Taking advantage of downtime

RCS Influencer Trent Cotney says new technologies are a valuable tool to help stay purposeful and consistent in everything that you do.

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a conversation with Trent Cotney, partner of Adams and Reese. You can watch the interview, listen to the conversation or read the transcript below.

Megan Ellsworth: Hello everyone, my name is Megan Ellsworth here at RoofersCoffeeShop.com and you're listening to a roofing influencer interview and I'm here with the one and only Trent Cotney. Hi Trent.

Trent Cotney: Hey, how you doing?

Megan Ellsworth: So good. Happy 2026. Happy New Year. It's crazy, somehow we made it. So we're talking about off season operations this month and how people can use this off time efficiently. So this month's question is how can roofing contractors use this off season to tighten operations and improve job site efficiency?

Trent Cotney: So there are a lot of areas within the United States where you just can't work in the winter months, whether it's Chicago, Minnesota, Northeast, Montana, you name it. You're going to have a stretch of a few months where you're not going to be doing work.

And during that time, there's a lot of great things that you can be doing. You can engage in training, regardless of whether it's manufacturer specific or maybe safety training. Other things that you can do include really take that time to look at your books and understand what does the budget look like for next year? Look at where you made mistakes and where can you improve..

And even if you are at a place like Florida or Texas or a place where you can work 365 days a year, usually at the end of the year, it slows down just enough to give you a breather to help do the same exact thing. So, regardless of where you're at, definitely take advantage of that downtime because you can use it to do the things that if you're busy, you don't have time for.

So focus now where you've got time. Get everything. Get all your ducks in a row for a great 2026.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's some really great advice and this is definitely the time to work on the business and not have to be in it so much.Well, thank you Trent. Happy New Year, and I look forward to chatting with you next month. Alright, everyone stay tuned and go to RoofersCoffeeShop.com to listen to more.