I'm starting my own business here. Need advice.

[KPick]

Hey Everyone. I'm having the idea of starting my own Locksmith business. I have a couple of questions about how the business runs.

1. What do I ask for when I get called out on a lockout scenario when I first come in contact with a customer?
2. If asking for Identification, is it appropriate to scan or jock down the details into a notebook of some sort?
3. Whats a good starting key cutting machine for residential keys and auto keys? (Planning in investing in one as soon as I get the funding for the machine)
4. How many of each key should I carry at once? (Common keys for residential jobs)
5. What is a good charging price for a lockout?
6. How much do you usually charge for a key copy?
7. What is the proper apparel for a locksmith? (Jumpsuit?)
8. What are some good advertising practices? (Craigslist? Yellow Pages? Business cards?)

Any suggestions to get the business out there?

[billdeserthills]

Hey Everyone. I'm having the idea of starting my own Locksmith business. I have a couple of questions about how the business runs.

1. What do I ask for when I get called out on a lockout scenario when I first come in contact with a customer?
~~I like to get the address,directions to the home & the name of the responsible party~~
2. If asking for Identification, is it appropriate to scan or jock down the details into a notebook of some sort?
~~I like to put the person's driver license on my invoice on unlock/pick open jobs and I put the driver license on the person's check at the very top(if paid by check)~~
3. Whats a good starting key cutting machine for residential keys and auto keys? (Planning in investing in one as soon as I get the funding for the machine)
~~I like a cheap machine that I can rebuild, a Speedex 9120 w/ dc motor in my vehicle~~
4. How many of each key should I carry at once? (Common keys for residential jobs)
~~20 on jobs where I cut over 20 I go back to the shop~~
5. What is a good charging price for a lockout?
~~ $45-65 but today I drove to rich mans land and I got $90 to open a 2013 Dodge Gran Cherokee
6. How much do you usually charge for a key copy?
~~$2.75 in the shop $3.25 on the road minimum~~
7. What is the proper apparel for a locksmith? (Jumpsuit?)
~~I wear a clean pocket t-shirt and clean cargo shorts most everyday with sandals~~
8. What are some good advertising practices? (Craigslist? Yellow Pages? Business cards?)
~~I give out a least one business card to every client, more if they want them. Nowadays I consider the phone book to be a waste of money, I get faster results with internet ads& my local paper~~

Any suggestions to get the business out there?

~~I let the internet help me out several months ago and they rock, I already had a website that doesn't pay for itself. You can go onto bing,yelp and other sites and claim your free listing too~~

[1mrchristopher]

When you are just getting started, business cards are pretty decent cheap advertising. Hand them out to everyone you know, and ask friends and nearby family to spread the word and offer your card to those that are interested. My personal advice on your card: Make it distinctive and pleasing to look at. Pretty small outlay for 2000 of them on Vistaprint, and you can have fun designing your own. Drop in on all small hardware stores, all gas stations, even grocery stores and introduce yourself and ask if you can leave a few cards with them. Some places have bulletin boards for people to pin their cards up, throw 5 or so under a push pin wherever you see them. Be friendly and courteous, don't try to sell anything more than your free business card. As you get jobs, leave cards with your customers and ask them to share them at the office, etc. if they like your work (and make sure they like your work!).

I also sprung for business card magnets. I give one or two to customers and people I do estimates for along with a regular business card. In an office they often end up on a filing cabinet, and invariably they go on the fridge at home. Now they have a constant reminder of who to call when a lock gives them trouble.

Sure there are more effective means of advertising, but for value, it's not a bad start.

[2octops]

1. Proof of ownership and authority to be ordering the work to be performed.

2. It's common for us to take a pic of their ID with our phone when dealing with the public. In the past, all of their info went on the invoice.

3. Silca Bravo I, II or III are fantastic duplicators and HPC 1200 CMB Blitz is the code machines in each of our service trucks.

4. Minimum of 10 for anything on the truck. High use stuff usually stays 250+ per truck with extra in the shop.

5. Depends on your location and time of day. It can range from $25-$500.

6. Dress professionally, stay clean and well groomed. We do khaki's and collared shirts with a logo. Project a professional image if you want to charge professional prices.

7. Business cards, wrapped service vehicles, billboards, uniforms with logo & web site with proper SEO. Yellow pages, news paper ad's, etc are a thing of the past. Some have been successful with radio and TV ad's.

[cledry]

All I can say is ditto to the previous post. Every single thing he lists is the same for us. We use the same machines, we wear the same uniform, we do business pretty much the same it seems.

[billdeserthills]

Whoever said giving out cards to the hardware stores does have a good tip. You guys already know the hardware stores can often suck at duplicating keys and they don't like it any better than the customer does, so after the second or 15th try They will be glad to hand out your card, and get rid of that annoying client who keeps on bugging them.
Even if you are mobile, you can make a reduced rate to meet up with a guy, and have a 5 key minimum, or something along those lines.
In my little town we have a small motel, and they are always needing more keys cut. Better yet they have already been to every hardware store and they won't even try spending anymore money over there, I would def leave some cards with the hotels. People lock their keys in their cars over there too
The post office is another place where lots of folks will lock themselves out of their cars. They will be happy to have your card and may even have a bulliten board to pin it up onto.
Same goes for golf courses & country clubs wherever excited people gather someone will be locking or losing their keys.

Just walk on in, and let the person at the counter know that you are Jim from Jim's lock & key and you are right down the street and looking to help out folks who are in need. Even if they use someone else, you can remind them that it's always a safe bet to have a second option, worst thing they can do is throw your card out. Worst thing You can do is to Not Try

[MSL]

[1mrchristopher]

MSL, that's the best line in the whole movie, and not exactly terrible advice. I mean, keep it within reason, but do something to release stress. This is a direct warning from a guy who gave himself stress induced pleural inflammation and got to spend two days and a night in the hospital for his troubles!

[hjlocks]

Hey Everyone. I'm having the idea of starting my own Locksmith business. I have a couple of questions about how the business runs.

1. What do I ask for when I get called out on a lockout scenario when I first come in contact with a customer?
~I have a form for people to fill out with their name and address, info on what is being unlocked, and some form of verification. In addition to getting a fair bit of info a thief wouldn't want to give out, it keeps the customer from looking over your shoulder when you run into a lock that gives you trouble.~
2. If asking for Identification, is it appropriate to scan or jock down the details into a notebook of some sort?
~I get the license number. As long as you're not copying down credit card info it shouldn't be an issue.~
3. Whats a good starting key cutting machine for residential keys and auto keys? (Planning in investing in one as soon as I get the funding for the machine)
~In addition to what's been said, you need to consider what kind of car keys you're doing. The blitz will do most any standard key, but a lot of transponders have side bittings that can only be done with the drill press style cutters~
4. How many of each key should I carry at once? (Common keys for residential jobs)
~We have a 40 drawer loose parts bin (the kind most people have in their garage to put misc screws and bolts in) with the most common keys we have. You can fit about 50 keys in each one. How many of each kind of depends on your location. Almost everything in this area is KW1 or SC1, so we have 250 of each of those.~
5. What is a good charging price for a lockout?
~We charge $35 + a service call. How much the service call is depends on what time it is.~
6. How much do you usually charge for a key copy?
~$2.50 for a single cut key, $4.00 for a double cut.~
7. What is the proper apparel for a locksmith? (Jumpsuit?)
~We wear jeans and a polo shirt with our logo.~
8. What are some good advertising practices? (Craigslist? Yellow Pages? Business cards?)
~The best thing you can do is get yourself listed on search engines. Especially google maps. I'd estimate about 90% of my auto lockouts come from people typing "locksmith" into their phone and clicking on the closest dot in google maps. Other than that, give business cards to property management companies.~

Any suggestions to get the business out there?

[globallockytoo]

Being that youre in Cali....first and foremost you require a license to practise as a locky, unless you work for an institution/govt.
That means taking courses, passing exams, paying licensing fees.

Once that's done, you probably will need to know what you will require.

[dmcintyre86]

Whoever said giving out cards to the hardware stores does have a good tip. You guys already know the hardware stores can often suck at duplicating keys and they don't like it any better than the customer does, so after the second or 15th try They will be glad to hand out your card, and get rid of that annoying client who keeps on bugging them.
Even if you are mobile, you can make a reduced rate to meet up with a guy, and have a 5 key minimum, or something along those lines.
In my little town we have a small motel, and they are always needing more keys cut. Better yet they have already been to every hardware store and they won't even try spending anymore money over there, I would def leave some cards with the hotels. People lock their keys in their cars over there too
The post office is another place where lots of folks will lock themselves out of their cars. They will be happy to have your card and may even have a bulliten board to pin it up onto.
Same goes for golf courses & country clubs wherever excited people gather someone will be locking or losing their keys.

Just walk on in, and let the person at the counter know that you are Jim from Jim's lock & key and you are right down the street and looking to help out folks who are in need. Even if they use someone else, you can remind them that it's always a safe bet to have a second option, worst thing they can do is throw your card out. Worst thing You can do is to Not Try

I have done this! Home Depot and Lowe's probably threw my cards out...haha but the Ace Hardware and some of the mom and pop shops set my cards near their key service counter and I get calls from people ALL THE TIME. I even get the customer service worker there calling with questions sometimes while they have the customer right in front of them...usually they will just hand the phone to the customer and i can talk directly to them about 50-60% of these calls lead to a job!

[KPick]

Being that youre in Cali....first and foremost you require a license to practise as a locky, unless you work for an institution/govt.
That means taking courses, passing exams, paying licensing fees.

Once that's done, you probably will need to know what you will require.

LOL wow? Really? California has sure stepped up their game on making it hard for people who want to start businesses. No wonder the economy has been so crappy

Anyways. I just started my business, and I love it. Sure it comes with it's pain in the ass moments, but it's worth it. Today I picked a lock that was a pain in the ass. (A steering wheel club that was hammered so much, the release was jammed up... and of course i broke my small screwdriver trying to pry it open, but hey it worked.)

Another job I did today was install deadbolts on this building in the south of town, which was broken into using a bump key and an attempt to pry the door off with some kind of steel bar.

I just wondered why anyone would try to break in there when there is literally nothing but crap inside from a former tenant of the business building.

[KPick]

I just don't like those moments when people attempt to pay me like 30 dollars for a job that asks for like 100+ dollars.... Douchebags.

[cledry]

I just don't like those moments when people attempt to pay me like 30 dollars for a job that asks for like 100+ dollars.... Douchebags.

Quote the price up front. Present yourself as a professional (uniform, clean, decent vehicle). Give proper invoices and most of all do a professional job and this will be a rare occurrence.

I had one the other day though. I had to troubleshoot a sequential power supply for Von Duprin exit devices that was being used on a pair of Dorma devices. I finally determined it was an intermittent short in the power transfer hinge, so replaced it and everything works fine. Customer signed invoice.

Two days later she called to question why she had been charged a service call and labor. Saying she never pays a service call. We said we always charge one, so then she says well your competitor who came out didn't charge a service call. My boss replied to her that the competitor charged her for not fixing the problem, we charged her for fixing the problem.

Yesterday she called and said the work we did was shoddy and the door wasn't working again and how dare we not fix it right and charge her a service call. My boss put me on the phone to her because he was about to tell her where to go. I asked a couple of questions and determined it wasn't the door I had worked on. I said perhaps the competitor also repaired that door. That shut her up.

Now this isn't some mom and pop operation, this is a huge drugs company, the largest privately held Rx company in the US. Not only that they were in arrears to us for one invoice for almost 12 months.

[KPick]

Oh yeah you had your chance to get big expand. I'm just starting out and when I get the dough to get better apparel, I'll for sure invest in getting better apparel and a ride.