Business By The Numbers
ASSA ABLOY is publishing a website called Future Lab (http://futurelab.assaabloy.com/en/). An editor from their website contacted me recently and conducted an interview with me about the locksmith industry. His questions concentrated on topics which affect locksmiths today and on topics which will affect locksmiths in the future.
His first question set the tone for the conversation. He asked what I considered the role of locksmiths to be in the past, in the present, and in the future. After some thought I decided on five very general locksmith functions: 1) Key duplication and origination; 2) Lock repair; 3) hardware installations; 4) vehicle lock servicing and 5) access control.
For many years a locksmith could be a 'full service' provider. When the public had a security issue of any type, their local locksmith was the immediate choice to solve the problem. Almost every lock mechanism was mechanical in nature and a knowledge of basic lock construction plus a stock of replacement parts kept locksmiths busy and customers satisfied.
As lock systems become more complex and electronics is added to the mix, it is more difficult for a one-person business to be prepared for every security issue situation. Locksmith businesses which offer full service today usually have additional employees and each employee is usually a specialist in one specific area of the business. One-person locksmith businesses today may find it more profitable to determine one or two specialties required in their area and concentrate on only offering automotive, safe work or access control servicing.
As Locksmith Ledger prepares for the future, our editorial staff would like to know what direction your locksmith business has taken. Your answers will assist us in what the topics of future articles will be. Take a moment and send me an E-mail with the importance in order of the five topics listed above. Example: If you concentrate on automotive lock servicing then perhaps your order of preference would be 41235. If you do not offer access control servicing then your numbers may be 4123. Send an E-mail with your numbers to: [email protected]. Your answer is important.