6 Mistakes to Avoid When Expanding Your Roofing Business

6 mistakes to avoid when expanding your roofing businessExpanding your roofing business comes with many potential rewards, and many risks. Whether you’re a new company that is just stepping into the roofing industry, or an older company looking to grow, there are many mistakes you might make on your way. Learn about these mistakes ahead of time to avoid making them.

1. Opening an Office

One of the great things about a roofing business is that you work at someone’s home and not in an office. While you might think that renting office space will give you more room to make sales or a more professional reputation, it just ends up being a big expense. If you need an office, use part of your home instead of taking on a rental. With an established place, learn more about how to interact with customers through our roofing answering services. This gives more insight on how to communicate properly and efficiently.

2. Overspending on Tools

When you’re expanding your roofing business you might decide to start offering new services, which require you to buy new tools. You may be excited to offer those services—but what if your customers aren’t excited about it? Don’t buy a tool until you have a job that requires it. And, try buying used first.

3. Overspending on Staff

You’ll probably need new staff to support your growth. However, if you have too many staff members for the amount of work you have, you’ll soon find yourself in a bad situation. It can be a challenge to just let go of staff when times are lean. And when you do so, you lose the high-quality staff you’ve invested in, and may not be able to get them back later.

So, it is best to keep your staff costs as low as possible. Offer overtime before hiring someone new. Hire a virtual assistant before hiring office staff (this can also help you avoid opening an office).

4. Taking on High Risk Work

During the sales process, you’ll learn a lot about a potential job. If there’s any sign that the work is high risk, don’t take it. That’s an easy way to get in over your head. Signs the work might be high risk include:

  • This customer has failed to pay in the past
  • This customer won’t agree to a re-roof, even though the roof needs it
  • This customer is asking you to do something that is against your best practices

Only take on work that you’re sure you can complete on-time and with a healthy margin of profit. Try to avoid customers who seem like they will refuse to pay or call you constantly when the work is done.

5. Investing in the Wrong Advertising

Not all advertising methods will benefit every roofing business. In general, those who are just starting out should focus on short-term, low-cost advertising that can help build brand awareness. This includes:

  • Vehicle wraps
  • Lawn signs
  • PPC campaigns

Business that are already established and looking to grow should look to forms of advertising that can help them get the word out about new services or help them target a new area. This includes:

  • SEO
  • Content marketing
  • Direct mail

Make sure that your advertising methods are right for your goals before you invest in them.

6. Not Having an Off-Season Strategy

Roofing is a seasonal business, but different markets have different off seasons. It’s important to know exactly when business slows and picks up in your market so you can plan around that. Otherwise the increased payroll from a growing business can be hard to handle.

By Published On: April 23, 2020Categories: RoofingComments Off on 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Expanding Your Roofing Business

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