Gary A. Cohen, Executive Vice President, Certified Contractors Network (CCN) - December 2025
As 2025 comes to a close, many roofing contractors are taking a deep breath and for good reason. This year has been challenging for much of our industry. Between unpredictable weather patterns, material price fluctuations, shifting consumer demand and ongoing labor shortages, 2025 tested the resilience and adaptability of roofing business owners across the
country.
But here’s the truth. Challenging years like this one often reveal our greatest opportunities for growth. The companies that emerge stronger in 2026 will be the ones that don’t simply “hope” next year will be better. They plan for it.
If you want to hit the ground running in January, now is the time to build your comprehensive 2026 business plan. This plan should be more than just a spreadsheet of numbers. It’s a living roadmap that connects your vision to measurable results, aligning every department in your company toward one unified goal: profitable, sustainable growth.
Too many contractors operate reactively, moving from one crisis to the next. They wait to see what the market does or how the season unfolds before setting their direction. The most successful roofing companies do the opposite, as they lead with intention.
A comprehensive business plan gives your company direction, discipline and alignment. It ensures that your marketing, sales, production and operations teams are all rowing in the same direction, guided by shared targets and strategies.
When we talk about a business plan, we’re not talking about a vague wish list or a set of generic goals. We’re talking about a fully developed roadmap that breaks your company down into functional areas and assigns each department clear objectives, measurable metrics and a defined budget. That means creating specific, documented plans for:
■ Marketing: defining your lead generation goals, marketing mix, campaign calendar and advertising budget
■ Sales and sales management: setting revenue goals, training investments, demo and closing rate targets
■ Production: mapping capacity, scheduling, material forecasting and job cost controls
■ Operations: establishing systems, process improvements and customer service benchmarks
■ Human resources: identifying staffing needs, training plans and culture initiatives
■ Financial management: building a detailed budget, profit and loss projection and cash flow plan.
When each area has its own roadmap and each roadmap supports the company’s overarching vision, your business gains clarity, accountability and momentum. A key part of business planning is ensuring that every department head contributes to the process. It’s not enough for ownership to set the annual revenue goal and hope everyone else figures out how to get there.
Each department needs to take ownership of their role in the company’s success. Marketing should know how many leads must be generated monthly to hit sales targets. Sales should know their demo and close rate goals and average job size required to achieve the revenue objective. Production should plan capacity and staffing to meet those goals efficiently and profitably.
This integrated approach creates alignment across the business and eliminates the silo effect that holds so many contractors back. Every part of the company starts pulling in the same direction, guided by clear numbers and expectations.
At the heart of your business plan is your budget. A strong budget isn’t just a forecast. It’s a financial map of your strategy. It shows you where to invest, where to tighten up and where you can expect returns.
Each department should have its own budget, built collaboratively with the leadership team. Your marketing budget, for example, might allocate funds for digital campaigns, canvassing or events like home shows. Your production budget might include equipment upgrades, safety training or performance bonuses.
A budget empowers your team to make informed decisions all year long. When the inevitable challenges arise, you’ll have a financial foundation to fall back on, not a gut feeling.
Once your plan and budgets are in place, the next step is measuring progress. This is where key performance indicators (KPIs) become your best friend.
KPIs provide visibility into your business’ health in real time. They allow you to catch problems early and make proactive adjustments before small issues become major setbacks. Examples of powerful roofing company KPIs include:
■ Marketing: cost per lead, lead-to-appointment ratio and appointment set rate
■ Sales: demo rate, close rate, average job size and net sales per lead issued
■ Production: on-time completion rate, rework percentage, job gross profit and material variance
■ Operations: set rate, issued rate (call center metrics), customer satisfaction score, service call frequency and warranty claims
■ Finance: gross margin, net profit percentage, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) and cash on hand. Additionally, liquidity ratios are important financial health metrics. This includes the current ratio and debt-to-equity ratio
When these metrics are displayed on a dashboard, your leadership team can easily review progress during weekly or monthly meetings. This keeps everyone accountable and ensures the plan stays on track.
At CCN, we teach that success isn't achieved through giant leaps – it's built through a series of small, consistent improvements compounded over time. Our Virtuous Cycle of Success, is an eight-step system that guides contractors through continuous improvement across marketing, call center, sales, production, customer experience, financial review and leadership accountability.
When a company commits to making micro-improvements in every step of this cycle, the results compound dramatically. Imagine if you improved each department’s performance by just 50 basis points each month (0.5 percent). Those small, steady gains multiply into macro-results by year end. The results are higher revenue, stronger margins and a more profitable and resilient business.
This mindset of continuous improvement transforms a business from reactive to proactive, from chaotic to intentional. It’s not about perfection. It’s about steady progress.
At CCN, we’ve seen firsthand the power of structured business planning. Our Business Roadmap to Success Bootcamp has become one of our best attended and most impactful programs year after year.
Contractors come to this event to build out their annual business plan in a guided environment – walking step-by-step through departmental budgets, KPI dashboards and team accountability structures. Many describe it as the most productive three days they spend all year.
The reason this program draws such large attendance is simple: business planning works. Companies that build intentional plans outperform those that don’t. They gain control over their destiny rather than letting external forces dictate their outcomes.
December is the perfect month to pause, reflect and plan. Block off time with your leadership team before the holidays to map out your 2026 vision. Set measurable goals for every department. Assign ownership. Build your KPI dashboard. Most importantly, commit to reviewing and improving your plan monthly throughout the year.
Next year will present new challenges and opportunities, just like every year does. But those who take the time to plan will be the ones who thrive. So, finish strong in 2025 and start 2026 even stronger. Your future success will not be built on hope but instead on a well-crafted roadmap that turns your vision into action.