Looking for a good roofer in Sydney?
With every roofer in Sydney claiming to be ‘The BEST in town’, how does a homeowner find the best roofer near them to work on their roof?
Where are the good roofers in Sydney?
Before internet took over the world, every home owner had the YELLOW PAGES delivered to their door. Roofing businesses back then were forced to buy advertising space in that famous publication if they had any hope of telling people how good they were as roofers.
Google took over that advertising space and totally destroyed the YELLOW PAGES. These monster yellow doorstoppers are now extinct. The YELLOW PAGES business took a huge hit and Sensis eventually gave up and sold the giant for the tiny sum of $260 Million to US SMB Software player, Tryv Holdings in 2021.
So, where do the good roofers in Sydney advertise their roofing services?
Roofers in Sydney buy Google ads.
These are the businesses listed on the top and bottom of a Google search result page = paying Google up to $20 EVERY TIME someone clicks on the listing. Sydney roofers must have deep pockets to use this strategy.
Most of the best roofers have their own websites that have a free organic listing on Google search. They get a free ride (although the cost of a good roofing website will cost around $20,000). Micro roofing businesses usually use the online directory platforms like HiPages to feed them roofing enquiry leads at around $35 each.
How to find a good roofer?
There are a lot of roofers in Sydney. IBISworld (the business research organisation) estimates 5,030 roofing services businesses in Australia, employing 12,050 roofers. Since Sydney contains 20% of Australia’s population, this works out to around 1,000 roofing companies employing 2,400 roofers.
If you are looking for a roofer in Sydney, you have 2,400 to choose from!
“Word of Mouth” recommendations is a common strategy for homeowners looking for a good roofer. But if a homeowner has a small social circle, they have to extend their reach using facebook groups and similar.
Online reviews have become a substitute for direct ‘word of mouth’. These reviews are good guides – even though businesses can ‘game’ this system using selective bias.
Jack from The Roofing Professionals Westside has the same problem as homeowners looking for good roofers. He has seen the work done by roofers in Sydney and his experience confirms that of the 2,400 roofers in Sydney, only about 20% are any good (confirming the PARETO principle).
Jack’s solution is to slowly train up a bunch of ‘hand-picked’ trainee roofers to become the best roofers in town. He has only had a one in five chance of finding good roofers in the past and he has relented to the realisation that the only way to get better odds is to grow from within.
But Jack only runs a small roof repair business in Sydney and he will hardly make a huge impact on the numbers.
This means that if you don’t do your ‘homework’ first, you only have a 20% chance of finding a good roofer. You want better odds if you are choosing a roofer to do work on a critical part of your house. So, don’t be in a hurry.
Do your research first. Start with the best roof repair guidance.
What is the Roofing Professionals story?
Roofing businesses come up for sale a few times a year. There was a roofing business in Sydney with a sales tag of $1.3 Million in 2021. Most roofing company sales go for less than that.
“THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS” business was created in the mid 1980s by an Irishman of international intrigue. If you are interested in how creative con artists can be read the story BELOW.
‘THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS’ – the origin story
Sydney Australia suited Kevin McGeever . He had escaped Dublin…
Amongst other things, he had a roofing repair company. In the mid 1980s, the newspaper classifieds were his playground. All manner of work and opportunities lurked in this section of Sydney’s daily papers. This was just the best way to get business opportunities – not just roof repair ones…
Kevin had amassed a reputation for trading properties, but this time around he had an idea.
If he could easily sell properties before they were built, why couldn’t he sell a business just as a concept. These were the days before franchising was a thing. The code of practice for franchising did not emerge until 1993.
How much is a roofing company in Sydney worth?
There was a roofing company for sale recently In Sydney for $2,500.00. Of course, every company is valued differently.
Back in the 1980s things were a bit cheaper.
But this did not deter Kevin. During his younger life in Dublin, he was able to sell a single property multiple times. So the question was not how much he could sell his roofing company for, but how many times he could sell it over and over again?
So while any normal business owner would be asking how much the sale price of his company was, Kevin was not normal. He was a creative genius.
Why can’t he sell he’s roofing company just like he used to sell he’s fictitious properties?
The question was not how much he could sell the business for, but how many times he could sell it over and over again.
The roofing professionals – the beginning.
Kevin had a way with words.
His roofing repair company was not just any roofing company . He picked “THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS” because it had the ring of authority and expertise.
Sydney is a big place.
Kevin just happen to live in southern Sydney. It only made total sense to Kevin that they could be four other roofing companies in Sydney serving the four quadrants. North, South, East and West. Suddenly, there were four companies he could own and sell.
That was the beginning of the roofing professionals Northside, Eastside, Westside and Southside.
So Kevin went to work with the classifieds….Because this was where everything was traded – even businesses.
Kevin knew how to paint a pretty picture, so the four roofing companies he put up for sale in the classifieds looked good. So good that he quickly manage to find four buyers.
Nowadays, there are businesses that are sold on just a concept. But back in the 1980s this was not heard of. Most businesses were sold as going concerns.
Viable businesses had track records, auditable financial accounts, business plans, and were attractive money making machines. Kevin didn’t need any of this.
He could make all this up and create a sense of reality that could fool anyone.
It is reported that Kevin sold his roofing business not four – but five times. This is what creative geniuses do. Not only did Kevin have the roofing professionals split up into four companies, he was also able to sell the original company (called the roofing professionals) for a bonus.
When things catch up with you.
Talk is easy and some people can make others believe anything. It is the fulfillment part that lets every conman down. And Kevin was no exception.
When broken promises associated with the roofing repair businesses that he sold off started to make life uncomfortable for Kevin, he took the easy way out. He had left the his first life in Dublin when it became uncomfortable. So, it was second nature to leave his second life behind (along with the family and non-cash assets).
He made his way to the America for a third life with a second wife.
Then his life became more complicated. He was eventually put in prison
a few years ago for faking his own death.
In the days when YELLOW PAGES ruled, “THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS’ business had 4 ads representing 4 separate businesses. Northside, Southside, Eastside and Westside were the suffixes. These four businesses were bought from (the infamous) Kevin McGeever by unsuspecting buyers.
Soon after, only two roofing businesses were left to struggle on. Ron Conrad eventually built ‘’THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS NORTHSIDE’ into a thriving business situated in Artarmon. He also took on the ‘Eastside’ suffix as his ‘territory’. Sum Yuen persevered with ‘THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS WESTSIDE’ and was quite successful in covering western Sydney. Since the Shire ‘looks after its own’, there was no push to move into the ‘southside’ territory.
In 2000, Sum took the retirement path and left his younger brother Jack to look after ‘THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS WESTSIDE’.
In 2018, after Ron developed vertigo and roof work became too risky, he sold his roofing business. Boris Despot bought ‘THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS EASTSIDE’ and Brad Butcher took over ‘THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS NORTHSIDE’.
As of 2021, there are three ‘THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS’ roofing businesses in operation. All three have different operating methods.
