AUTO LOCKSMITHS
Auto Locksmithing is Pushing the Right Buttons
Alex Welsh The City Locksmith Brighton
» FOLLOWING ON FROM THE excellent article provided by Ravi Kotecha from Autowave last issue , I felt inspired to write in and share my thoughts on the Auto locksmith industry right now . The points Ravi made about the strength of this service prevailing through tough times - I can only confirm through my own first-hand experience .
As both a Domestic and Auto locksmith myself , I can say that it ’ s the Auto side of the business that has more than “ kept me afloat ” during these crazy times .
I also agree that it ’ s due to the fact that more people are avoiding public transport , company cars are no longer a company benefit and of course , the second hand car market has seen a huge spike recently . From a profit perspective , you need much fewer jobs to make a living as an Auto locksmith so even if you ’ re getting less phone calls , you ’ re still turning over a healthy profit margin per job .
I was a domestic locksmith for 10 years before I took the plunge and invested into the Auto side , and like many locksmiths , I also felt very unsure at the start . Most of my fellow locksmiths put me off the idea in the beginning by saying it was “ too expensive ”, “ too risky ” or “ too complicated ” but once you get started , I found it ’ s actually very simple .
If you break it down into 3 steps , it really simplifies things as I ’ ll explain here ;
• STEP 1 : Picking & Decoding
• STEP 2 : Cutting Keys
• STEP 3 : Programming Keys
As an auto locksmith , you ’ ll always be doing either one or all of the steps above .
Here ’ s The 3 Main Scenarios You Will Face As An Auto Locksmith :
1 . The key is locked in the car - you will only need to do ( part of ) step 1 .
2 . A customer just wants a spare key cut - you will only need to do step 2 and 3 .
3 . The customer has lost all the keys to the vehicle - you will do all 3 steps .
It ’ s easy to get caught up in confusion when you start out as you think there ’ s so much to learn but if you approach each job thinking about which steps you need to take , it really takes the pressure off . Most of the learning curve comes down to picking and decoding ( step 1 ). Once you master that , you ’ re 80 % of the way there , the rest is just pushing buttons as in steps 2 and 3 .
Another battle that start-ups seem to face is selecting the right equipment . Just in the last 5 years I ’ ve seen so many key programmers and cutters hit the market that I can see why it can be difficult to know what you really need to start this business from scratch or add it to your existing business . But again , this can be simplified by going back to our 3 main scenarios .
The things I love about Auto locksmithing is the fact that it ’ s a lot less taxing on the body . I ’ m 35 years old and although I love the domestic side , I ’ ve already had enough of fitting deadlocks on my hands and knees and sweeping up sawdust , the day of an Auto locksmith is usually sat in the customers car pushing buttons .
I also find that picking vehicle locks is much more satisfying compared with picking household locks as the process is kind of guaranteed to open the lock . You follow the procedure and the lock opens - 99 % of the time anyway . There ’ s always the one lock where some clever cloggs has forced it with a screwdriver or glued it ! ( luckily there ’ s often the passenger door or the boot left to open ).
I ’ ve been in the Auto locksmith game for almost 6 years now and after helping out a few local locksmiths get their Auto locksmith businesses off the ground , I was encouraged to put together some online training for anyone who ’ s considering going down this route . Of course it ’ s not going to teach you everything , both you and I know that you can never learn everything but it will give you a really good starting point and hopefully cut off a few years of learning time and save some costly mistakes .
Least of all , you will be able to make a sensible decision and decide if this is for you . With more spare time on our hands , we can use it wisely and “ sharpen our swords ” and come back even stronger for 2021 .
The initial training video is 100 % free and you can find it on my website link below this article .
www . locksmithingsecrets . com
72
JAN / FEB 2021
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