The problem with a lot of these articles about starting a roofing company is that they give generic advice:
- They make it seem like it’s easy and everyone should do it.
- They downplay the potential risks.
- They don’t prioritize the most important things to think about.
Instead this article is going to give opinions from experts, about the most important stuff and what to do first. Either consultants who see 100’s of roofing companies from the inside, or contractors themselves who have been wildly successful.
Table of Contents
Make the name memorable + Googleable
“Make sure the name is memorable, a specific item/animal/object and unique and Googleable – that’s my first piece of advice. A good name + memorable brand will make all your marketing and word of mouth go way further.”
Tim Brown
Hook Agency
Proper Licensing, Insurance + Sell Like a Madman
“1. Get proper licensing, insurance, paperwork etc, & brand yourself.
2. Share your vision with a few of your trusted labor sources and ask them to buy in for the long haul. Buy into them too. Be loyal and never miss a payday.
3. Tuck in your polo and sell jobs like a madman for a whole year. Salary yourself at a minimum to get by and bank the rest.
4. When you’re able to finance yourself well enough to grow, re-evaluate whether or not you want to. If you’re eating good you may just want to keep eating good for awhile. Sometimes the biggest companies make the least money. Hiring people is an expensive process, hiring the wrong ones will bankrupt you.
5. Treat every customer like family…profit or not and let them sell your name to their friends and family.
There is a little bit of read between the lines here but this system works. Hands down.”
Steven Burch
Greyhawk Roofing
Not Everyone Should Do it: Resourcefulness is the X-Factor
“It’s about skills, and beliefs, executed consistently to become character traits. You have a mindset that simply sees financial obstacles as the limiting factor to your ability to succeed.
But half the people on that list AT LEAST start with less, and achieved more than anyone would have guessed. The difference between knowing what to do, how to do it — and actually doing it every day is the reason we aren’t all billionaires with perfect abs. Everyone on the list that you tagged is self made, to my knowledge, and we’re all losers because so is zuckerberg, mommy kardashian and musk.
So the lesson therefore is it’s not resources – but resourcefulness – that is the X factor. It’s your ability to meet the measure of what is required when others can’t or won’t that makes being self made sound good.
TLDR;?
Go get a job working for someone who’s dying for your skillsets, and connections, who’s running a $40m+ company and rip their eyes out on salary.”
Adam Sand
Roofing Business Partner
Create and Sell a Solid Business Plan
“The ability to create and sell a solid business plan is the key to success. You have technical experience and contacts. You lack capital and operational leadership experience.
Put a realistic business plan on paper. ROI is very important. Whether securing a business loan from a bank or partnering with a financial backer, solid and reliable ROI is what will close the deal.
Hire a solid ops manager to build your team and manage day to day. Base his salary on the lower side with the opportunity to earn significant performance bonus. Focus your own energy on building customer relationships and securing larger and more lucrative contracts. Target the construction company instead of the homeowner.
Finally, don’t forget your roots. Cut corners and your customers will cut you off. Provide the highest level of service and quality possible and stand by your name.”
Elijah Eley
Never Stop Selling
“Two ways to do this.
With no money and no track record I’m going to go with this first way as it’s what I did and can speak from experience.
1. Learn sales and get punched in the face 20,000 times by customers, bosses, girlfriends, family members, and yourself.
2. Create a brand and something you can tell a story too. An anchor point that you can help your customer visualize.
3. Connect with subs and crews by offering them more money and more service
4. Connect with manufacturer and distributor to ask about any resources they may be able to provide for free or minimal dollars.
5. Hustle and get jobs and be relentless and persistent until you get so many yeses you can’t breathe.
6. Get these jobs done 3 days a week
7. Sell more jobs on the other 3 days a week.
8. Learn about accounting and hire someone with some of the profits to teach you weekly and monthly tasks. Only do this when it’s dark.
9. Make sure you make your customers happy no matter at what cost or time to yourself. Yes even weekends.
10. Friend request every single person you meet on Facebook and make cool posts about your life and your new business. Spend time in Facebook groups sharing what you are learning and DM’ing people to get to know them.
11. Sell more jobs. Never stop selling.
12. Keep repeating until you are working 75 hours a week and can stuff about 150k in profit in your pocket.
13. Hire a office person, project manager, and a sales person at the end of the first year and begin to train them. Preferably in the winter so you don’t get overwhelmed.
14. Then call me. I can help from there!
Good luck and we are rooting for you!”
Benny Fisher
Big Fish Contracting
