Industry News
We should count ourselves ‘ locky ’
Ravi Kotecha - Autowave
It seems like only yesterday when the UK entered its first lockdown , all the worry and panic , no toilet rolls , pasta or baked beans ; the whole world was grinding to a halt . But fast forward eight months and it seems our industry has only gotten stronger . As I look back at the mixture of feelings we experienced , the uncertainty , how long will it last , how many people are going to die , what does the future hold , it was quite frightening ; put simply , it was chaos .
» AS A DISTRIBUTOR , OUR SUCCESS depends on our customers , if our customers are busy then we see sales , if they are not , we are sat twiddling our thumbs . We have seen so many industries in turmoil during this era ; hospitality , tourism , aviation , beauty and many more .
However , one set of people who have remained in business are auto locksmiths . There are going to be a few exceptions due to local lockdowns , but I speak to customers every day , both locksmiths and our resellers and they are still busy enough to earn a handsome living . Ultimately people still need keys and our industry has remained strong throughout this pandemic . The question is , will it continue ? I am most certainly sure it will .
So many factors which we are hearing daily are creating a bigger need for auto locksmiths , many people no longer have company cars , so they are buying used cars with only one key . Used car sales have been at a record high for the past six months and that usually indicates more keys are needed .
There are also so many people avoiding public transport which in turn leads to more car use , and as a result they either lose keys or need more keys . The list of reasons goes on , and we are set to benefit hugely . With that in mind and money still coming in , we have been offered super cheap borrowing in the form of bounce back loans ( thanks Rishi ) so not only are locksmiths busy , they can invest in more equipment and by the time you need to actually start repaying the loan the equipment would have more than likely paid for itself . It ’ s a win / win situation for auto locksmiths . I think we should take advantage of the surge in business and the options on the table as we are very lucky to be in this position .
So , what ’ s the downside ? As usual , there is at least one . The industry is so attractive that we ’ re seeing a lot of new start-ups . We also see more of the weekend part timers and one-tool wonders popping up on Facebook , as it seems like easy money . It is an ongoing learning process being an auto locksmith and it looks a lot easier ( and cheaper ) than it actually is from the outside . The internet and social media offer so much knowledge and information about key programming , tools are getting cheaper and more powerful so we can only expect the market to become more populated . I think it ’ s a consequence of being in a lucrative industry , we can ’ t fight it , we just have to get on with it . As with any business , offer good service at a good price and success will prevail .
So , as I sign off , I have to be grateful that as a distributor our customers have been busy and given us the best year on record . We don ’ t know what the future holds in terms of the pandemic , but what we can be sure of , is there will be a need for our highly skilled services .
Oh , and check out our new website www . AutoWave . co . uk
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NOV / DEC 2020
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