I used to flip houses as a side hustle. One that I finished this summer was sold to a guy who recently took a digger off a ladder. He recently started a gutter business (accident unrelated) and is no longer in physical shape to run it. The house deal included me taking all of his equipment/inventory.
He only did a few jobs before his accident and never really got the biz off the ground so he didn’t have much advice on how to operate it.
Since taking the equipment I’ve done six houses for friends and family under the table to get the kinks lined out and build a little general knowledge. Jobs varied from a trailer house to a couple of giant two story farm houses. I’m able to do the work 100% on my own (so far) and my product is very good compared to my two local competitors. Still plenty to get better at but I don’t leave roller coasters like some of them.
So I feel like I have a firm grasp on doing quality work. Now I’m getting set up to be an official business.
I’m establishing an LLC. A good friend of mine is married to a law school drop out who has set up various LLCs in the past. She’s going to help me pro-bono.
My work trailer needs some work as far as set up. I have another friend who owns a fab shop who’s going to help me get it in order. Also pro-Bono. The machine is currently mounted to the floor 18” from the rear door. Nothing there to get 350# coils onto the machine. Very little room for extra ladders, down spouts, elbows etc. We have a solid plan there.
On top of that, my fab shop buddy referred me to an accountant who was very helpful in getting his shop off the ground.
I own the equipment outright. The machine is a very new 5/6” NTM. I have my beater 1/2 ton Chevy that will get me around for now but it has 190k and needs upgraded at some point. I own it outright as well. The only purchases I need to make are a couple lighter weight ladders and a plank. The ladders I have for two story houses are 32’ 300# aluminum ones. They are heavier than holy hell and 90% of the hard work is moving those damn things.
I’m meeting up with my shop friend this weekend and I’m going to talk to him about general liability and work man’s comp. I don’t plan on hiring anybody. But where I live there are 120’ agricultural post frame buildings everywhere. If somebody wants gutters on one of those I want to be prepared to legally have an extra hand and be covered if the worst happens.
I have all of the material stashed in a storage unit and the trailer parked there as well. It’s super secure and right down the road from where I live. The total cost is cheap- $90/mo.
I don’t have a marketing plan other than advertising on local Facebook pages. My fab shop buddy says 75% of his new customers are people who found him on FB. He doesn’t do paid adds. Just posts on local pages and word of mouth. He tried radio once and said that was pointless. As mentioned, I live in a rural area so advertising is tricky.
My bread and butter starting out will be residential homes. The problem is that I’m new to the scene and I imagine it will take a year or two get a reputation built. Maybe longer. I live in a town of 10k with several larger ones including a 125k town near by.
I see on Craigslist that the bigger town has lots of adds for gutter crews for new construction, residential replacement and insurance (baseball sized hail a little while ago). However, I’ve been told that people who advertise on Craigslist aren’t the best ones to work for for obvious reasons. What has your experience been with that? When I start talking to these guys what red flags should I be looking out for?
Lastly, I have a good job already. My hours have been scaled back to 40/week but I can afford to pay 100% my overhead out of my own pocket still if needed, including a newer work truck. So I can afford to grow slow and steady.
That’s pretty much it. Anybody who has any input to what I’ve said or has advice or stories that you think I should hear... whatever it is, I would greatly appreciate it. Especially if there are some seamless gutter guys on here. I’d love to hear about any tricks to the trade!
Thanks!
-Adam
He only did a few jobs before his accident and never really got the biz off the ground so he didn’t have much advice on how to operate it.
Since taking the equipment I’ve done six houses for friends and family under the table to get the kinks lined out and build a little general knowledge. Jobs varied from a trailer house to a couple of giant two story farm houses. I’m able to do the work 100% on my own (so far) and my product is very good compared to my two local competitors. Still plenty to get better at but I don’t leave roller coasters like some of them.
So I feel like I have a firm grasp on doing quality work. Now I’m getting set up to be an official business.
I’m establishing an LLC. A good friend of mine is married to a law school drop out who has set up various LLCs in the past. She’s going to help me pro-bono.
My work trailer needs some work as far as set up. I have another friend who owns a fab shop who’s going to help me get it in order. Also pro-Bono. The machine is currently mounted to the floor 18” from the rear door. Nothing there to get 350# coils onto the machine. Very little room for extra ladders, down spouts, elbows etc. We have a solid plan there.
On top of that, my fab shop buddy referred me to an accountant who was very helpful in getting his shop off the ground.
I own the equipment outright. The machine is a very new 5/6” NTM. I have my beater 1/2 ton Chevy that will get me around for now but it has 190k and needs upgraded at some point. I own it outright as well. The only purchases I need to make are a couple lighter weight ladders and a plank. The ladders I have for two story houses are 32’ 300# aluminum ones. They are heavier than holy hell and 90% of the hard work is moving those damn things.
I’m meeting up with my shop friend this weekend and I’m going to talk to him about general liability and work man’s comp. I don’t plan on hiring anybody. But where I live there are 120’ agricultural post frame buildings everywhere. If somebody wants gutters on one of those I want to be prepared to legally have an extra hand and be covered if the worst happens.
I have all of the material stashed in a storage unit and the trailer parked there as well. It’s super secure and right down the road from where I live. The total cost is cheap- $90/mo.
I don’t have a marketing plan other than advertising on local Facebook pages. My fab shop buddy says 75% of his new customers are people who found him on FB. He doesn’t do paid adds. Just posts on local pages and word of mouth. He tried radio once and said that was pointless. As mentioned, I live in a rural area so advertising is tricky.
My bread and butter starting out will be residential homes. The problem is that I’m new to the scene and I imagine it will take a year or two get a reputation built. Maybe longer. I live in a town of 10k with several larger ones including a 125k town near by.
I see on Craigslist that the bigger town has lots of adds for gutter crews for new construction, residential replacement and insurance (baseball sized hail a little while ago). However, I’ve been told that people who advertise on Craigslist aren’t the best ones to work for for obvious reasons. What has your experience been with that? When I start talking to these guys what red flags should I be looking out for?
Lastly, I have a good job already. My hours have been scaled back to 40/week but I can afford to pay 100% my overhead out of my own pocket still if needed, including a newer work truck. So I can afford to grow slow and steady.
That’s pretty much it. Anybody who has any input to what I’ve said or has advice or stories that you think I should hear... whatever it is, I would greatly appreciate it. Especially if there are some seamless gutter guys on here. I’d love to hear about any tricks to the trade!
Thanks!
-Adam
