job

Who is online