Running a roofing business can be a tough job. Not only do you need the technical and practical skills of being a roofer, but you also need to wear many hats when it comes to running a small business.
Often, it’s a hard balance to maintain. Your entire process and strategy can become strained if just one part of your business isn’t working efficiently. This could impact the end-quality of your work or make it so you don’t finish your jobs on time.
Luckily, this blog gives you four tips and tricks to make your processes in your roofing business more efficient. You’ll be the talk of the town, completing great quality work while always being on time.
- Market your business more effectively
One of the first things you can do to be more efficient is to define your target audience.
Perhaps you’ve cast the net too wide and are doing more complicated jobs that require more time and travel. Or maybe you’ve focused your scope too much and are missing quality leads.
Essentially, you want leads that cater to your skillset and are the best use of your valuable time.
Find your roofing business’ sweet spot and analyse the best ways to reach that target audience.
- Be organised and plan ahead
One surefire way of running a failing roofing business is to be disorganised. Planning ahead is the key ingredient to nearly any small business no matter the industry, so it’s best to get your ducks in a row.
Since you now know your target audience, it’s important to put steps in place to ensure you deliver on your service. Market your business wisely and schedule different tactics of generating leads ahead of time.
If you’ve landed a job, ensure you accurately calculate the cost of materials and labour. Not only will this stop any nasty surprises appearing on the final bill for your clients, but it will stop you having to go back and forth to your supplier, cutting out any wasted time. In addition, it will stop you from over-buying materials, which is economically more efficient.
It’s also a good idea to ensure you have all your materials on hand before you start the job. To often, roofers leave their materials on the ground floor only for them to lug them one-by-one up and down a ladder throughout the day.
Do as little trips as possible and focus on the job at hand.
- Get quality tools
While you may know your target audience and schedule like the back of your hand, sometimes it’s the tools you use that create inefficiency.
Rather than lugging shingles up ladders all day, consider a motorised ladder or hoist to get a bunch up on the roof at a time.
And while we are not advocating for you to throw away your hammers and screwdrivers, a nail gun and a drill will usually get the job done a lot quicker.
It’s also important to buy quality products that last a lifetime rather than continuously replace a tool every six months. If you apply this as a general rule across all of your tools, you will likely begin to get the job done faster and at a higher quality than before.
- Provide peace of mind for your customers
Another essential tip to get more leads and be more efficient is to provide peace of mind for your clients by ensuring you have financial safeguards in place.
In Australia, many clients will not work with you unless you’ve got roofers insurance that protects you from some of the risks of being a roofer.
You may be needlessly missing out on potential jobs as your leads go to your competitor that is protected.
Public Liability cover* is an important type of insurance for roofers as it covers you if a third-party claims that your negligent business activities caused them injury or property damage.
Without it, what you do if a claim is made against your roofing business due to a mistake?
There are many types of roofers insurance, so be sure to check out this blog for a more detailed explanation.
The bottom line
Running a roofing business is a great career move. You get to work with your hands under the hot Aussie sun, and you get to contribute to the construction of people’s homes. Hopefully, these tips will put you on track to be more efficient in your strategies and processes so you can thrive for years to come.
This information is general only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It should not be relied upon as advice. As with any insurance, cover will be subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions contained in the policy wording.© 2022 BizCover Pty Limited, Public Liability Australia is a business name of BizCover Pty Ltd (ABN 68 127 707 975; AFSL 501769)
