Boring Newbie Question - Avoid if short on patience!

[Sbecspeledrx]

Hello Folks,
I have a little redundancy money to invest and was considering starting out as a locksmith! I am looking into the possibility of going on pinkys course but want to look at the amount of work which might be around here first.

I have a few special marketable qualities - Service in Welsh etc which other locksmiths choose not to offer but I want those to be extras. Without any advantage over the competition how much of a population base do you think is needed to make money.

That is - if there are no other locksmiths here how many people do i need. Or if there are already three here - what's 4 times the amount needed to sustain a locksmith.

Once I have your suggestions I'll be rifling through the yellow pages to see how much competition there is locally and phoning them up to get an idea of their prices.

Cheers

[Elijah]

I wish I could get the search to work right about now. I recall a recent thread (last two weeks recent) that mentioned the population standard per locksmith. I think Pinky was the one who mentioned it, but I could be wrong. I'm not going to tell you this is true, but I think I remember hearing something like 40,000. It's probably much less, as we have many locksmiths here in small towns. Just wait until someone more experienced comes along =) I'm just trying to recall right now. Good luck!

-Elijah

[Rick-the-Pick]

I'd think very carefully here.
If you have no fixed income at present and you need to start earning quickly, i wouldn't recommend investing heavily in becoming a locksmith!
Nothing wrong with the weekend course's etc, and Pinky's course is probably one of the best, Especialy if he team's up with Ken the Killer!
Your pay off will long disappear before you manage to extract a liveable income from smithing!
You would be better off if you gained employment elsewhere for your income, then take the locksmith course and pratice every spare minute of every day!
You would find this advice and similar if you search the forums!
Good luck bud!

[Varjeal]

Concerning population base, the last I read about suggested a population base of 20,000 or more is necessary for a good base. I would imagine this is flexible depending on many factors, but it'd be a good place to start.
There's a link in the FAQ section on starting a UK lock business. Give that a read and it should help.

[tskaze]

How old are you? you could go to a locksmithing school or at least take some courses?

[stick]

Way to not understand the post. He's thinking about doing so and wants some advice on whether or not he should.

[digital_blue]

Way to not understand the post. He's thinking about doing so and wants some advice on whether or not he should.

There stick. You got your opportunity for a sarcastic comment.

db

[stick]

Seeing all his posts, it gets soooo tempting...