Roofing Software - Roof Estimating, Roof Measurements & More

With the first snow of the season already past our offices here in Columbus, Ohio. We’re definitely feeling the winter season closing in on us. While that doesn’t apply to all of our friends in the roofing industry, for those of you in the Northern latitudes, it’s almost time to pack in the tools and call an end to shingling for the year. That doesn’t work is over with though, this week’s blog is here to give you some suggestions on how to do more for your company than hibernate this winter season.

It is no secret that there’s a labor shortage in our industry, the jobs numbers released last week show employers scrambling to fill positions. Publications in our industry have been bemoaning this fact for the better part of a decade, since home construction bottomed out in 2011. And while there are many great ideas on how to address the issue: incentivizing young people to enter the industry with new technologies and higher wages, re-establishing trade schools as an alternative to college, and keeping experienced contractors from aging out of the workforce, we have yet to start to turn the tide. This week we’re going to discuss this issue a little more in depth, and talk about how technology may be the answer at all levels of the issue.

Lately, we’ve been talking about what it takes to be a well-connected, well-represented small business in our blogs. As we’ve been building our own new website, preparing for trade shows, and fighting the never-ending fight of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), we’ve been thinking about what it takes to have a good web presence. Specifically a good presence in the roofing industry. This week we’ll take a hard look at the must-haves for any roofing company to survive and thrive in the current market.




Our first small roofing business requirement is, of course, a website. Besides being an essential sign of credibility to customers, your site can be a lead generation machine when built and maintained correctly. Of course, most roofers are more familiar with Cedar Shake than CSS, but it’s never been easier to get a functional webpage that also looks impressive. Tools like Wix, Squarespace, and Wordpress put the power in your hands, but if the idea of juggling a domain and CMS is intimidating, we’ve seen plenty of services that will design and manage your site for relatively low monthly amounts. 

One of the toughest parts of the roofing business is breaking into it. Although start-up costs for a roofer can be relatively low compared to other entrepreneurial ventures, building a company from a 3-man crew into a successful enterprise is not for the faint of heart. Many of our customers have already been through those growing pains. For those out there taking their first steps into the field, this week’s blog has some tips for initial growth.