- First visit completion is the biggest profit driver. Stock decides it.
- Buy the specialist tool the third time you decline a job for want of it.
- Track what actually gets used. Unused stock is money on a shelf.
- A marked vehicle reassures a customer at midnight and advertises all day.
Building up in stages
Start with what covers the most calls. Pick set and tension tools, a plug follower and pinning kit, a rekeying kit for the two or three most common residential brands in your area, a hand duplicator, basic hand tools, a drill with cobalt bits, and a stock of the deadbolts and knob sets you sell most.
Add a code cutting machine when the volume justifies it, then automotive programming when you have decided to take automotive work seriously. Both are large investments that pay back only with steady volume.
Resist buying the exotic tool for the job you have not been offered yet. Buy the tool the third time you have to decline a job for want of it.
Stock that pays for itself
Carry the top selling hardware rather than a wide thin range. In most areas that is a handful of deadbolt and knob combinations in two or three finishes, common cylinders, strike plates, three inch screws, and the blanks for the five keyways that cover most local doors.
Every item carried is money sitting on a shelf, so track what actually gets used. A part that has ridden around for a year is a part to stop restocking.
Organise it so anything can be found in the dark, in the rain, with a customer watching. Labeled drawers and a fixed place for every tool save more time over a year than any single piece of equipment.
Insurance, bonding and the vehicle
Carry general liability insurance. You work on other people's property, you drill things, and eventually something will be damaged. Many commercial customers will not hire an uninsured contractor at all, so it is a revenue question as well as a risk question.
Bonding is required in some states and requested by many commercial clients. It is not expensive and it removes an objection.
Mark the vehicle. A plain van arriving at a house at midnight frightens people. A marked vehicle with a business name, a phone number and a license number where applicable does the opposite, and it advertises continuously while parked at every job you do.
Common Questions
How much stock should I carry?
Enough to finish the ten jobs you actually do most, and nothing for the job you did once in 2019. Dead stock in a van is money you cannot spend.
Is a van worth insuring separately?
Yes. Standard vehicle cover does not pay for the tools inside it, and a stolen van with a full kit ends a small business rather than inconveniencing it.
How do I stop losing tools on jobs?
One tray per job, everything back in it before the van door shuts. It sounds trivial and it is the difference between replacing picks monthly and never.