You might ask yourself why to start a locksmith business. There are many reason, by one main reason is the locks on the doors of most homes keep the skilled burglar out! This is especially true if the only thing slowing him down is a standard key-in-the-knob lock. When burglaries increase, and people become aware of the need for better locks to protect what they own; thus the locksmith enjoys an increased income during that time.

Are you suited to this type of business?

What formal training do you need?

Who are your customers likely to be?

Who will you be competing against?

What are the key issues affecting the market?

How can you promote this enterprise?

What start up costs can you expect?

What are the legal issues to consider?

Consider the following:

Licenses: Does your state require licensing? Does the city or county? Does your state require registering a fictitious name for your business or are you going to create a LLC or other corporation for your business? What does the city/county/state require you to do: bonding/insurance/tests/fingerprints/background check?

Advertising: Can you get into the yellow pages for this year? Business cards, flyers, etc.

Essentials: telephone and/or cell phone, tools, advertising, knowledge.

If you have tools that you own that you are going to use for business, include them with the business plan. Of course, they will be business tools after that so consider the options first. Call the local locksmiths and get current rates for service calls, rekeying, safe work and do your best to stay within an average. Don't start out your business by undercutting your competition that can only lead to self-destruction.

The business plan is an essential tool in attracting Locksmith funding to get you started. It is a dynamic document that should be reviewed regularly in order to monitor and measure the performance of your business.

The business plan will help you:

• set targets

• collate all your ideas

• plan for the future of your enterprise, and

• verify that your idea for a Locksmith business is realistic and workable or not!

Most locksmithing businesses are still one-man operations. In many instances, it's a husband and wife family affair, with the husband handling the mechanical end and the wife doing the books and financial end of the business. Most of these small operations concentrate on the repair side of the business, and deliberately choose to remain small in size. However just because locksmithing is a "personal" kind of business, and can be started on a shoestring and operated out of the home, that's not to say that a locksmithing service cannot be developed into a million dollar business. On the contrary, there are a number of operations in some of the larger metropolitan areas that have several mobile locksmith vans on the road, in addition to retail store locations. These operations are grossing well into the million dollar figures every year.