Roofing is a lucrative industry to get into, especially for people who are willing to work hard and get the job done. Every home and building needs a roof, so, there’s a market there for sure for people who want to build a roofing business. Why, then, do 96% of roofing businesses fail in the first 5 years? A big reason is that many roofers skip a vital step in building a successful business: Crafting a thoughtful roofing business plan.
There’s a saying that goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail” and that rings true for businesses. Anyone can start a business, but it takes work to build one that last. Having a business plan for your roofing business can help you set yourself up for long term and lasting success.
In this blog, we’re going to help you craft a roofing business plan by exploring:
- What a business plan is.
- Why you need one.
- 5 Tips for creating your roofing business plan.
- A traditional formal for a business plan.
We’ll end off with some info about how roofing business software, like Roofr, can help you set up your business for long term success.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a document that lays out a companies objectives, goals, and actions to achieve those goals. It acts as a template for what they want to accomplish and how they will get there. This of it as a roadmap of your roofing business' journey, from when you create it to a particular growth point in the future (typically in three to five years).
Why do you need a roofing business plan?
Your roofing business plan is not only helpful for you when planing, but comes in handy for establishing and growing your business. A business plan is usually a requirement for:
- Landing investors and winning over extra capital to fund your business when you’re getting started.
- Applying for business licences, loans, or any other documents you need.
Business plans are also super helpful to:
- Keep you focused on your goals and objectives as you grow.
- Provide a kickoff point when you’re getting started.
- Get you thinking about marketing plans and how you want to promote your business.
- Ensure you have all your brand info — like logo, colors, fonts, etc — decided proactively.
- Establish financial goals and limits.
Business plans also get you to consideration whether you’ll want to invest in roofing tech like Roofr to streamline your processes and optimize your business.
How to create a great roofing business plan
Now that you know what a business plan is and why you need one, it’s time to get into writing one!
It doesn’t matter if you are a new company, or have been around for a while — it’s never too late to build a business plan! You may want to go back and update it — or your goals and plans — over time, too.
Here’s our top 4 tips for writing a great business plan.
1. Have a realistic plan
Realistic is KEY. By realistic, we mean both realistic goals, budgets, and timelines. Another way to think of it is to make sure that every plan and goal is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Set goals that relate to your business strategy, your annual revenue, or lead goals. Everything should bet set in a time frame that makes sense - annual revenue, monthly leads, 5 year growth, etc.
Being realistic is key for long-term success. If you set a goal that is unrealistic, it’s easy to become defeated or unmotivated quickly. Having $10 million in venue in your first year is not realistic for most new roofing companies. But, growing to $10 million in venue in 5 or 10 years? A bit more realistic.
It’s also important to set goals based on your own location. What worked for a roofer in California won’t be the same for a Roofr in Georgia.
2. Think about your purpose for your company
By “purpose” we mean beyond the obvious. Yes — you want to sell roofs and install roofs.
But, what drives you?
What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
Your purpose could be to motivate a team and unite them to achieve a common goal. Your purpose could center around being highly profitable and seeing the healthy growth of your roofing business. It could be about bringing tech to the industry and learning how to use roofing tech.
What your purpose is can determine what you include in your business plan, or even how you write it. For an investor, it can be helpful to hear about your purpose or dreams .
You can also set goals and objectives based around your bigger purpose. If your goal is to leave a legacy of a roofing company that treats its employees really well, then you could set goals for how much you want to pay them, if you want to host employee appreciation days, how many hours they’ll work, what your retention rate should be year over year, etc.
3. Establish certain company values
Your company values can be industry-specific, but should also target customer loyalty while ensuring employee satisfaction. By acknowledging these values and additional ones, you can achieve both short-term and long-term business goals.
Some examples of company values for roofers are:
Quality Craftsmanship: Being committed to delivering the highest quality roofing solutions, ensuring durability and longevity for our customers.
Customer Satisfaction: Customer happiness could be your ultimate goal. Commit to going the extra mile to meet and exceed our clients' expectations.
Safety First: Prioritizing the safety of our employees and clients by following strict safety protocols and ensuring a secure work environment.
Innovation: Staying at the forefront of roofing technology and continuously seek innovative solutions to enhance our services and products.
4. Enlist yearly initiatives and goals
Yearly goals are really powerful for long term change. Try to think about what your goals are in year chunks. They should be big enough to take a year but, again, be realistic. Make a list of all your yearly initiatives and goals to keep an eye on the growth of your business. These initiatives can become milestones for growing your company, specific revenue or head count you want to hit, or a number of jobs you want to close.
Roofing business plan template
Here’s a common format to follow when creating roofing business plans:
- Executive Summary
- Company Description
- The Business Opportunity
- Competitive Analysis
- Target Market
- Marketing Plan
- Financial Summary
- Team
- Funding Requirements
You can also include sections on your sales strategy, product or service details, any 5 or 10 year specific plans, etc. Think about your own objectives and goals and build from there — but there 9 are pretty standard.
Here’s what each of those 9 should include.
1. Executive summary
An executive summary for a business plan should be a brief overview of the rest of the document. It should be that first “grab” to a reader who is looking over your plan. Any key opportunities, goals, objectives, or plans should be included, but smaller details don’t need to be added.
Keep it short!
2. Company description
By the time someone is done reading this part of your plan, they should know:
- What your business does.
- Who your customers are.
If you do siding, eavestroughs, or anything else, be sure to call that out here. Your company name, and yours — if you’re the owner — should also be included.
This should also be nice and short!
3. The business opportunity
In this section, you can dive a bit deeper into who you are as a company. What are your values? That legacy piece that we talked about earlier — this is a great place to highlight that. If you’re seeking investment money, then you can win them over on your company here.
4. Competitive analysis
This section should cover your competition. Look at who your main competition is, what they’re doing, and anything you can learn about how they run their company. Keep in mind that depending on your area of expertise and target demographic, not every roofer in your area could be competition. For example, if you are a residential roofer, then don’t bother looking at commercial roofers.
5. Target market
Don’t be afraid to get specific! Your target market can include everything up to:
- Household income.
- Location.
- House size.
- Age.
- Family size.
- Occupation.
- Education.
- And anything else!
It can seem counterintuitive to go so specific on who you want to target for your business, but getting really niched down can actually make marketing efforts more effective.
6. Marketing plan
How do you want to market? Now that you’ve niched down your target audience, look at where that audience is. Many roofers use Facebook to connect with homeowners. Does your ideal neighbourhood have a facebook group? You can also look at more traditional forms of marketing like radio ads or billboards. Again — depending all on your target market.
At the very least, you should have a website on your marketing plan. Every single potential customer is going to look for you on the internet, so make sure you have a presence there! You could also include any tools like Roofr’s Instant Estimator in this section and identify how it will bring in qualified leads.
7. Financial summary
This section is all about the money. You’re going to outline:
- Operating expenses
- Historical financial statements
- Budget planning
- Income expectations
- Revenue goals
You can included any financial goals in here too.
8. Team info
If you already have employees or plan to hire, this section should contain all your info for that. Company positions or team headcount requirements, hiring processes, job requirements, etc. If you’re just getting started, this may seem premature, but remember that these plans are all about how you want to grow. This kind of information can be really helpful when getting business licences or securing an investment.
9. Funding requirements
This section is specifically for businesses who are seeking outside investment. If you’re building a business plan for yourself, then you may not need this. Funding requirements should outline how much money you’re looking for, what you plan on doing with it, what ROI — return on investment — you’re expecting, and anything you’re willing to provide back to an investor (money, shares, etc) .
Other inclusions for a roofing business plan
Your goals and objectives related to each section can be included within that section itself, but you could also include a page of all your goals and objectives in a single place. If you think you’ll go back to your business plan often to reflect on your goals, it could be a good idea.
Our big tip for writing a business plan?
Always go down the rabbit hole.
If you find yourself wondering if it’s important or if you should include it, do it. At the end of the day, the more in depth your business plan is, the more thought you’ve put into what you want to achieve. That will never be a bad thing.
Roofing business plan FAQs
How much investment am I going to need?
As you know, every new business requires a substantial financial backing to work. The same goes for a roofing business.
However, the amount of funds you’ll need depends on the business size you want, labor availability, budgeting for tools and machines, and if you want to save on costs by using roofing platforms like Roofr. Sadly, there’s no exact figure for starting a roofing business, but you may be able to ask around the industry to gauge what a reasonable budget would be.
What are some funding sources for roofing companies?
For many new roofing companies, the source of operational finances is personal savings. Obviously, that doesn’t always work. After all, the more your business grows, the more you’ll spend on your operations.
If you don't have much personal savings, there are numerous financing avenues to turn to. For example, bank loans, credit cards, and angel investors.
Bank loans and personal savings are the most efficient ways to fund your roofing business, since the other funding methods are not as reliable and effective.
What equipment do I need when starting my business?
While you’re thinking about all these big, heavy questions around your business, take time to think about the seemingly “smaller” things: your tools! Once you’re ready to go, you’ll need af ew things to get started:
- Insulation
- Ladders
- Underlayment
- Roofing material
- Roofing accessories (drip edge, vents, etc)
- Tools
- Trucks
A roofing business plan is a plan for success
Don’t think of your business plan as something you have to do. Think of it as your first deep dive into the legacy you want to leave and what you wish to accomplish for your business. Hopefully this guide helps and you feel confident to get started on your own roofing business plan.