Proper Roofing co-founder and CEO Kenneth Winsmann attributes much of his company's growth and reputation as a good workplace to his and his partners' aversion to the proverbial C-suite.
The company was formed during the post-COVID doldrums of late 2020 with Dan Adams, Winsmann's former co-worker at Power Home Remodeling, and Leslie Winsmann, a former administrator with Siemens Energy who is also Kenneth Winsmann's wife. Kenneth Winsmann says that seeing things through the eyes of prospective employees isn't difficult.
"Dan and I are kind of strange entrepreneurs. We didn't start off looking to be a machine," Winsmann said. "We were used to being employees. It turns out that formula works really well for growth and recruiting."
In a local roofing industry largely funded by insurance companies serving customers with hail damage, Proper Roofing has carved out a niche by serving residential customers whose roofs don't necessarily qualify for an insurance-funded replacement but appear to be close to the end of their useful life.
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That means that Proper Roofing sales representatives drum up business by regularly scouring Houston-area neighborhoods on foot and on scooters in order to take their sales pitches door-to-door. On the back end, the company offers financing and installment plans for roofing jobs that typically are in the five-figure range.
While the sales practice is not for the meek, it has worked. By offering prospective customers a range of roofing options and a protective spray to stave off the inevitable replacement for a few years, Proper Roofing will perform about 1,000 jobs this year and will almost double its revenue to about $20 million in 2024 from about $11 million last year, according to Winsmann.
As for perks for Proper Roofing's 76 employees, Leslie Winsmann, with her systems background, helps administer what Kenneth Winsmann calls "all the boring things my dad would want," such as health insurance, dental, vision and a 401(k) retirement plan with an employee match.
With much of its employees' work taking place in the field, Proper Roofing also offers company-paid memberships to Lifetime Fitness, while building upon its teamwork ethos with annual company-paid holiday trips for employees and their significant others. This December, the company will be going to Cancun.
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So while not everyone remains with the company through the first 90 days of door-knocking, "very few people leave" once they get through that, Winsmann said.
As for advancement through the ranks, Winsmann says it's a bit of a paradox with Proper Roofing because some workers who've started as sales reps have ultimately left the company to run their own companies that Proper Roofing hires for roofing, siding installations or gutter work.
"Our goal is to make sure that everyone who starts at the entry level can grow into other positions within the company that are needed, " said Winsmann. "We had an employee who wanted his own company. Now, he's our gutter installer, and he's got his own truck."