Seeing beyond sales

By Emma Peterson. 

An eye‑opening RLW explores how accurate, big‑picture financial data helps contractors uncover errors, correct course and grow with confidence. 

Roofing is a busy and competitive market. It is easy to fall into the trap of managing your business on a day-to-day basis. And while this method keeps your business afloat, it often does not leave space for growth. To learn more about how you can take a step back, look at your business from a wider perspective and unlock increased cash flow, Megan Ellsworth hosted Jon Gardner from Owens Corning along with Adam Gottlieb and Logan Marita of PHG for a Read Listen Watch® (RLW) all about using big picture financial data in your business management.  

One of the biggest perspective changes that the panel discussed was moving away from thinking in terms of just sales. Logan elaborated on what this means, sharing, “You want to be charting your accounts in detail. So instead of just recording sales, you want to see what is commercial, residential, re-roof, new construction... Additionally, you want information like what you quoted a job at, what the actual job profitability came in at, and any commissions you’re paying.”  

By charting and recording more than just the sale made, you can get a clearer picture of your business on a whole. Adam explained: 

These things are important if you're trying to understand how to think about your business from a larger perspective. In terms of like, 'Hey, here's where I am today, and here's where I want to be.’ If you want to think through how to make your business the most valuable, you need to understand things like percent of your revenue is construction, what percent of your revenue is re-roofing or more service ticket oriented, and so on. 

From there, you can take that big financial picture data and start making calculated business decisions. Jon explained, “Without financials, without that data, you could be pulling triggers in the wrong places of the business. You need to use data to support your choices, like where you’re going to retract, where you’re going to take down some of my costs or where you’re going to invest.” When you are making those data-informed, big picture choices, you are going beyond managing your business daily and planning for long-term growth and success.  

Adam gave an example of how this change in perspective helped a client of theirs, “There's one business that came to us, where they had an independent report that showed they had 13 million earnings. Once we got under the hood, we found out they were actually doing more like 6 million earnings.  And you can imagine the owner's reaction when they found that out.” And while finding that out was surely a hard moment, it was crucial for the long-term success of that business to know the real data. Logan gave an update on that client, sharing, “We now work with that client on a monthly basis, and are helping them correct those numbers and get back to the profitability they thought they were at. They were completely blind before and now they can steer the ship in the direction they want.”  

Listen to the whole webinar or Watch the recorded RLW to learn more about how big-picture financial data can help you steer your business towards your long-term goals.