Anyone on here a Locksmith?

I was thinking about getting into it and wanted some advice..
what is the best way to start?

I have seen 3-5 day courses advertised but some people have said they are a scam..

If anyone knows anything about this it would be a big help..

Cheers,
Mark.

 

If it's only 3 to 5 days you won't learn much, apart from how to drill a barrel out.

.

 

yer dont do it,

you will not lean enough in a weeks course

MLA do some good training couses and you can join as a student member

trouble is the trade has bean done to death,

in my area, when i started 19 years ago there was three pages of ads in the local yellow pages , this year i counted 13 pages,

most are whot we in the trade know as cow boys, but they all nibble away at the proffessional guys,

so in terms of work you will stuggle to get many jobs,

i make my money from having retail shops and mostly from alarms and cctv these day, which both have lots of regulations so cuts down on the cow boys.

 

As Martin says, trade is dead now, soooooo many cowboys its unreal. And as for adverts, its a joke in London, and unless your doing 30k a year in advertising you dont even get a show really.
I make most of my money from sub contracting now and a few of my own contacts in apartment blocks and so on.

 

always wanted to be one myself,, so taught myself how to lock pick and make bump keys

 

So its no good then? Do you think everywhere is the same bad for getting work? Im in the north east?

 

whole country is the same,

i do speak to other locksmiths from all over,

people i know are now having to spend silly money on advertising to get work,

i only spend 15k on advertising a year, but with most of my work coming from two retail shops and 20 years trading, lots of repeat business,

problem you have is you have missed the locksmith boat by ten years,

with the internet and al these taining couses ( which is just easy money for the training company) they have flooded the locksmith labour market,

my 2 pence worth, but whot do i know with only 25 years doing it.

 

no probs. cheers mate.

 

Hit the nail on the head there Martin, really wish I had got into it earlier. Im suffering at the moment, and by the more seasoned Locksmiths such as yourself I'm told its deff not what it used to be.