Tent-Making Preachers: Locksmithing for Extra Income

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MAKING PREACHERS LOCKSMITHING FOR EXTRA INCOME

DAVID FIVE-STAR

CALVIN SECURITY

AUTHOR

Tent-Making Preachers Make Great Locksmiths! By David Calvin Copyright 2015 This is a summary book designed to give you, the part-time preacher, the information needed to assess a parttime career in lock servicing. This book is not an in-depth instructional manual on the techniques of locksmithing. This book is an overview of the locksmith business as a part-time business. Am I qualified to write this book? Yes. My name is David Calvin. Iam a graduate of David Lipscomb University with a degree in History and Bible. I started a locksmith business when I was an underpaid associate minister. After two years of doing lock work, I took it up full-time. Today, at age fifty-one, I work part-time and still bring home a full-time income. I am probably the most qualified person in the United States to help you explore the possibil-

ity of adding locksmithing to your career as a preacher. I will show you the pros and cons of the business as they relate to your work in ministry. I will also give you basic startup information that will consist of education, reference materials, tools, equipment

costs, licensing, insurance,

and advertising. I will be listing some of my other books in this book. If you want to become a locksmith, my other books are the ones to get. They will show you how to do the lock work. People tell me they are very easy to understand. Iam sorry this book is 99 cents. I would like for it to be free; but, right now, I do not have the time to jump through the hoops in order to make it free. Also, if you need to talk to me, you can

call me. You can find my number on my website at www.a-bestlocksmith.com. Or, you can email me from that site as well. Lots of people do! So, I will look forward to hearing from you!

Snapshot of a part-time minister/locksmith I did my church job from 8 to 12, Monday through Friday. People who called me and asked for my services had to wait until after 12.

Between 8 and 12,

I did lose a few car opening jobs. Sometimes, when a job came up before noon, and I didn’t have any pressing church business to attend to, I would take the job and put the hours back into my church work later. When I was doing work for the church, I usually changed the message on my voice mail.

Some people in the church didn’t like me doing lock work, though most of the members in my 700 member church didn’t care. The senior minister accused me of not doing the right amount of church work. When he did, I began to keep a large calendar on my wall, and recorded every mile I traveled, every hour I spent, and every program I led in the service of the church. I gave the church the hours they required.

One elder, who had a health issue, made my life miserable. He did not like the fact that I had to supplement my income with my locksmith business. It never occurred to him to pay me enough to raise a family of five. I took the job to begin with; I know that. But

when the kids came along, $15,000 a year, in 1988, was less poverty. ally, I got fed up with the elder tion and left the work of the My income for the first week

Eventuin queschurch. after my

resignation was $1800. It was not fulltime work.

Benefits of locksmithing for the minister People know, trust, and love you. They know you will not treat them unfairly. They will not only use your services, they will refer you to others in the area. You may not know that the top advertisers under “locksmiths” on search engines are thugs and criminals. Not all of them are; but there are many! Here is how these top-tier advertising locksmiths work. First, they advertise low,

unrealistic service call rates. When a prospective customer calls, the scam locksmith company quotes an unrealistically low price that is vague. When the scam locksmith shows up and finishes the work, the bill, which should

be $75, is $350. I have seen this firsthand. When the customer refuses to pay the exorbitant fee, the locksmith threatens the customer with a lawsuit. At that point, the customer panics and pays the bill.

You can be flexible with your jobs. Take as many or a few lock jobs as you wish. As aminister, you can juggle quite a few things. Locksmith work is light, quick work. If you choose to offer residential only, or a combination of residential and commercial, you can still choose to focus on a narrow service sector. You can offer house re-keying services, which is easy, install deadbolts and door viewers, or do everything there is by offering commercial re-keying, exit alarms, panic bars, etc. If you want to focus on opening cars, you can do that. The key

for you will be to focus. If you want something easy and clean, offer to rekey houses. The money is good. You can always go down to Lowe’s and become a corporate slave. If you work 4 hours a day for $10 an hour, you are not thinking. Wouldn't it be better to spend 4 hours a day telling people about your lock business and landing a $150 house rekey for just thirty minutes of work? Or,

wouldn’t you enjoy making $55 to $95 opening acar? Imagine getting three of those in the afternoon! Or, what if you re-keyed four houses each week? That

could be $600 worth of income for four hours of your time!

Choose a business sector you are interested in. First, you can offer residential lock servicing. You can repair and replace knobs and deadbolts, re-key the existing locks very easily, install door viewers, and tighten screws on hinges. My book, The Dollar-A-Minute Locksmith,

is designed to show you all of the scenarios you will encounter in the business of residential locksmith work. This is what I would advise you explore. Residential lock work is very easy. In the event you have a bad lock, you don’t bother fixing it - you replace it. Also, please check out my other book,

The

Lock

Guide!

Residential

.

THE LOCK GUIDE #1 2

Solutions #1, at Amazon Books. This is a great book to put into your smartphone. In the front index, it lists the problems your customers will call you about. Click on the problem, and you go straight to the answers and solutions! The links are still good, but the covers have been changed. I also offer a DVD course at www.a-bestlocksmith.com.

Residential Solutions 1

kindle

Second, you can focus on commercial lock servicing. If you decide to do this, you may as well add residential lock work as well. In the event you are called to key a large business, whether it is a factory or a department store, you may be able to do those jobs in stages. Sometimes, I break the larger jobs down in to smaller sections and complete them over a period of a few weeks. You can brand yourself as the small business FAST store re-key guy. That means, you only do small business with four doors or less. Maybe you do stores with only two doors. These are quick, lucrative jobs. Sometimes, a small business cannot get their regular locksmith. These jobs, depending on the types of locks,

can bring you from

$85 to $125

or

more. If the store has only one front glass door, you can just drop in a good

quality, $8.00 lock, make them five keys, and still make the $95! I doit all the time. If you want, you can add back door alarms to your list of items you sell. For example, I install many of the Detex EAX-500 alarms. They install in less than twenty minutes. I pay about

@)

{ill© §

$110 for one and install them for $325 each. Here is an EX-500 below. By the way, it comes with its own mounting template. Two screws hold the body to the door, two hold a small magnet.

If you are, or can become, a good salesperson, you can offer Detex Alarms

only. Now, if you do this, you will need to be able to re-key the key cylinders. I can key these in two minutes or less. Here is a link to Detex. Take time to explore these products online. You will be offering the EAX-500, the ECL-230D, and the panic bar. I would talk people out of the panic bars, though. There is another product you can sell and install. This would be the Exit Security product known as the Exit Security Bar. This is the finest product in the world for keeping burglars out of businesses. This bar comes ready to fit

just about any size door, whether single or double. Here is the Exit Security website. Below is a picture. These are easy to install. Below is a floor model. Do not underestimate this products value to businesses needing back and side door protection, especially since it is illegal to have TWO locks on a door with a lit emergency exit sign above it. This lock is used after hours so it will comply with lock codes.

Here is a link to my book on commercial locksmith book at Amazon Books. It is called The Simple Commercial Locksmith. This book makes the case that, if you know how to rekey and apply the three basic lock cylinders used in commercial doors, you can do commercial lock work. The bottom line? All locking devices use one of the three types of cylinders. Go to Amazon and look at this book.

Also, you will need The Basic of Lock Cylinder Rekeying, Easy to Learn and

Earn. This is at Amazon. However, if you get The Dollar-A-Minute Locksmith book for residential work, it is included

at no additional charge.

Third, you can focus in car openings. This is a very easy field to get into. All you need is a tool kit and a package of invoices. There are a number of kits on the market. Click on the links. I like the Z-Tool kit. This company offers online training classes and tips. Don’t worry about which tools you need. Just buy the master kit. Also check out ProLock. I think they sell too many tools, but I like the long reach, through-thewindow tool. You can register with roadside assistance companies if you do this. This is a good business if you want some night work. You can

get from $45 to over $150.

The price

will depend how far you have to drive and the time of day. Also, most people have full auto insurance which covers the costs of towing, jumping, lock outs,

etc. The customer can submit his paid invoice for reimbursement from his insurance company. How great is that? Tell him that his insurance is likely to cover the car opening, and he won't mind paying you what you ask. Fourth, you can add auto key making. This is expensive. I would advise against this. However, in the education section, I will add a class listing if you wish to explore it further. Fifth, you can work on safes. This can be a good trade to get into. However, you will probably have to travel far and wide in order to make any money. Also, opening locked safes can take all day, or even two days, if you run into trouble. I will give you a website for this shortly. Summary of This Section If you are a minister who needs to work at a part-time job, choose a lock product like the Exit Security Bar, focus on residential, or become a locksmith that offers quick rekeying for small businesses. Is there another product out there you can sell? You want short, good-paying jobs. However, be sure

to investigate any of the lock servicing sectors that interest you. Now, let’s look at education.

Education Here is a link to Lockmasters. I have taken a few courses from this company and they do a great job of teaching. However, know that classroom experience is no substitute from practicing in your own home, or in the home of one of your friends. Yes, I would like for you to buy some of my other books. I make no secret about that. Why I want you to buy them is because they offer you REAL WORLD SECNARIOS that you will encounter. Here is a link to Lockmasters Security Institute. Look at all of their class listings and you will get an idea of what is possible for you as a minister. Also check out FoleyBelsaw. This is the school I used when I started. However, much of what they may want to teach you may be things you do not want to offer as a service. Penn Foster also offers a locksmith education.

I offer a residential course on my website. It comes with the basic hand tools you need to learn the locks and the techniques used to service house

locks. AS of this writing, it is $139 with free postage. My teaching technique is unique in that I believe you learn the locks and the skills follow. You can see it at www.a-bestlocksmith.com. If you can learn the residential side, you have over 3/4ths of the commercial side down pat!

Tools The kinds of tools you will use will depend on the service you want to offer. If you decide you want to offer car key making services, you will learn the tools you need through the classes you take. For out purposes here, I am going to give you a tool breakdown for residential and commercial locksmithing. I will not include car opening tool kits because I have already given you the links for those tools. Let me give you a list of locksmith tool suppliers so you can go online and check them out. Or, better yet, get their

phone numbers from their websites and callthem. Here are the two companies I use. The first is McDonald Dash in Memphis, Tennessee. They will not sell to you if you live in a state that requires locksmiths to be licensed. More on this later. The other company I use is US Lock Corporation. Or, just shop online. Yes, you can find sellers online who will sell you pick sets. Here is what you will need for rekeying locks. 1 . Lab pin kit, .003 increments 2 . HPC Hollow Brass Follower Kit 3 . Shims for cylinders

4 . Common key blanks 5. Kwikset Reset Cradle 6. Kwikset Cylinder Removal tool 7. Screw drivers, including Torx 8 .

Vice Grips, pliers, and needle nose pliers 9. Optional key machine 10. Allen wrenches, standard and metric

11. Kwikset, or other, door bore for cutting dead bolt holes

There are quite locksmith tools

a few other novelty out there. You may

want some of them later; but I don’t use much more than this.

What about the costs of tools? On my website, you can be equipped with the basic locksmith tools and a key ma-

chine for just under $1000.00.

That

will not include spare locks. I usually order these when I need them, or go down to Lowe’s when I need residential grade locks. You may be able to find them cheaper online. However, I do not make much on such a sale.

Licensing If your state requires you to have a license, I suggest you become a member

of ALOA

(Associated

Locksmiths

of America), and ask them to get you ready for licensing. Before you gotothe ALOA site and start spending money, contact

your

state’s

Department

of

Commerce and Insurance and tell them you want to become a locksmith. Or, check with your state’s Secretary of

State. Either of these agencies can direct you to the right people. In Tennessee, our Department of Commerce has a complete listing of online course you can take that will qualify you for your locksmith license. How easy is that? Now, if you are having problems finding your regulating agency, contact ALOA. ALOA offers classes around the country and offers its own locksmith grading program. I do not use ALOA. But you may have to. Also, check out Elite CEU. They offer an online class that gets you the hours you need to get a license. But be sure to go to the site, check out the course offerings, and then call them. I have used Elite CEU for my continuing education requirements for years. Also, you can

spend as little as $25 with Elite CEU and take a course in one of the fields you are considering. If you are going to get into lock work, spend a little and take a few classes. Ask you church if they will help financially.

Reference Materials

When you become a locksmith, you can get a number of excellent books about different aspects of locksmithing by going to the National Locksmith. They also have a handy locksmith rate book. It wouldn’t hurt you to subscribe to their magazine. McDonald Dash and US Lock also have some reference materials you may need.

Miscellaneous Legal Issues 1. Insurance. If you have to be licensed in your state, your local agency will tell you the amount of insurance you need to have. If not, shop. Talk to your local insurance agent. Your insurance shouldn’t be over $500 a year for $2,000,000 of liability coverage. 2. Sales taxes. Contact your state’s department of revenue online. You should be able to register your business online. Be sure, and this is important, to ask your agent what items are sales taxable! In Tennessee, if we install a lock on your door, we don’t charge you sales tax. If we put the lock in your

hand when you buy it, you pay sales tax. Ask them. 3. Accounting. Be sure to have an accountant to handle your year-end taxes. She can tell you about any deductions you may need to be aware of. 4. Business license. Check with your state’s department of revenue. Also, go down to your county courthouse and ask your clerk about what you need to do to be legal in your city and in your county.

Vehicle You do not need a van! I have used a car for along time now. I drive a Ford Focus that gets 38 mpg and has an incredible amount of space in the trunk. I also do not have my car lettered. I like being unobserved. The tools you will need for residential and commercial lock work are few. Besides, you will need your car for church work. If you can afford two vehicles, do it. But it isn’t necessary.

Advertising

1. Yellow Pages. Forget it, unless you live in small town and can get a nice ad for less than the cost of a service call.

2.

Website.

Get a Vista Print website

for about $30 a month.

However, you

can get a Blogger site for free and use it as a website. Just add pages. Or, if you want to spend

$150

a month,

you can

get Hibu, who I personally despise, to design your site. They will also see that you are showing up where you want to be. They once did a site for me and the IT guy was illiterate. I fired them. You can also find YP online and inquire. 3. Business cards. I also use a yellow and black NEBS sticker and a magnet. 4. Get my new book, Sky Rocket Your Sales by Throwing Google Overboard. You can find it at Amazon Books. If you get it, please give me a rating! I would really, really appreciate your opinion.

Stationery I use NEBS for all my stationery. I get the small, three-part carbonless. I hand the pink to the customer, put the yel-

low in accounts receivable, and put the white in the permanent pile. Iam sorry I couldn't offer you this book for free.

Of course, Amazon will allow

me five free days. 99 cents is as low as I can go. Please review my book - if you will. And

here

are

some

others

relative

to

locksmithing. 1. The Dollar-A-Minute Locksmith — Part-Time and Full Time Income

Servicing House Locks 2. The Residential Lock Repair Coach

3. The Simple Commercial Locksmith 4. Drilling Open and Bypassing Locks — Tips and Tricks 5. David Calvin’s Locksmith Bundle

6. The Basics of Lock Cylinder Keying 7. Servicing and Replacing Commercial Door Closers

8. Vandal Proofing Commercial Doors for Profit 9. Tent-Making Preachers Locksmithing for Extra Income

-

10. Skyrocket Your Sales by Throwing Google Overboard Again, thanks for reading! Everybody who buys my books are free to email or call me. Use my website or all me at 615-308-6794.

Best Regards, David Calvin