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repossessions job . I was on my knees working doing the lock and a guy pulled a gun on me ( to my head , from behind ) and the bailiff ran off ! The man with the gun came out of the Bookies next door , he knew the previous owner of the shop I was accessing and was only defending his friend ( albeit with a gun ). The site manager ( a lady ) saved me !
My advice to other locksmiths I would advise other locksmiths starting in the trade to consider doing growth areas such as learning access control ( electronic devices ) and auto locksmithing . If I was starting from scratch now , I would learn these things because of the way the market is heading , general locksmithing is just too competitive nowadays . There ’ s good money to be made on the diagnostic side ( cars ).
Make sure you subscribe to The Locksmith Journal , it ’ s a good magazine to keep you in-touch with what ’ s happening in the sector . Also , Keyways the MLA magazine .
Stick to a product you know to be reliable . For example , I stock a lot of different brands of cylinders , such as Ultion , but I use Mul-T-Lock for masterkeying – I ’ ve used it for 30 years and it ’ s never let me down , not even once .
Market trends
There is a different trend in how criminals break into domestic properties , it used to be snapping the handle or cylinder . Now , I ’ m seeing holes burnt in the doors to get the cylinders out .
Marketing advice
When I first started out it everything was about the Yellow Pages ! Now it ’ s all Google , SEO and social media marketing . I would recommend learning how to do these things yourself , get a few books and learn about to do the basics , save yourself some money .
More information
Arc Locksmiths has been providing quality , locksmiths services for people in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire counties for years . Arc Locksmiths are qualified emergency locksmiths and offer affordable , local locksmith services across Manchester , Didsbury , Heaton Moor , Heaton Mersey , Stockport & Cheshire .
If you pay someone to do it , you get used to them doing it , but if you learn to do it yourself , then it becomes easier over time and just part of what you do . Becoming as self-sufficient as possible is the way to be !
Tel : 0161 2562551 www . arclocksmiths . co . uk arclocks @ yahoo . com
NOVEMBER 2024
11
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