Call me an odd duck, but I like to do roofing.

I can make good money at it, I’ve done it for the last 3 summers but would like to develop it more and make a business of it. I right now invest in real estate and picking up these jobs will free up a lot of potential investing monies.

There is some competition around, but it is not too much. For the most part the contractors who bid the roofing jobs, sub them out to an inexperienced person who is not a contractor to nail it down for $50 a square. The contractor who has the experience normally does not step a foot on the roof after the bid is put in, and if they even get on the roof for the bid it is one of the better ones. They normally bid $250-$350 a square, I like to keep my bids around $200 a square. I can still make good money at it, as I don’t have to pay a staff and have gotten efficient at it over the past 3 years.

I’m not saying I’m be best at it, but it is very important to me to do a good job. I snap 3 lines at a time, so my shingles never get a chance to drop. Most people snap a line if they start to drop, I snap 3 at a time…every other row so they never have a chance. I take my time, do it with just me and 1 employee, start at 6 am and leave when it is getting too dark to do a good job (8-10pm) and I’m fine with that. I don’t leave until the job is done, clean up is better than it was when I arrived. The final cost is always lower than my bid, and I always give the customer 10 business cards and give them $100 off, $10 for every card they give to a potential customer.

But I need more idea’s, here are a few I was thinking tell me what you think. I think I remember Mizfits saying she was working in advertising, so it would be nice to hear from you!

Buy an add on restraunt placemats?
Offer customers a commission on any customers they refer that use me?
Do “cost only” jobs for churches and not for profit organizations?

That’s all I can really think of and I had to take marketing 1 and 2 in college!