YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

Business Spotlight: Unlocking Success

Revenue for 417 Rekey hits all-time high in 2022

Posted online

 With the help of his son as the company’s only other employee, 417 Rekey owner Michael Rodhouse says his mobile locksmith business is coming off the busiest year in its 10-year history.

The Marshfield home-based venture, which serves the greater Springfield area, surpassed $146,000 in revenue in 2022 – an all-time high and roughly 20% increase over the prior year. The company primarily does rekey work, which changes the inside of locks to conform them to a new key rather than replacing the hardware, Rodhouse says. However, 417 Rekey also drills and adds deadbolts, does minor lock repair and installs master key systems for offices and medical facilities.

“For the last three years, we will surpass the total of the previous year in the fall,” he says of annual revenue trends. “There has been steady growth ever since [my son] Jonathan has come on board.”

While noting he does some repeat business with clients such as real estate offices and property management companies, Rodhouse estimates he’s worked with at least 1,300 people during his decade of operation. The client split is about 75% residential and 25% commercial, he says. When 417 Rekey first opened, he worked almost entirely in residential.

The business client count has grown largely through word of mouth, as companies reach out to have locks changed in offices when employees are laid off or fired, he says.

“A lot of times those are urgent, and they have to be done quickly,” he says.

Reaching a milestone anniversary and a revenue high in the process weren’t achievements Rodhouse says he expected prior to starting his company, originally named Rodhouse Lock LLC. A name change came in 2014.

Skilling up
Becoming a locksmith wasn’t part of a master plan for Rodhouse, who fell into the work by chance. He started the company toward the end of the housing crisis and Great Recession that started in 2007, with the hopes of making a steady living changing locks. He was correct.

“The foreclosures were riding high and there were a lot of them that needed lock changes,” he says. “We kind of got our foot in the door.”

In 2009, he met Peggy Mitchell, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Vanguard, who was handling a lot of foreclosed properties. She needed someone to help her keep up with weekly check-ins and occupancy status of properties.

“I started out as a foreclosed home babysitter,” Rodhouse says, noting he was unemployed and a single parent at the time. “I needed something where I could have my son with me and still put food on the table.”

It was during that period he also repeatedly ran across Steve Throckmorton, owner of Throckmorton Construction LLC, who was rekeying some of the same foreclosed properties visited by Rodhouse.

“We started visiting and he asked if I wanted to learn how to do locksmith work,” Rodhouse says, noting he began subcontracting under Throckmorton to change the locks as a side hustle.

As the real estate market began stabilizing, his work with Mitchell was getting cut significantly.

“But as that happened, the locksmith business started going up,” he says, noting there are “scores of homes” that are purchased in the Ozarks every day and need locks changed. “Just give me a few of them and we can make a business out of this.”

Nearly 480 houses were sold in April across the Springfield area, consisting of Greene, Christian and Webster counties, according to data from the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors.

Finding focus
Rodhouse quickly began building relationships with real estate agents, and after Mitchell retired in 2016, he focused full time with 417 Rekey.

“Once you do a good job with several Realtors, they all talk,” he says. “We’ve tried to really make everything personal, one-on-one. When someone becomes a client of mine, they get saved to my phone and they’re welcome to text me. We’ve built trust with so many of them.”

The company has joined GSBOR as an affiliate, which resulted in the organization providing Rodhouse with roughly 3,600 email addresses. That has proved very useful, as 417 Rekey sends a biweekly e-newsletter that includes informational videos produced by Rodhouse.

“We almost hit 40% on the open rate,” he says.

The videos are how Shane Crawford, broker and manager with Investment Realty Inc., learned of the company. He says the Rolla-based property management firm, which opened a Springfield office in 2021, uses Rodhouse for its local rekey jobs.

“We don’t have a need for anyone else,” Crawford says, adding Investment Realty spends an average of $500 per month with 417 Rekey. “They do a bang-up job for us.”

A couple accolades have come to Rodhouse and his business. He received the Affiliate of the Year award from GSBOR in 2020, while 417 Rekey was given a Torch Award in 2021 by the Better Business Bureau for exceptional ethics, service and customer satisfaction.

As the company begins its second decade, he says increasing business clients is a goal, which may involve expanding services. That could include working with safes.

“We’re still figuring out what service we want to add. Doing so is going to take some investment in schooling and equipment,” he says, adding the company isn’t interested in unlocking vehicles as there already are numerous options in the market.

Rodhouse says the revenue record also may be short lived. A $170,000 goal is set for this year.

“We’re optimistic we’ll be close to that or above it before the year’s out,” he says.

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
From the Ground Up: Republic Intermediate School

The Republic School District is on track to open its Intermediate School for fifth- and sixth-grade students for the 2025-26 academic year.

Most Read
Update cookies preferences