Introduction

It is touted amongst the various so called locksmith training sites that there exists a national shortage of locksmiths in the UK , Also that you will be a fully qualified locksmith after their 2 or 3 day course , and for a very low set up Investment you will earn a very easy £1000 + per week .

PIGS  MAY  ALSO  FLY !

There should exist a law against these false claims and these obvious scams that aim to achieve little more than to relieve you of your money. Sadly we as an industry are badly let down by our Governments who for some reason do not deem the locksmith industry as worthy or important enough to be regulated or controlled, so it has become a free for all, rife with scams and rip offs.

Surely everyone who enters the UK Locksmith industry via one of these short courses, does so having completed sufficient research into :

The Local Market place for this industry ?

The Competition and amount of available work ?

The Real Cost of Setting Up as a Locksmith with any chance of success ?

The real length of time it takes to become competent and the training required ?

The Cost  and methods of Marketing yourself within this industry ?

The real cost of stock and equipment required ?

The business training such as book-keeping , marketing and admin required ?

The additional carpentry training and upvc training etc required ?

Surely once this initial research is done, everyone considering a self employed career as a locksmith formulates a workable business plan highlighting?

Projected market share and turnover

Initial and ongoing investment plans required

Marketing plan and budget to achieve projected turnover

Strengths and weaknesses of their competitors

Their own strengths and weaknesses ?

Working out their prices to encompass the costs and make a profit

And show a workable business plan to survive and prosper.

PIGS  AGAIN  MAY  FLY  !

Sadly this is not the case , very few consider any of this , despite it being common business sense, thus the vast majority may as well flush their hard earned money down the toilet.

The Old Saying of If It Looks Too Good To Be True , Then It Probably Is ! is certainly very relevant here.

In Fact even if you follow the above steps your likelihood of survival is still not great within this industry, more new start ups fail in the uk locksmith industry than any  other industry sector.

The Facts

The truth is entirely the opposite of the hype you will read on the internet from many of the so called locksmith training firms , Many little more than novices themselves, resulting to training new hopefuls to make their living as they fail to do so as locksmiths.

The claim that a shortage of locksmiths exists in the UK is totally false , The truth is quite the opposite , the UK Locksmith market is so heavily over saturated that very little call out work exists, despite the high costs of advertising, with the market shares becoming smaller by the month, with most areas having far more advertising locksmiths than work for them.

The claim of fully qualified in a few days following their training is also totally false, in order to become a competent locksmith it will take years, certainly not days.

Qualified is a poor choice of wording, as no recognised locksmith qualification exists in the uk, so in reality there exists no such thing as a qualified locksmith.

You will see ads for a city and guilds qualification obtained in days, it carries no worth at all and is about as recognised as a piece of toilet paper currently.

All that is taught on most of these courses is very basic lock entry , via very basic picking methods and destructive drill entry, which certainly is not in any way being a trading locksmith, which is why so many consumers end up with destroyed doors and huge bills to put right this damage.

With the fact that all that is taught is basic entry and destructive entry methods , these hopefuls then hope to earn a living , though it will take them months even years in some cases to become even competent in these areas, even if enough lock out work existed to make such a living in the first place.

It is a fact that on average only 10% of what an average general locksmith does in a day involves lock picking, lock outs on average form only 10% of the calls a general locksmith will receive , with service , fitting and repair work forming the bulk of their calls.

Sadly for the new start ups coming from these courses , they know very little on the whole and are unable to take and complete the bulk of jobs they may be offered, as their training and business plan did not cover or include what was needed to survive, such as;

Carpentry skills for burglary repairs and lock fitting

UPVC Fitting and service skills for failed UPVC Systems

Fitting and servicing panic hardware

Fitting and servicing access control systems

Basic welding for fitting to steel doors and gates

Planning and fitting master systems

In Depth Knowledge of all relevant british standards regarding all the above systems

Product identification knowledge

Etc etc etc

So armed with their few days training in basic lock entry able to only take and complete around 10% of the calls that they get badly , what is the true likelihood of success ?

What is the true likelihood of their survival in their new chosen career ?

The answer truly is Very Slim Indeed !

Next we look at the claim of very low set up costs, this is of course farcical , the average established general locksmith carries at least £30,000 in stock and equipment and advertising, small in comparison to many businesses, but not the small investment you may have expected from the written hype.

To have any real chance of survival the new start up now needs the following investment as a real minimum investment on start up;

GENERAL LOCKSMITHING  £10,000

AUTO LOCKSMITH                  £20,000

SAFE ENGINEER                       £30,000

NB: These on average are minimum required investment levels just to get up and running, continued investment and increased advertising investment is also needed, as well as increased training investment, with almost no return in the first 2 years.

It is not unusual for an established general and auto locksmith to have an investment in stock , equipment and advertising of around £100,000 , and a new start up believes he will compete with these established locksmith firms and make a living on an investment of a few hundred pounds.

The Final lie exposed is the one that states an easy £1000 per week , most don’t make 10% of this in their 1^st year, the vast majority go under in their 1^st 12 months.

The Truth And The Reality Is Far Different from the hype , A more truthfull and factual statement would be;

Your chances of survival as a new locksmith in the uk following a short course are less than 10% in a vastly overpopulated and over saturated market place , Your investment will be very high indeed for next to no return in the first few years , in an industry without qualifications it will take years to even become competent and that you will need to continuously reinvest to keep up with the changes.

This is the cold hard fact of a career as a new self employed locksmith in the uk, believe it or ignore it , we have tried to address the facts as best we can, and hope we have saved some from losing their hard earned cash , or at least opened the eyes of those who do enter the trade, so that they do so with little false hope and with eyes wide open.

THE  SOLUTION  AND  BEST  WAY  TO  SURVIVE

Enter this industry with eyes wide open , do so properly having carried out full research and formulated workable business plans and models.

Forget the short cuts to big money, it just does not happen , Look for full and thorough training from specialist organisations.

For Non Destructive entry training then the ICL is about the most thorough in this area .

For The Majority of General Locksmith training other than non destructive entry then the most recognised route and safest is the MLA training programs.

For Auto locksmithing , the only safe and full route is through the MLA or the ALA.

All of the above are long term training and career options , you wont be a locksmith in days , but you will have the best chances of survival within this industry.

But As A bare Minimum to set up as a general locksmith You Will Require;

In Depth And Full Lock Entry Training

In Depth Product Knowledge

In Depth Knowledge of Current British Standards

Good Carpentry training skills and knowledge

Good UPVC training skills and Knowledge

No Single training provider  currently supply all areas of this training in a single course, as this would literally take years to complete, the nearest solutions are those provided by the ICL and The MLA , alternatively individual training and occupational competence can be obtained by individual specialists in each field.

Full Non Destructive Members Of The ICL , Fully Police Checked And Fully Vetted.