Top 5 Tips For Success.
Starting a roofing business often begins with a simple idea: You know how to roof, you know how to do quality work, and you believe you can build something of your own. But as your company grows, something changes. You’re no longer just a roofer. You’re a business owner. That transition can be one of the biggest challenges—and opportunities—of building a successful roofing company.
In our decades of experience in the roofing industry, we’ve seen many attempt the transition. The most successful always seem to have these five things in common:
Stop Doing Everything Yourself
When you’re starting out, doing everything yourself makes sense. You sell the job, order the materials, manage the crew, answer the phone, handle the paperwork and probably spend plenty of time on the roof, too. But eventually, doing everything yourself becomes the thing holding your company back.
As the business grows, your job becomes less about doing every task and more about making sure the right people are doing the right tasks. That means learning to delegate, establishing processes and trusting your team.
You may be the best roofer in the company. That doesn’t mean you should be doing all the roofing.
Start Watching the Numbers
A busy schedule doesn’t necessarily mean a profitable business. Business owners need to understand what each job actually costs, including materials, labor, equipment, insurance, overhead and unexpected expenses. Know your margins. Track your cash flow. Understand where your money is going.
You don’t have to become an accountant, but you do need to know enough about your numbers to make smart decisions.
Build Systems, Not Just Habits
When a roofing company is small, you can often run things from memory. As you grow, that becomes risky.
Create consistent processes for estimating, scheduling, ordering materials, communicating with customers, inspecting completed work and collecting payments. Good systems make your company more efficient and make it easier to train new employees and maintain quality as you grow.
Invest in Your People
Your employees aren’t just helping you complete jobs. They’re helping you build your reputation.
Hire carefully, train thoroughly and give good people opportunities to take on more responsibility. A dependable crew leader or project manager can free you to focus on sales, customers, finances and the future of the business. And remember: people tend to take better care of a company when they feel like they’re part of it.
Think Beyond the Next Job
Perhaps the biggest mental shift is learning to look beyond today’s project. As a roofer, the goal is to complete the job correctly. As a business owner, you also need to ask: Where do I want this company to be in three, five or ten years? That might mean adding another crew, expanding into a new market, increasing your commercial work or simply building a company that provides a good living without consuming every hour of your life. There’s no single definition of success. The important thing is to decide what success means to you.
The Bottom Line
At Marco, we partner with successful roofing companies across North America, providing superior ventilation and accessories for all types of roofs. And our experience has revealed a simple truth: becoming a business owner doesn’t mean leaving roofing behind. It means using your experience differently. The skills that helped you become a great roofer—the hard work, attention to detail, problem-solving and pride in your work—are still essential. Now, you have to apply those same qualities to the business itself.
Our advice: Build the company with the same care you put into the roofs you install. Over time, that can turn a good roofing operation into a strong, sustainable business.
To learn more about Marco, visit www.MarcoIndustries.com. To contact us directly, you can email or call 1-800-800-8590.