Good Neighbor Podcast: Youngstown
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Youngstown. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Stacey Willis helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Youngstown, Ohio.
Is your business serving the residents of Youngstown? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpYoungstown.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Youngstown
E7: Meet the Couple Who Can Save Your Day When You're Locked Out
Ever lost your car keys and felt that sinking feeling of dread? The Good Neighbor Podcast brings you the perfect solution with Ashley and Michael White from Key Kutterz, a local business that's been saving drivers from lockouts since 2010.
What started as a passion for padlocks and keys has evolved into a specialized automotive key business serving communities across a wide region. Michael reveals a fascinating industry shift – gone are the days of the all-purpose locksmith. Today's market demands specialization, with Key Kutterz choosing to focus exclusively on vehicle keys. "The learning curve is so great that you better choose a path and go down that path," Michael explains, offering valuable insight for any entrepreneur considering their business niche.
Despite their busy schedule running a thriving business, Ashley and Michael emphasize the importance of maintaining balance. Their commitment to weekly date nights – "even if it's just one hour with two drinks" – shows how they prioritize their relationship alongside their professional lives. They've weathered significant personal challenges too, from surgeries to bankruptcies, demonstrating remarkable resilience. As Michael puts it, "You have to be open to continue to grow and to make changes within your business in order to succeed."
What truly sets Key Kutterz apart is their approach to customer service. Ashley describes visits to their shop as "a comedy show" where customers are "treated like family." This personal touch, combined with their technical expertise and competitive pricing, has fueled their impressive word-of-mouth referral network. Looking ahead, they're expanding with a new mobile service to better serve their community. Want to experience their legendary service firsthand? Stop by their location or check out their website and social media – your keys (and a good laugh) await!
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Willis.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a set of keys? Have you lost yours? One place might be closer than you think. I have the pleasure of welcoming and introducing your good neighbors Ashley and Michael White from Key Cutters. Good morning, guys. How's it going Good? Good morning, Stacey. We're really excited to learn about your business, so let's just jump right in and tell us all about Key Cutters.
Speaker 3:Well, Key Cutters started in like 2010, and it's grown quite good to where we've been doing mainly automotive keys now and in shop work and we pretty much can provide any key for your vehicle's needs is what we really focus on now.
Speaker 2:Okay, and how did you guys get started in this business?
Speaker 3:Well, kind of a short story, but long. I mean it started just I was interested in keys. I really like padlocks and keys and anything locksmith works, so I basically focused on that and continued until I got to where I'm at now.
Speaker 2:Okay, and tell our listeners what are some myths or misconceptions that our listeners might have about your industry.
Speaker 4:That is a good question.
Speaker 3:So I would say that currently, where locksmiths are, people don't realize that everybody's a hybrid locksmith and what that really means is there's very few that do everything. The market now has moved to where automotive is one side, you have commercial on another, you have residential, you have safes, everything seems to you know. There are couples that, a couple of companies that could still dab in all of it, but the, the, the market has grown so much that the equipment that you buy and the stuff that has to be, you know, purchased, and the, and the learning curve is so great that it's now to the point where you better choose a path and go down that path, because that's pretty much where business is going now.
Speaker 2:Who would you say is your target customer and what are you doing to attract them?
Speaker 3:Anybody that has a vehicle is probably the consumer that I look at, or in that sense I mean, you could even have a scooter and I can make your key for you, meaning like one of those motorized scooters, but at the same time, that's pretty much the target base of what I look for, in the sense of it is anybody that has a vehicle and needs a spare key or they lose their keys to their car. That's pretty much the market that I'm at.
Speaker 2:And how do you attract your customers?
Speaker 3:much the market that I'm at and how do you attract your customers? Many ways, the one that actually is the biggest is actually referrals. So it took years to develop referrals, but word of mouth seems to be the strongest ability to where you know. Over a decade it's taken. But wow, word of mouth, it spans pretty large. It can go all the way down from West Virginia all the way to Cleveland, to Pittsburgh, of a giant circle Ashtabula. All of that is a giant circle. So word of mouth, referrals, is huge. But don't get me wrong. I was taught by an old man that early to bed early to rise, advertise, advertise, advertise.
Speaker 3:And that, my friend, seems to be what really is the key goal it did. It basically launched it and just kept it going, and all I you know, full steam ahead is what it is outside of work.
Speaker 2:What do you do? Do fun.
Speaker 3:Well, all I do is work. No, I'm just kidding. We work, we work, and then sometimes we work more and then we work. For fun, I mean we can be found doing many things.
Speaker 4:We do have a weekly date night.
Speaker 3:We do. We have to have a weekly date night, even if it's just one hour with two drinks that's it, or just vegetables. But, regardless, I love just still, you know, we still date, we still do stuff, we do gardening, we we like going, you know, to different places and just seeing like quick getaway weekends, and we try to just hang out and just enjoy life when we aren't working 17 days a week.
Speaker 2:Let's switch gears just a little bit. Can you describe a hardship or life challenge you overcame and how it made you stronger? Does anything come to mind?
Speaker 3:I mean many things from surgeries to bankruptcies, to you name it. Life has definitely thrown a lot of loops and I think the main thing you just got to do is persevere and keep going as much as you get, as low as you can. I think you just got to keep pushing and keep looking at the end goal.
Speaker 4:And business is never like. You're never secure in one area. You have to be open to continue to grow and to make changes within your business in order to succeed, because there's no clear path for it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good, all right, ashley, I'm going to. I'm going to give this one to you.
Speaker 4:Tell our listeners one thing they should remember about key cutters. Oh man, well, I mean it is a comedy show every time you come in here. So I mean, if keys ever you know flops, I mean I think we might have a shot at a comedy, you know career afterwards, but no, you're going to be treated like family when you come in at our shop. The guys are very knowledgeable, they know what they're doing and they will help you any way they can. If you do have to get a new key fob your car, they will definitely be able to help you and give you the best prices that you can.
Speaker 2:And how do our listeners learn more about key cutters?
Speaker 3:That's a good question. I would say just stop in. I mean really call us, Stop in. You'll probably already hear the friendliness on the voice just from the calls alone. We keep it real, we keep it honest and integrity is still something. I sleep very well at night because I will always keep that.
Speaker 4:Yep, we advertise on TV. We are always at YSU to support local Social media website and pretty soon we'll have a new mobile service coming around town, so I'm sure people will be able to see that as they're driving.
Speaker 2:Awesome, all right. Well, mike and Ashley, I really appreciate you guys being on our show. We wish you and your business the very best moving forward. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Youngstowncom. That's GNP Youngstowncom, or call 330-355-3122.