Locksmith Business for Sale and What It Costs to Buy an Existing Locksmith Company

An existing US locksmith business cost a median $300,000 to buy across 2021 to 2025, based on closed BizBuySell sales, on median revenue of $550,776 and median owner earnings of $166,567. Financed with an SBA 7(a) loan at 10 percent down, the cash you bring to that purchase is about $36,075 for the equity injection and the SBA guaranty fee. The median deal finances with room to spare and sits under the price line where the SBA requires an outside appraisal. The small shops at the bottom of the market are a different purchase: they pay a salary, not a return.

Most pages that answer this question price starting a locksmith business: a van, a key machine, a programmer, a license application and some advertising. Buying a locksmith business for sale is a different purchase. You pay for commercial accounts that already call you, a phone number with a review history, keyed systems in buildings you will service for years, and vans and equipment that are already partly used up. The price is set by earnings. Whether it is a good buy is set by where those earnings come from.

How much does it cost to buy a locksmith business?

The median locksmith business sold for $300,000, which is 1.80 times its $166,567 of seller discretionary earnings and about 0.54 times its revenue. The published median multiple is 1.99x earnings, and half of all sales landed between 1.56x and 2.68x. The two readings differ because the median price, the median earnings and the median multiple come from different businesses; multiplying the medians gives $331,468, about 10 percent above what the middle business actually sold for.

Seller discretionary earnings (SDE) is net profit plus the owner's pay, benefits, interest, depreciation and one-time costs, the cash one full-time owner takes out. Read the price off the earnings of the business you are looking at:

Which column applies depends mostly on size and service mix. BizBuySell states that a commercial locksmith company with annual sales of $800,000 may sell for an earnings multiple approaching 3, while a smaller local locksmith with sales below $365,000 may trade closer to 1.5 times owner earnings. A one-van shop living on residential lockouts sits at the bottom; a company with master key systems, property management accounts and access control service sits at the top. The full distribution and the comparison with 16 other service businesses are on our locksmith business valuation page. If the seller has handed you a profit and loss statement rather than an SDE figure, start with how to calculate SDE.

How much money do you need to buy a locksmith business?

On a $300,000 locksmith business financed with an SBA 7(a) loan, plan on about $36,075 for the 10 percent injection and the guaranty fee, plus working cash and any inventory the seller does not include in the price. Here is the arithmetic at three price points, computed at 10 years and 10.5 percent:

The small shop is the lower quartile of earnings at the lower quartile multiple; the larger company is the upper quartile of earnings at the median multiple. Fee tiers follow the FY2026 SBA schedule, where the tier is set by the loan amount: 2 percent of the guaranteed portion on loans of $150,000 or less, which carry an 85 percent guaranty, and 3 percent on loans from $150,001 to $700,000. The reserve row is our illustration, not a published figure; set your own from the van and equipment list.

Now read the last row against the salary you need. On the median business, $107,849 is left after debt service and the reserve, so an $80,000 salary leaves $27,849 of cushion. The small shop leaves $66,035, less than an $80,000 salary, which is why a lower quartile locksmith business is really a job you buy: worth it to a locksmith who wants to own the shop they work in, thin for anyone who needs to hire. The larger company leaves $149,784 and can pay a second technician or a dispatcher.

Can you get an SBA loan to buy a locksmith business?

Yes, and the median deal has more room than most: $166,567 of earnings supports about $475,225 of price at an $80,000 owner draw, 58.4 percent above the median sale. Three parts of SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026, shape the deal.

First, the valuation. When the business purchase price is $350,000 or less, the lender may do its own valuation rather than order one from an outside appraiser, unless the buyer and seller have a close relationship. The median and lower quartile locksmith sales are both under that line, which saves time and a few thousand dollars. Above it, the lender orders a valuation from a qualified source, and any part of the price above the appraised value has to be paid with equity, not debt. Our page on business valuation for an SBA loan explains what the lender will look at.

Second, the environmental review. Locksmiths are NAICS 561622, which is not on the SOP's Appendix 6 list of environmentally sensitive industries, so unlike a tow yard or a dry cleaner the industry itself does not force a Phase I. Third, the debt service test: the lender wants 1.25 times coverage after your salary. At the lower quartile of earnings the same $80,000 draw supports only $136,567, below even the 1.56x price, so small shops finance only for a buyer who draws less or brings more equity. Our guide to using an SBA loan to buy a business covers the rest of the lender side.

Do you need a locksmith license to buy a locksmith business?

In states that license locksmiths, yes in practice: the license usually stays with the seller, so the business needs a licensed owner or manager on the day you take over. California is explicit. Business and Professions Code section 6980.31 says no license issued under the state's locksmith law shall be transferred to another person, so the buyer of a California locksmith company applies for a company license in their own name. Texas licenses locksmith companies through the Department of Public Safety under the Private Security Act, and several other states and cities license locksmiths too.

Check the state and city rules before you sign a letter of intent, make licensing a closing condition, and agree how long the seller stays on to keep the business compliant while your application is processed. If you are not a locksmith yourself, budget for a licensed technician from the first day. Replacing the owner with one locksmith at the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 median wage of $51,320, plus payroll tax, cuts median earnings to $111,321 and turns a $300,000 price into 2.69 times earnings.

Is now a good time to buy a locksmith business?

For a working locksmith or a security company, the sold record favors buyers: prices are low per dollar of earnings and the median deal finances easily. Locksmiths sit 12th of 17 service categories on average earnings multiple, 2.36x, with an owner margin of 30.2 percent, close to the 32.3 percent median for all service businesses. Pest control is the closest comparison: a locksmith business earns 34.1 percent more at the median and sells for 20.5 percent more, $300,000 against $249,000.

Sellers in the middle of the market do not discount much, though. The median sale and the median asking price are both $300,000, and the average sale to ask ratio is 0.94. Locksmith businesses also move fast, a median 115 days on the market. If a listing has the commercial accounts you want, expect to pay close to the ask, and spend your negotiating effort on the terms: a seller note, a transition period and the treatment of inventory. Our notes on seller financing a business sale show how a note fits next to an SBA loan.

What to check before you buy a locksmith business

The value sits in the accounts, the records and the person doing the work, so check those before the vans.

• Revenue by service type and customer. Three years split into residential, automotive and commercial, with the top 20 commercial accounts named. Repeat commercial work is what you are paying a higher multiple for.
• Where the calls come from. Paid search and directory listings can deliver most residential lockout calls. If the seller spends heavily on leads, that cost continues after the sale, and those customers do not belong to the business.
• Key records and master key charts. Confirm what records exist for the buildings the business services, who controls them and how they pass to you, and name them in the purchase agreement.
• Vans, programmers and subscriptions. Year, mileage and loan balance for each vehicle; age and software subscription for each key programmer. Automotive key work depends on current tools.
• Inventory. Count locks, hardware, safes and key blanks at cost on the closing date, and agree beforehand whether they are inside the price.
• The schedule. Ask for the job log for the last year: calls per day, commercial appointments per week, after-hours share. If you plan to run the commercial work on appointments, moving those bookings into scheduling software for a field team in the first month makes it easy to see whether the accounts keep calling after the handover.
• The license and the transition. Who holds the license, what your state requires of a new owner, and how many weeks the seller will work alongside you while you meet every commercial customer.

Before you make an offer, put the seller's revenue and earnings into the estimator at the top of this page. It places the business against real locksmith sales and shows whether the asking price sits inside the range the market has paid.