All professions have a history to them and there is also a history to tell regarding the way that most professions have changed. The process of protecting properties and storage boxes became an important service once people started to see the importance of protecting their possessions.
The locksmith profession has been around for several millenniums and it can be dated as far as ancient Egypt with an approximate 4000 years of existence. The oldest locks had a very rustic mechanism and they were made of wood.
The oldest lock that has been found in any location was located in the Assyrian Empire ruins with a very likely creation that dates back to 704 BC. Then, we saw a huge leap in the process of creating locks as metallurgy emerged in the 18th century.
The first few locks used a pin mechanism similar to the one we see in some modern locks with keys. Back then, those keys were extremely big and rustic, but they did the job as they provided the only access to those locks.
Given that these locks were made of wood, their ability to safeguard was very limited. They did serve their purpose to a certain extent, but not the point that made them strong enough to handle too much pressure.
This was a great time to be a locksmith and their work had great value due to the fact that only those who learned this art has the skills to make the locks, and industrial lock production was still a long way ahead.
Locksmiths had to adapt once locks started to be produced by industries in massive numbers, the locksmith was suddenly out of a job as the mass production of these locks was much cheaper than the work provided by an independent locksmith.
This forced the locksmith to learn the process of repairing industrial locks in order to stay in business. That continues to be the most common way for locksmiths to profit to this day.
Luckily, the damages caused to locks are quite common and people also require key replacements or lock modifications due to loss of keys, attempted breakings and more.
An established profession
The locksmith profession is now well established and part of every community in the world. Most locksmiths are now providing work that expands beyond basic locksmith requirements and they are now involved in security as well as other important configurations for household safety.
Now locksmiths are required to have a variety of skills and to offer several types of services in order to remain competitive. This includes having a good emergency 24/7 service, having a website with reliable information, and having quality customer service.
These are the kind of things that help locksmiths achieve better results with their business in a more competitive world. It is also important to note that the digital era allows locksmiths to have a better and more efficient way to communicate with their customers.
Now they are likely to use mobile devices and messaging systems online to offer their services and provide updates to their customers. This has made the process of finding more clients easier thanks to the use of the internet.
Final thoughts
There are all kinds of ways in which the locksmith profession has changed, but at the same time, the work that locksmith professionals do is largely the same. It’s important to consider that there are many ways in which this industry has evolved and the main thing to remember is that independent locksmiths always provide a much more personalized job than industrial locksmith services.
