I dunno

Wife and I talked this evening about the possibility of simply doing sales and selling for someone else. The thought has entered my head previously too.

Just wondering the possibilities might be out there. I've never done this for someone else. I'm sure I'd do real well without the other tasks of running a business. ( the other side of the coin would be hiring someone to do those tasks here....Hmmmm)

I dunno. Just thinking.

Good points Mike, as per usual. B) I think what you are saying, everyone else agrees....believing in what you sell, or ya gotta take a stink bath every night to wash it off :laugh:

The best business will always be the business that has people in the places of doing what they do best.

If paperwork and admin is not your strong point, but you're good at selling, hiring someone to do the paperwork will make you a better business and you'll probably have little trouble making up that salary in sales.

Then you gotta figure out to get it done. One solid, loyal, uncompromising person in charge of the field will free you that much more to sell, and you'll make up that salary soon.

Sleeping well at night, when the wind blows, the rain falls, the employees are complaining, payables are higher than cash balance... I know of no solution, other than you'll have the problems with or without the growth needed to support other managment. Having those worries taken off your plate can make the sleep a little easier, the vacations a little more enjoyable and the peace of spirit in not being tied to a paycheck signed by someone else a little more "worth it".

Sometimes, on very rare occassions, I have been where you are. I always come back. Never regretted it yet. I know I could be making a very good living selling for the right company and have no worries other than "you're fired" or "we are changing your pay structure" or "We aren't buying you the truck you want". The problem is, I'm good at selling because of the faith I have in the product and company I'm selling. Elsewhere, I haven't seen the company for which that faith would be genuine. Don't think I could ever find peace in not being genuine. Some people have no problem with it. I'm glad I'm not one of them.

If that company exists for you, perhaps it would be worth the move. Only you can answer that one.

natty Said:

twill59 Said: Im sure Id do real well without the other tasks of running a business. ( the other side of the coin would be hiring someone to do those tasks here....Hmmmm)

I have learned that roofing sales without the knowlege and control of the install is just the peddling of lies.

I am not sure what tasks about running a business is troubling you. I can sell if I find a customer who cares because I do all of my own work. I am a perfectionist about the install. Talk about being underappreciated- I am the only one who knows how good I am. But it is getting harder and harder to make much money this way because I have to spend so much time correcting all of the old carelessness of other past roofers and trades. I guess that makes me a sorry businessman because business is all about making money.

Several good points there. I like the "peddling of lies" comment. A little strong perhaps, but the way it is. In that regard, my crew installs them the way I sell them, unless they find a better way during the job. My crew are the only ones I trust....but I don't know everybody either.

I just tried working 2 guys with almost 50 yrs. experience between them....neither one knew where to put the nails in a shingle :woohoo:

Do I think that AMARCO is the absolute BEST roofing company in my area? NO. I do however think we are in the top 5% for shingle work....you simply will not get a better job. The trick for the buyer is to find someone who can equal us in workmanship.

Anyway, I know I'm not a "roofer" anymore. My skills, attitude and I guess "seeing the other side" has led me away from installing roofs. My crew has me beat hands down anyway.

What has me troubled? I dunno. Taking this stuff to bed with me and waking up with it, I'd guess.

The game is rigged more and more each year. Our 2 biggest competitors here are a trust fund baby who gets a check for $2 million a year, and just roofs for fun I guess. The other I won't talk about because I don't want my legs broken - suffice that if customers would do a simple Google search for the owners of the company they think they want to do business with...

We little guys fight over the scraps that the big Cos don't want, usually. Between locked specs, kickbacks, and bid requirements that only 5 companies in the US can meet..

We lost a $700,000 school reroofing job many years ago, even though our bid for the same spec was $150,000 less. Turns out the winning bidder put a new roofs on several of the school board member's houses for free... During the bid opening one of the board members asked me what was different about my bid to make it $150k less. I told him: Sir, the only difference is that I'll be making only around $250,000 profit on your job, whereas the other bidder will make $400,000. Didn't phase them.

Corruption is rampant.

twill59 Said: Im sure Id do real well without the other tasks of running a business. ( the other side of the coin would be hiring someone to do those tasks here....Hmmmm)

I have learned that roofing sales without the knowlege and control of the install is just the peddling of lies.

I am not sure what tasks about running a business is troubling you. I can sell if I find a customer who cares because I do all of my own work. I am a perfectionist about the install. Talk about being underappreciated- I am the only one who knows how good I am. But it is getting harder and harder to make much money this way because I have to spend so much time correcting all of the old carelessness of other past roofers and trades. I guess that makes me a sorry businessman because business is all about making money.

We are looking for a salesman in the Metroplex but it's strictly commission and par.

Tom, We should talk about that. If you weren't 100 miles away that could work. But you'd have to be crazy to move to Illinoying.

I considered the salesman route too. I answered several ads at one point but they all turned out to be storm chasing out fits and I just couldn't do it. :dry:

clover83 Said: What in the world would you do with all that time spent thinking about the job???

Or is that just me?

It ain't just you :laugh:

spudder Said: Tom, One thing to remember if youre planning to change you wont br the boss lol

We're all independent contractors, tho, right?

Chuck Said: When I lost my other business, I went to work for a former competitor. Most of what I did was very much under appreciated but in my 3 decades of roofing I had worked for dozens of other people where it was pretty much the same story. :)

I don't think there is much out there besides under appreciated. But I won't dwell on the negativity. We both know what a bungled up f'ed up industry this is. And since we really really really do know this, there is no kidding ourselves

What in the world would you do with all that time spent thinking about the job???

Or is that just me?

Tom, One thing to remember if you're planning to change you won't br the boss lol

When I lost my other business, I went to work for a former competitor. I could have done any part of the business. I asked the owner where he needed help the most and he said with repairs so that's where he placed me. However, I turned several of the repair leads into full roof replacements. I could have been his top roof salesman but he chose to have me doing physical labor and it stayed that way for over a year. Most of what I did was very much under appreciated but in my 3 decades of roofing I had worked for dozens of other people where it was pretty much the same story. Ultimately, I decided that I could do repairs for myself and Chuck's Roof Repair was born.

I did a chimney flashing job for a lady last week. She had the roof replaced just a few years ago and also the Masonite siding on the chimney was replaced with wood siding by a different company. While working on the job, I discovered a lot of rotten wood decking on one side of the chimney and all the company that replaced the roof did was take out a piece of valley metal from one of the valleys and lay it over the rotten hole. The siding on the chimney was cracking open and also they only did 3 of the 4 sides, leaving the old rotten masonite on the backside knowing the lady couldn't see it and wouldn't be going up on the roof. Also, the chimney extended beyond the bottom of the roof and there were no flashing kickouts installed so the water was running in behind the siding at the bottoms on both sides rotting all the siding out. I took pictures of all this and of the work that I did. She thanked me for the service I provided and stated that she felt like God had sent me to her. This is quite a change from working for someone who doesn't appreciate what you do and I feel like I made the right decision to start the repair business. :)