Tips for Starting a Roofing Company

Choosing to open your own business is a big decision and requires a lot of planning to have success. Luckily, there is a lot of information available on how to get started. By preparing in advance, you can avoid a lot of mistakes that other business owners make while you find success and fulfillment in working for yourself! In this article, I’ve collected everything you need to know about starting your own roofing company, keep reading to find out more.

So, how do you start your own roofing company?  Preparation is the key to getting any business off the ground and running. By thinking everything out ahead of time, you will be more prepared to handle any problems that arise and will already have the goals and vision that you want to accomplish. When you’re ready to start planning, be sure to do the following:

• Find what will make your roofing company unique
• Decide on a name that will get you noticed
• Establish your costs
• Set a price
• Create a marketing strategy
• Register your business
• Locate clients and get started

Of course, there are several decisions to make and processes involved in each of the previous steps, but even providing a basic response will help you get started. Now, let’s dive into how each of these steps will allow you to establish your own roofing company.

Find What Will Make Your Roofing Company Unique

The truth is, there are quite a few roofing companies out there, which can make it a bit of a challenge to find your footing. This is why you need to find something to offer that sets you apart from the competition – what makes you a better choice than someone else?

When it comes to roofing companies, there may not be many options to choose from on “unique” offerings, so get creative! Establish a discount that others don’t offer, align yourself with community philanthropies or other businesses, or give clients more options to choose from, etc.

Once you decide on the thing that makes you different, that thing becomes your focus and you can build upon it. Establish trust and relationships with clients by focusing on your special service.

Decide On a Name That Will Get You Noticed

Similar to setting yourself apart from the competition is choosing an easily recognizable name. It can be hard to think of something new with the word “roofing” in a title, but it is possible. It’s also important that you include the word roofing so that clients and customers have an easier time finding you.

Can you connect your unique feature to a business name? Can you think of a theme song with your company name that’s catchy? Try to keep it short, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember – you can even do a word generator online to help you out!

The name of your roofing company is one of the first things customers will notice about you so it has to stick.

Establish Your Costs

Now that you’ve nailed down the more creative aspects of your business, you need to get financial. Work on creating a budget that outlines: office space, warehouse storage, number of employees and their wages, how many materials and choices you want to offer, how much to spend on advertising, insurance coverage and costs, tools – whether to rent or buy equipment, etc.

Financials and budgets can be hard to organize, especially if you’ve never done them before. When you get to this stage of your business planning, it would be good to ask or hire a professional to help – you don’t want to miss anything that could hinder your business in the future.

Thinking about every little thing that goes into a business in the early stages is a lot of work, but it will give you a sense of the capital you need to open. You may discover during this stage that you are way ahead of the process, or you may need to save some more money before moving forward.

The cost establishment phase of opening your own roofing business is likely the most important one.

Set A Price

Along with the financials comes the thing that will make you money – setting a price! New businesses often do not turn a profit for the first 2-3 years, which makes setting a competitive price extremely important.

Deciding on a price for your services needs to take into account three main things: the competitions’ pricing, the cost of materials, and the current market. There are other things to consider, but your main priority when starting is to be competitive while sustaining business.

Be sure that the price you set isn’t too high that you don’t get customers, and isn’t too low that you can’t afford to keep purchasing the materials. Many businesses have gotten themselves in trouble by not being able to sustain their low prices and the rising cost of materials.

This is another step in the preparation journey where consulting with a professional or other business owner is a good idea – they can help lead you in the right direction.

Create A Marketing Strategy

Hopefully, when working on your financials you factored in a marketing strategy cost because now it’s time for some fun. Marketing for a local business allows you to be creative – tv commercials, a strong website, social media content, flyers, radio commercials, and so much more to choose from!

Whether you decide to do your marketing in-house or have someone do it for you, there are many different ways to promote your business. One of the most important things to keep in mind these days is your digital presence.

Creating quality content that is consistent and helps to maintain your presence at the top of search engines is worth the investment of hiring a media group to do it for you.

Find the right strategy that works within your budget and gives you the best chance at being recognized. Once your business is up and running, you may be able to scale back and rely on customer feedback and reviews to keep you going.

Register Your Business

At this point, you have done pretty much all the planning you can do for your new roofing business – now it’s time to register! Registering your business with the city, state, and government and getting the necessary licensing and permits is a really important step.

Though this is located near the bottom of my list, you may need to look into this before planning everything out. You will need to register your business name – that must be different than other businesses, and you don’t want to have made all these plans just to change them.

However, making sure you have a strong plan in place before registering is also important so you don’t spend money on anything before you’re ready.

Consulting with an attorney is necessary at this point in your roofing business opening process, they will help you fill out all the forms you need and make sure they are filed correctly so that your business is legitimate.

Locate Clients and Get Started

You have now done all the prep work, have registered your business, and are ready to get to work – now you need some clients. With a roofing business, there are several ways you can try and drum up business in the beginning.

Ask some friends or people you know – tell them you just started your new roofing business and see if they are in need. They can help spread the word and recommend you to their friends and colleagues. 

Place flyers in other local businesses and remember that sometimes you have to spend money to make money: sponsoring a school team, paying for a commercial ad, doing a roof for a really low price to get recommendations passed along, etc.

It will take some time, but once you have prepared and planned as well as you possibly can, you will officially have your own roofing business, and soon you’ll see the profits come in.

Related Questions

How much does it cost to open your own roofing company? Depending on the area you live in, you should be prepared to spend $15,000-$20,000 to open your roofing business. This cost includes all the necessary paperwork, material costs, workers’ wages, insurance, and transportation. 

If you decide to build your own office space or lease one, or simply work over the phone, this initial price will vary considerably. One way to help save money when first opening is to work over the phone and with a website before eventually opening up an office space, or you can use a warehouse storage area that doubles as an office space.