Welcome to 2020. It’s a new year and a new decade, so why continue business as usual? Every roofing contractor could stand to benefit from setting a few New Year’s resolutions for 2020. Here’s a list of five things we suggest you keep in mind this year to increase your business’ bottom line. 

#1: Attract more funding for your operations

As a contractor, you should explore ways of accessing a line of credit, overdraft protection, bonding or bank loans for expanding your activities and growing your business steadily. To attract funding, you should apply effective management practices in order to achieve an attractive profit margin. You should also put in a lot of time and effort in searching for the right bonding company and a reliable bank. We recommend making frequent presentation binders of your firm’s strengths to potential sureties and banks.

#2: Consider a construction business prepaid card system

Your employees likely have to make purchases from time to time to keep your roofing business running, but reimbursement approval processes are time-consuming and don’t give you the flexibility you need. Lending out traditional credit cards isn’t ideal, either—if an employee accidentally misuses your card, charges can be fairly expensive, and can hurt your personal credit. 

Heather Watson of Sun Coast Roofing Services uses prepaid debit cards to save time and to give her peace of mind that her employees are spending on the right things at the right time. “I used to do manual reimbursements, so using prepaid debit cards puts a lot of time back into my week,” she says. “I’ve found Bento for Business’ prepaid debit program especially useful because it includes card controls that limit the spending our employees can undertake according to their job functions.” 

#3: Reduce customer turnover

Roofing contractors succeed best when they seek and find clients who fit seamlessly within their mission and who they can easily satisfy. Small roofing companies also expand swiftly when they have established strong customer service teams to help them build long lists of happy clients who can refer new clients and make repeat purchases. If you want your business to grow, you should focus on exceeding the expectations of your current customers in order to reduce customer turnover. Retaining clients who can make repeat purchases will help you spend less in marketing as you will not be in the unending frenzy of finding new clients to replace current ones.

#4: Make a plan for the winter slow season

If your business is based in the north, you’ve likely noticed that projects are few and far between in the winter. When cold weather sets in, some roofing contractors close up shop—but you shouldn’t have to! Consider offering new services to help your customers deal with rough winter weather. Popular services include holiday lighting, roof decorating and snow removal. We’ve heard of roofing contractors providing carpet cleaning and heating services during the winter, and some who keep busy repairing snowmobiles. At the start of the winter season, we recommend getting a head-start by connecting with your existing clients. If your client asked you to fix their roof in the summer, maybe they’ll also need someone to update their lighting in the winter.

#5: Revamp your marketing efforts

Roofing businesses cannot grow if they cannot gain new clients and expand to new zones. Therefore, you should invest sufficient funds in branding and marketing. For instance, you should have your construction firm on Facebook, LinkedIn, Yellowpages.com, and Yelp. Build a professional website, paint your company’s truck to match your shirts, logo, letterhead, business cards, print and email postcards. If you don’t have one already, now is the time to start a customer referral program that offers incentives to those who refer new customers to your company.

About the Author:

Farhan Ahmad is CEO and cofounder of Bento for Business, a complete B2B payments solution that helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) gain full control over their cash on one platform. A veteran of Discover and JP Morgan, Farhan exchanged Wall Street for Main Street to empower SMB owners with a powerful financial operating platform that creates value for their customers. With Bento for Business, companies receive unprecedented control and visibility over their expenses, mitigating fraud and administrative overhead.