Business Name: Lockability
Support received: Start Up Loan and Start & Grow
Location: Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
Website: http://lockability.com/
With varied background, including a stint as a professional youth footballer, sports therapist, a degree in Business Management, and working for both charities and corporates in the capital, Waheed Akhtar just couldn’t find the right fit. Finally, with support from Nwes, he unlocked his potential by setting up his own locksmith business, and now he has job satisfaction and a bright future ahead.
Waheed set up Lockability, and Nwes spoke to him about his start-up journey.
Tell us more about Lockability and your motivation for starting your own business.
Lockability, based in Rickmansworth and operating in the surrounding area, offers general day-to-day locksmith work, such as upgrades, installation, removal, and commercial security, as well as an emergency service to attend lockouts and broken locks.
After becoming tired with the daily commute to central London, and the long hours, I felt that I needed to be hands on and challenge myself. Despite being told that there wouldn’t be enough locksmith work, or that I didn’t have the experience, I wasn’t deterred and was able to secure a position as a trainee to learn the skills I needed.
What is your unique selling point?
Lockability offers additional services, which are of benefit to the community, such as recycling scrap and old locks for cash through a scrap metal merchant. Once a month, the money is donated to charity.
I also offer a free service for pensioners. We help the elderly get inside their property if they are locked out and we can use non-destructive methods. No other locksmith business I know offers this.
How did you develop your skills and experience?
My former employer was quite elderly. I learnt from the best but he could no longer do call out work. I did his call out work three to four evenings a week, off and on, for nearly four years before he retired.
At the same time, I completed additional courses to gain skills and certificates. It was then that I was in a position to consider forming my own business, and approached Nwes for advice.