Anyone not working, I will for free

i am so disgusted ,no jobs, and when we think we have one , people waiting for the holdidays, no mess around the holidays, no dam work till next year, ya when it 25 -30 degrees frost everymorning and by than my cell phones will be disconected for late pay history !also not to mention doing jobsfor way less money than normal, from roofing to doing bathroom renovations,and they still wont hire us… . im broke, but not beaten down, thats it, no more price breaks from me, no more freebees, nothing … just wait till the add comes out!!!I geuss I could always work for some other contractor, thing is, no one wants to hire either this time of year … ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

There is a freeze on most work this time of year. It scaled back about a week and a half ago. Just hang in there it will all work out.

Hi,

My zip code is 18037. How far away from me are you?

Good Luck Bubba!!!

don’t give up…unless you have too.

Just remember, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it…wait a minute, everybody is doing it and driving the prices way down and putting alot of good roofers out of business!

The only thing I can recomend is to diversify and down size, if you want to keep playing the game.

Contact all of your old customers and tell them about some new thing you do, about some kind of stupid, little news about your company. Anything to send them a flier or letter. That is your best option right now. They know your work and trust you. They will be the first to hire you again if they need something done around their house.

pm me anytime if you want to rant, I’ve been through it all!!! I know where you’re coming from.

Thankyou for all that reponded , I know its not easy, I only thank god i have family to help feed us and rac up the credit cards, bying cigs with a credit card ! What the blank am i doing AHHHH ok the flyer thing and mailing stuff to old customers is a good idea, but finding a good contractor to sub for is way harder than i thought, Just when i thought i had found someone , that said oh ya i have another job for you back to back after this one, and than nothing… what a bunch of bs…this is why I hate the holidays…well,i live in south jersey 08094 if there are any contractors out here with some work and could help us, ,contact me vea this site , I check it out most days…I know i have to advertise but this time of year, is such a drag, everyone spends all of there money on christmass and all ,than there is new years, I probly will have more luck playing the lottery, oh thats right, no money for scratch-offs!It really hasent even hit me yet but this is starting to hurt…ready to sell my guitars and the marshall, no way…

Just a piece of advice, you will never make it big working for contractors. there is no money in it, get away from those guys, they are only there to exploit you and use you. try going for a different customer. Repairs? flat roofs? inspections? you need to find a niche. I know everybody says it, but its true, you need to find something, and unfortunetly contractors aren’t it!!!

hey its the snitch ! ha ha I ,mean nitch or b at stop… i really need to do this, I know what you mean about staying away from contractors, but we have to eat, and pay the morgage, but that is why i started my own company, I wanted to do my own work…, got sick of making other companys look good doing work for them and being treated like shit… i womt do thst anymore, so I have been subing some roofs but no one can keep me and my small crew bizzy , we all are diw… I feel so bad for them and besides that , I really dont have abything going on now and I am flat broke on christmass… Oh well, I have to get some flyers out there and keep doing something, I advertise in the shoppers guide but it never gives me any leads at all, I get more work from the freagin post office flyer,so as far as staying away from contractors, if i can work and stay aflot by doing that, nothing wrong with that, but Im have tryed it and so far it is every man for himself…just like anything, when they need you, your in , when its slow , wont even call you back…customers, orshould i say possible future customers that brag about what they want done and how soon and than when you give them a price they are like, ah- we need more tome or your too hi or we are sick now, or it christmass !!!sorry I wont be spell checkin this … later

Try the Home depot,lowes,Sears,Larger Roofing co. for repairs ect,or even Real estate companies for some sub work just to get thru the winter…I see ads for roofers in Philadelphia on different sites…also check out–www. Rooferscoffeeshop.com --Help wanted section…If you can scrape a few dollars together-Start advertising in local papers,send out flyers,get listed in local phone book,yard signs for every job,signs on your truck,pass out cards put them on local billboards,take pictures of jobs,build a client list for references.,Try to target areas where people have extra income and the houses are in need of roof replacement and repair service…Good clean workmanship,take care of any call backs,keep the job site neat,do all you can to keep customers yards and buildings from suffering any damage from debris,ladder scuffs ect…Work will start to come in…This time of year is always slow,remember that next summer put in a few extra hours and a few extra dollars in the bank for winter or go south to work ect…Good luck

Hi Tigman,

You are 90 miles from me. A little bit of a drive. I have a couple of jobs you can do.

My e-mail is holenroof@enter.net

Lefty that is very nice of you. Merry Christmas.

Well Guys this is my first time posting. I am a professional subcontractor, I have three crews. all insured and comp’d. I hire only legal worker. All supervisor’s are Lisc’d and quite professional. Admittedly most of my work is Vinyl Siding and Replacement Windows, but One of my crew’s. one that I run is Roofing.

Now I have to defend Subbing. I work for three regional giants (Massachusetts), Currently I get all of there work but it has taken me time (over ten years competing with the sub community) but for the last Four years I have gotten it all. I do somewhere around 200 jobs a year. I will also be the first to say I am not cheap, I am on the most expensive side(I get 200 for a strip, 125 for an up and over labor price they get more). But we have never had a complaint that wasn’t resolved before we left the site and if we have to go back we are there within 24 hours to fix the problem. I also pay my guys better than anyone else I know in the region from day one.

Why don’t I go out on my own. I can’t sell I have tried and it doesn’t work. I also can do (I figure) 12-20 more jobs a year not selling. Now when I started for these contractors I was more expensive then everyone else, but the thing they all found the longer I stuck around is that it is easier to get a lead from a thrilled customer than by someone who got a good price. and the more work I did, the less they had to spend on advertising and lawsuits. And then one day I got all the work.

Now ever time I give them a bill for a job they try to get me to do it for less, but with no competition for my work, I honestly tell them I could do it for a lot less if they wanted less quality. and I get the price. Now they make more money off me then I make off them but without selling and no advertising costs I make a great deal.

This past year has been hard on the companies and my guys and myself. as I am sure it has been on a lot of guys out there. I just wanted to tell my story for anyone who thinks subbing might be right but hasn’t heard any good stories. I admit it isn’t right for every one and most sub’s will cut your throat, but if you can stick in in the bad times(which usually purges the competition) you will make more in the good times.

IM SUPRISED THAT THERE IS ALOT OF WORK THIS YEAR IN CHICAGO,
3 YRS IN A ROW THERE IS PLENTY TO GO AROUND . WORKING 7 DAYS A WEEK. GOOD LUCK AND HANG IN THERE DON’T GIVE UP, I HATE TO SEE GOOD ROOFERS GIVE UP… :evil:

Where are you at in Chicago?

Navillus,
Great story actually. Somewhere along the way, this ball got dropped. Either greedy contractors or STOOPID subs, both.
I myself would be happy subbing. I’d love to just run production…Except:
#1) I don’t see the possibilty of working for a fair price here
#2) I don’t have ten years to give it a shot

Another thing is the business mdoel. Too often contracting is about the telephone, marketing and of course the contract. Getting the job. Getting the job only.

Since so many contractors are “outsourcing” labor, why is it so price driven? You would think that a contractor would know the REAL costs of doing a job anyway since hey, they are contractors.

Hay Tiger is it better naw after holidays no mor cray

What does this mean?

I BEN IN HIS SHOES WIT HOOLY DAYS NO ONE WANT TOO DOW ANY WORK BAT THINGS CHANGE FOR ME I HOPE IT CHANGE FOR TIGMAN TO I HATE TO SE ROOFERS HURT
ARON I LIKE TO SE YOU GETTING IN VALVE AND TRY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS OR GIVE GOOD ADVISE GOOD WORK