Lyndal on Business Class

Full transcript

Made from the recording and checked by hand. Tap a time to listen from that point.

Part 1: Lock Dimensions and its services 0:00

0:00Jason And one of your members is Lyndal Robson.

Gina Yes. Lyndal Robson is the founder and owner of Lock Dimensions, a Locksmith.

Jason And you're a member of PBN?

Lyndal Yes, I am.

Jason Tell us about your experience with PBN.

Lyndal It's been a really positive experience for me. I've only been a member for a few months now, and I'm getting to meet a lot of different people in the community, local businesses. Lots of networking and friendly faces. I really enjoy it.

Jason What attracted you to a networking group?

Lyndal It was a case of just trying to get the name of my business out there, do something a little bit different, spread the word. Then I had met Gina through another network and she invited me along to visit Peninsula Business Network, and off I went.

0:50Gina And one of the things that we do is everybody stands up at the meetings and talks about their business to the whole crowd. So there's 40 people there that didn't know about it, and now they know. So we like doing that for members.

Jason And you do it every single meeting where there's a networking opportunity. I would like to introduce you properly, Lyndal. Lyndal Robson is the owner and operator of Lock Dimensions, a mobile Locksmith servicing the Mornington Peninsula area. Lyndal found her calling to become a Locksmith after deciding to change from corporate life, and commenced her Locksmithing apprenticeship at age 37. Lyndal is a proud member of the Master Locksmiths Association of Australia and brings friendly and professional service to every home she visits. You'll get an honest evaluation of your locks and practical solutions to your Locksmithing needs. Lyndal is also part of the Lady Tradies community and works from a fully equipped van named Wilma. So everything from key cutting to new locks is done at your location, anywhere on the Mornington Peninsula. Thanks so much for being here, Lyndal.

1:45Gina Wilma! I didn't know that.

Jason Purple Wilma. Purple is definitely your colour.

Lyndal It is, yes.

Jason So, Lock Dimensions. Lyndal, what makes you special or different from other Locksmithing services in the area?

2:05Lyndal Well, it's all me. When you call up and book in, it's me you speak to, and then it's me who'll show up on your doorstep with my tool bag. I make a big effort to make sure my customers understand what's happening. Clear communication. They know what kind of money they'd be looking at, and I make sure they're comfortable having a random stranger in their home knowing all about their security, where it's strong and where it's not.

2:35Jason Because it is quite, I don't want to use the word intimate, but a bit of a personal space, isn't it? Having someone come in who can essentially open all your locks and doors, have a look around and understand all your security needs. It's also interesting: I did a quick bit of research and found that in Australia, the Locksmithing male to female ratio is 95.7% male, 4.3% female. So you're actually quite a minority. You would know that stat, having gone through an apprenticeship and worked in the industry. Often we're told that everyone's equal, but why is a female Locksmith attractive to some of your clients?

3:25Lyndal I think it changes the dynamic when you walk through the door. A lot of people feel a lot more comfortable, and perhaps find me a little bit more relatable. There's a lot of big, burly, grunting blokes that will come on in, and people just don't quite know how to speak with them and get their point across, or they feel a little bit intimidated. I'm cracking jokes and being a clown and making sure they're comfortable, and they know they can talk to me about whatever they need, so that we can get the best solution for them as easily as possible.

3:55Jason And most of the work, I understand, is residential, and you have the van, Wilma. What are your typical services?

4:10Lyndal Probably the main thing I do is rekeying. That's basically opening up the lock and changing the internal pins, so the current keys will no longer work and the customer can be confident the keys I hand them are the only ones that work in that lock. It's really great when you've just moved into a new property, or if you've had kids that have grown up and handed out keys to who knows who, and you just want to be sure nobody random is going to let themselves in one day.

4:40Jason Do you know, I've never really thought about that.

Gina No, me neither, actually.

Jason A good reason to get your locks changed when you buy a new home.

Lyndal Absolutely. I highly recommend it to everybody who's moving, even if you're just a tenant. Your real estate agent's going to want a copy of that new key, but it doesn't mean you can't do it and feel safe securing your home.

5:05Gina And especially when you have teenage children, because they bring their friends around, and you don't really know who they may have cut keys for, or who else you might have forgotten you gave keys to.

Lyndal Yeah, that's right.

Jason Locksmithing has an element of security. You mentioned, and I've also read on your website, that you do security evaluations. What's a security evaluation, for the listener?

5:25Lyndal I'll come in and walk around your house with you and take a look at every lock on every door and all of your windows, perhaps doors and windows where some locks are missing or could be replaced. If you're just after a casual chat, we'll talk through some options, where I think you could improve, or things you might be unsure about where I can reassure you that it's actually really great and doing its job. Or after the fact, I can put together a formal quote, so you've got everything in writing and time to figure out what you want to work on.

5:55Jason And is there a fee for you to come out and do that?

Lyndal At this stage there's not a fee. It's just something I provide to help people feel secure. There's been a suggestion of maybe putting some money towards charity, which I'm really liking the idea of, so I'm going to look into that.

6:20Jason So basically you come out and use your expertise to look at the security aspects of the locks, windows and doors, and talk about any concerns or issues that may have happened in the past. One of the other things I think is important to ask is: what don't you do? I often ask that because people think you do everything, and Locksmithing is kind of broad.

6:45Lyndal One of the main things I don't do is after-hours service. So if you lock yourself out in the middle of the night and try to call me, I'm pretty confident I'll be asleep. Something else I get asked a lot is car keys, automotive Locksmithing. I have some contacts, so if you do call and ask, I have numbers I can pass on. But as we mentioned, I focus mostly on residential, plus some light commercial. Essentially residential locks and windows.

7:20Jason Interesting. The other thing I noticed on your website, and I should mention your website is lockd.au, is MLAK keys. [A short section is unclear in the recording.]

7:30Lyndal So that is a high-security restricted key for disability services. It's for disabled toilets, adult-size change rooms for disabled people, and a thing called the Liberty Swing, which is basically so kids in wheelchairs can go down to playgrounds and have a swing like every other kid. Having them on this particular key means they're specifically for the people who need them, and not any old person can get in there. Public toilets often get a bit destroyed. This way they stay clean and usable, so the people who need them can go in and use them.

8:35Jason So how would people know if they're eligible for an MLAK?

Lyndal The best place to find information is my website or the Master Locksmiths Association. Essentially, if you have a disability pass, for example. Local councils can get keys, NDIS providers can get keys, carers, people within the industry. They just need to provide evidence that they're legitimately in need.

9:05Jason And the key point here is that not every Locksmith can provide these?

Lyndal Not every Locksmith can. You need to be a member of the Master Locksmiths Association, who created this system. And if you want to cut the key, you have to go through a registration process, which I've done, so I can cut these keys and provide them.

9:30Jason Fantastic. Thanks so much for being here, Lyndal, and Gina from PBN. We're going to play your first song, Lyndal, and we'll be right back. This is the Business Class program, my name is Jason Tully. Here is Lyndal's first song.

Part 2: Becoming a Locksmith 9:47

9:47Jason Good afternoon, this is the Business Class program. My name is Jason Tully, and I have Lyndal Robson from Lock Dimensions, Locksmith on the Mornington Peninsula. lockd.au is the website where you can learn more about what Lyndal does. And Gina, President of the Peninsula Business Network, is also here. Good afternoon to you both again. Lyndal, that was your first song. What's the story behind it?

10:13Lyndal That was the song I walked down the aisle to. It was a bit of a theme of life for my husband and me around that time: you want to do something, let's go, jump.

Jason So was it the song leading from the altar?

Lyndal No, it was to the altar.

10:33Jason Interesting. So Lyndal, one of the things we heard in your introduction was that you started Locksmithing when you were 37. Thirty-seven years young, which I would have thought is unusual for most Locksmith apprentices. Plus you're also in the 4% or so of female Locksmiths. Take us back to before you became a Locksmith. Was it a dream of yours when you were younger?

11:03Lyndal No, it wasn't something I thought about until probably my mid-20s, I would say. It had never even come up as an option. Doing a trade hadn't really been presented as an option for my generation at school. It was always basically heading off towards an office or uni. I did all science and maths at school, so maybe something like that, but nothing was particularly guided. Getting into a trade was an idea that dawned a bit later, when I was starting to get a bit more courage to go off and probably be the only girl in a big old land of blokes.

11:48Jason What was your first profession after school? Where did you end up?

Lyndal I went off to uni and did a business degree, then I worked in events, then at a finance company doing data entry. I ended up on the IT team, and then actually worked in IT for seven or so years, doing systems administration. Absolutely nothing related to locks.

12:18Jason So you're working in IT admin, going to work doing the thing. Was Locksmithing, or a trade, in your mind at any time?

Lyndal Only when I got cranky with my job. I'd come home and say, "That's it, I'm becoming a Locksmith." I'd come home one day, and one of my neighbours in the apartment complex I lived in had a Locksmith at the door. The Locksmith was bobbing down, working the locks, talking to his customer, having a laugh. He had his dog sitting next to him. And I just thought, that is the life. That's what I want. By the way, I still don't have the dog.

13:03Jason But you've got a van called Wilma.

Lyndal I do have a van called Wilma.

Jason So you were captivated, which is probably the better word, by this guy doing his job. A moment in time, a vision. You saw him relaxed and focused, coming from IT, and he had his pet with him and was having a good time while he did his work.

Lyndal Yeah. I've still got that image in my mind, like a still photo.

13:33Jason And you didn't quit your job the next day. What happened after that?

Lyndal My husband and I were going overseas for a while. We were going to Mexico to do a dive master scuba diving internship. So I quit my job then to do that, thinking I'll find something else when I get back.

Jason Because it was an extended trip.

13:58Lyndal Yes. We went off to do that, and when we got back, there just happened to be an information session a few days later for a Locksmithing pre-apprenticeship. So I went to that, asked some questions, thought "Yep, this is as good as I thought it was going to be", and signed up.

14:18Jason And prior to that experience with the Locksmith in the apartment building, you were interested in trades. But why Locksmithing?

14:38Lyndal I was looking around at different trades and toying with the idea. Locksmithing appealed because you get a little bit more involved in the finer things. Every single lock is a different kind of puzzle, and I love doing puzzles. It also struck me as a little less physically demanding, which I've learned it still can be quite physically demanding, but not like a builder, I suppose. Essentially it was the puzzle factor that really got me going. Locks do have a tendency to explode when you open them up, and springs and pins go everywhere. So then there's me and my puzzle, putting it all back together and getting it working properly.

15:33Jason We probably don't know the intricacies of locks, right, Gina? When you say explode, is that dangerous, or does it just come apart?

15:43Lyndal It just comes apart. You've got a handful of springs that are supposed to stay in place. That's the kind of exploding you definitely try not to let your customers see.

15:53Jason So there's this element of a trade using tools. The other thing I'd like about Locksmithing is you're not always outdoors, but a bit in and out. With fair skin, for example, I wouldn't want to be out in the sun on a roof if I went into a trade. Is that a factor for you as well?

16:18Lyndal It's been in and out. More often than not I'm standing smack in the middle of the front door, one leg in and one leg out. But there's definitely heaps of internal locks, door locks, window locks. Sometimes there's a little safe that needs opening. There's plenty in and out.

16:38Jason Having gone from IT admin, for at least a decade from memory, to saying "I'm going to do a pre-apprenticeship in Locksmithing", what did the people around you say?

16:53Lyndal A lot of people just shook their heads, laughed and said, "Yeah, off she goes." But for the most part, I was so excited about going off and doing something so very different, and enthusiasm gets caught.

Jason How long is a Locksmithing apprenticeship?

17:08Lyndal Four years. For the first three years, it's one day a week at trade school and the other four days in the workplace. The final year is full-time work to get hands-on experience.

17:23Jason And did you love every minute of it?

Lyndal Yes, I really did. It was so very different for me. I'd never even used a drill before I started that pre-apprenticeship, because I was always terrified I'd drill into a wall, straight into some wires, and mess up. So I learnt so much. The teachers at trade school were spectacular. They took any question seriously and answered it, showed me how to get things done, and were super supportive.

17:58Jason The next part of the journey is that you started your own business. You could have just worked for another Locksmithing company forever. Why did you want to start your own?

18:13Lyndal Probably a lot like most people who start their own business: I really didn't want to work for somebody else anymore. I didn't like being dictated to about how to spend my days, how to do every little job, and being watched over. I knew I could do this work and I loved this work, and I thought, anything I don't know, I'll just figure out. And yes, autonomy became my new favourite word.

18:43Jason Autonomy. How does autonomy look for you today?

Lyndal I get to decide which jobs I take, when I book them in, and how much time I allow for them. What days I work. I don't have to ask anyone's permission. One of the big things is that working for somebody else, you've often got a boss a phone call away saying, "Where are you? What are you doing? You should be on to the next job by now." I prefer to take a beat and make sure my customers are getting the best service I can give them. If that means going a little slower and taking a bit longer, I'm going to do that. That's something I didn't particularly like about working for somebody else: it was always the next job, the next dollar. I would rather bring in a little bit less for myself and make sure my customers are happy.

19:38Jason When you work for a company, they're probably paying you a salary, and the work is charged per job, so there's a disconnect between those two elements. If you were paid per job, you could take longer, which is how you position it now in your own business.

19:58Lyndal Yeah, and I understand that when you work for somebody else, they've got the overheads; they've got to pay themselves and you. Whereas as a sole trader, I just have to worry about myself, which probably sounds very selfish, but that's exactly how I like it.

20:18Jason That then translates to the service your customers receive. You'd rather take the time and provide quality work, and that gives you more personal satisfaction and that autonomy. The great thing about running your own company, and on the other side is all the risk and paperwork, which we'll talk about today, is that you get to choose who you work with and when you work. You may not be as successful financially because you're not doing late-night callouts, for example, but time at home, time with family and sleep are more important. Thank you so much, Lyndal. It's a great story: 37 years old, in a male-dominated trade, starting an apprenticeship, and clearly you love it. This is radio, we can't see your face, but it's just big smiles. We're going to play your second song and be right back. This is the Business Class program, my name is Jason Tully, and I'm here with Lyndal Robson from Lock Dimensions, lockd.au, and Gina, President of the Peninsula Business Network. Here is Lyndal's second song.

Part 3: Running the business 21:38

21:38Jason Speaking with Lyndal Robson from Lock Dimensions. Thank you for being here, Lyndal. lockd.au is your website. Why did you choose Fleetwood Mac as your second track?

21:53Lyndal Fleetwood Mac is a bit of a shared liking with my dad. We used to drive home from the city together with Fleetwood Mac blasting. And that particular song, I just love it. It's about not dwelling on the past, and looking at the next exciting thing the next day has for you.

22:08Jason I had a similar childhood: Fleetwood Mac, Johnny Cash, Eagles, all those bands playing in the background as we drove along. Gina, any thoughts?

Gina Not so much Johnny Cash, but certainly Fleetwood Mac. And Dire Straits.

22:33Jason Dire Straits, yeah. Still touring. So Lyndal, before the break we were talking about your motivation for starting this mobile Locksmithing service on the Mornington Peninsula: autonomy. That created a picture of freedom. You work when you want, you don't do emergency Locksmithing in the middle of the night. But when you sent me some background information, you listed your role as sole trader, owner, director, founder, Locksmith, admin, marketing, accounts, service coordinator, and all other things. So on one hand you have the autonomy and freedom, and on the other a long list of responsibilities.

23:33Lyndal Yes, that's the life of a sole trader, isn't it?

Jason Did you expect it to be like that when you started?

Lyndal Probably not. I didn't anticipate it being quite so complicated and involved. I'd never run a business before, so I just said "Geronimo", jumped in, and found out as I went. I think I still have a lot of autonomy, because I do it when I choose to. I still need to get it done regularly, but there's not somebody standing over me demanding to know who, what, where, when and why. It does keep me very busy. Some days I'll start a job at 8 o'clock in the morning and still be sitting in front of my computer at 8 o'clock at night, and my husband's planted a plate of food under my face so I can keep going. So it helps having support at home.

24:28Jason Your husband, Bill. You've mentioned he's been a big supporter through your journey of the apprenticeship and becoming a Locksmith.

Lyndal Yeah, the most enthusiastic person you'll ever meet in your life.

24:38Jason That's fantastic. So how do you manage all those other hats? It's great being the Locksmith, out talking to clients, having cups of tea, being with Wilma. But then there are all the other responsibilities most small business owners have. How do you deal with them?

25:08Lyndal I have lots of lists and Post-it notes to keep track of things. But we've also, and when I say we, I mean my husband, really got into AI recently. He's actually just created my own Lock Dimensions app that follows the whole process: the phone call or email enquiring about a job, booking a site survey, doing the job, invoicing, and following up afterwards. So AI is helping me streamline and make the most of my time.

25:43Jason Is that being implemented at the moment?

Lyndal It is. It's still in its testing and fine-tuning phase.

Jason And that's not a customer application, it's an application for you in the back office, as people might call it. Like your own CRM, created with AI and customised specifically for your business. Do you think it will give you back a lot of time?

26:08Lyndal That's obviously the ideal. I realised that for some things I was triple-entering across all the different programs I was using to keep tabs on things. So in that regard, absolutely. Depending on how many things I've got to write up, it should save me anywhere from 15 minutes a day to probably a couple of hours.

26:38Jason Before you started Lock Dimensions, had you ever had a business?

Lyndal No.

Jason And in your Locksmithing apprenticeship, do they give you guidance on how to run your own Locksmithing business?

26:53Lyndal Not on running a business, no. There's so much to learn about locks themselves; every lock is so different. They focus on your skills with the tools. There's a little bit of Locksmith-specific software we learn about, master key systems and things like that. But the admin side of running a business is not part of trade school.

27:18Jason I think you've been running for five and a half years now, so you're over the five-year mark, which is statistically significant for business failures. Congratulations, you're still going. What's been the biggest learning on this journey?

27:43Lyndal Going out on my own, the biggest thing has been coming across locks or broken doors, with people stuck outside, that I've just never encountered before. I think every Locksmith in the world, no matter how long they've been doing it, will come across things they've never seen. But on my own, I don't have a boss on the other end of the phone I can call and say, "Hey, what do I do here?" So that's probably been my biggest challenge. I need to stand here and figure this out, and I'm not going anywhere until it's done.

28:18Jason So we're back to puzzles again. What do other Locksmiths do in that situation? Is it just part of the trade that you'll always encounter the unexpected?

28:33Lyndal I think it is just part of it. Something I've been working on is a fair bit of networking with other Locksmiths. I'm finding there are lots of other small businesses around who are super friendly. Not only are they giving me some subcontracting work, which is great, but they're also very open: if you need anything, pick up the phone and call me. So while I said I didn't have that boss on the other end of the line, I do have other Locksmiths I've met more recently who can help if I get really stuck.

29:08Jason Have you ever been really stuck by a lock and had to walk away?

Lyndal No. I'm stubborn.

Jason What's the longest time you've spent on a lock when you've been challenged?

29:23Lyndal Oh goodness. There was one fairly recently where somebody had got locked out, and then they thought they could fix it themselves. They took the handles off the door, which made it so much worse. I was there for three hours. They just had to wait while I kept on working.

29:43Jason Incredible. Long, sustained focus. And in that situation, do you charge for three hours?

29:53Lyndal It depends. If I've stood there staring at the lock thinking about it for a while, I'm not going to charge them while I think about it. But in that scenario, where they've taken the handles off and tried to do things themselves because they didn't want to call, and made it harder, they get charged for that.

30:13Jason I remember I had a caravan lock which was a nightmare, and a lock for a glove box in a car. The Locksmith said, "Look, I spent days on this, but I'm only going to charge $30", because it was the puzzle. There must be more Locksmiths like you who just love the puzzle. It's not going to beat me, I'm going to solve this. And they did, which was awesome. So we come back to why you do what you do: the satisfaction isn't just the monetary reward, it's the puzzles and customers being delighted that you fixed their lock. And because you have the autonomy, you can make those choices.

Lyndal Yes, that's right.

30:58Jason I'm definitely starting to see a link between the sustained effort you need to focus on a puzzle and solve it, and a character trait that really suits Locksmiths. I never thought about that. Does it relax your mind, or do you feel exhausted afterwards?

31:23Lyndal My brain feels pretty relaxed. Often my shoulders and arms feel pretty sore, depending on what's been involved. But when I walk away from something I'm really satisfied with, it's very relaxing and soothing. It's a good day.

31:38Jason I love that satisfaction. I've been doing IT for 30 years, and you have days where you spend 10 hours on a problem and can't solve it. They're bad days. Then there are days where you spend 10 hours on a problem and you do solve it, and that's a good day. Still 10 hours, but your mindset is very different. So Lyndal, what's the challenge you face now with Lock Dimensions? You've got Wilma, you service the Mornington Peninsula, you're adding some AI to improve efficiency in the background. What's next? A fleet of vans? A franchise?

32:28Lyndal My plan is really to maintain my sole trader status. I really enjoy being a sole trader, just me and Wilma. I just want enough work that we can keep ticking over and keep busy, and have that satisfying working life where I don't have to worry about anyone else. Just me and my locks.

32:53Jason You and your locks and your puzzles. You're our first Locksmith guest, so: is it a job you can physically do for a long time?

33:08Lyndal I'm hoping so. My knees would probably prefer it if I'd started a bit younger. There's a lot of squatting and kneeling, standing up, sitting down, up, down, up, down. On many occasions I've had gentlemanly customers who see me in front of a door and bring me a seat: "Here you go, young lady, have a seat." And I'll say, "Thanks, but I've got to keep moving." It doesn't work. At my age, you really notice if you've been using your back the wrong way. But there are also plenty of older Locksmiths who've been doing it since they were 17, so it's definitely something you can keep going with.

34:03Jason So you have to look after yourself a bit, but it's not like being a concreter. In terms of staying a sole trader, what's the biggest challenge in maintaining that path and keeping enough customers?

34:18Lyndal Making sure I have enough customers and enough work coming in. It's something any sole trader faces: when you're out on the tools, you're not looking for more work. You do those jobs, then you come to a bit of a lull and have to find the next thing. So it's a balance between the marketing side and doing the work.

34:43Jason And marketing is one of the hats you listed. So that sounds like one of your biggest challenges at the moment.

Lyndal Yes, it is. One of the things that's been suggested to me is to go around, knock on the doors of all the real estate agents, introduce myself and put myself forward. But that takes a bit of confidence, and winding myself up to go through the door and do that.

35:08Jason That's a slightly different skill set. Not to say you can't do it, but a different mindset, different skill set, different discipline. Thank you so much for being here.

Lyndal Thank you.

Jason Great to have a Locksmith on the program, Gina.

35:23Gina I've always wanted to find out more about your business, Lyndal, so thanks for sharing. It's something we all take for granted, isn't it? Locks and keys.

Lyndal It is. It's not something you think about until you need to. It's my job.

35:38Jason Just a couple of things to recap. I'm speaking with Lyndal Robson from Lock Dimensions, a mobile Locksmith focused on residential services and properties. lockd.au is Lyndal's website, where you can learn more about what she does. We talked about the security audit service, where Lyndal is happy to come and go through your property, look at your window locks and door locks, discuss any issues you might have and potentially come up with a strategy. And MLAK keys, Master Locksmiths Access Keys, which Lyndal can also help with. We have one more song from Lyndal: Bon Jovi. Why did you choose Bon Jovi?

36:28Lyndal It's another one that's just about living your life the way you want to, which is a big theme of mine. Autonomy again. And this one takes me back to early days with my high school besties, who are still my besties to this day.

36:43Jason Oh wow, fantastic. We'll play Lyndal's song in a minute.