The Four Factors That Separate 8 and 9 Figure Contractors From the Rest

Martin Pettigrew joined us for Episode 8 of the Growth Minded Contractor Podcast to talk about creating rapid growth in your contracting business. 

Now, Martin has a particularly valuable insight on this topic.

Because despite making a lot of mistakes and taking around 10 years to break through the 12 million mark..

Within the last 4 years he has managed to grow his company, Monarch Roofing, to 43 millions in annual revenue.

Making the current growth trajectory of his business resemble the shape of a hockey stick!

Martin says that one change was absolutely key to facilitating this rapid growth: 

Being able to step out from working in the business…

And instead start working on the business.

Once he could do this, everything completely changed. 

However, this was only possible once Monarch had exceeded 12 millions in revenue, because at this point he was able to hire a general manager to make sure the business was running smoothly. 

This allowed Martin to stop trying to wear all the hats and really step into his role of business owner.

And that’s why Martin says that hitting a revenue number that allows you to do this, should always be the first and most important goal for any contracting business owner.

Because once you can start working on the business, the sky becomes the limit in terms of potential revenue for your company.

Working On The Business: How Martin Restructured His Company To Prime It For Rapid Growth

Martin started working remotely from home to improve how his three locations operated.

One big change he made was improving communication throughout the company.

He did this by bringing in new software and setting up messaging groups related to different positions or topics.

This made several things within the company much easier and more effective, for example the daily sales meetings.

Because now instead of the sales leaders wondering what they should talk about each morning, they would have training videos and templates for the week sent to them in advance through these groups.

Thereby making sales meetings more effective and helping increase the overall performance of the sales team. 

And if there was an issue within the business, the relevant members of the team would be able to problem solve and brainstorm within the appropriate group.

The next thing Martin did was reorganize the processes and procedures for the business.

Before doing this, the documentation for various processes had been scattered in various locations both online and offline. 

So, what he did was take these documents and systems and organize them online in one place that could be easily accessed by everyone.

This would soon become incredibly important and valuable for the company.

That’s because one of Martin’s locations started failing, and became so far behind on bills that they couldn’t even close it down.

So instead, they had to fire everyone and Martin had to be there himself for weeks at a time to try to turn things around.

Thankfully though, they now had easy access to all of the proven processes from the two thriving locations.

It was like they had a playbook for success with this location and all they had to do was follow the steps!

This allowed them to go from 3 to 14 million dollars in revenue in just three years at this once struggling location. 

That way Martin was able to remove himself from the day to day runnings of all locations and start working on the business again. 

How To Balance Family Life When You Have A Relentless Drive For Massive Success With Your Business

It’s clear that Martin has a relentless drive to improve his business and from a contractor’s perspective obviously that’s an amazing and inspiring thing…

But one thing Ryan wanted to know was: how does his family feel about his ambition and work ethic? 

Martin admitted that he definitely finds it difficult to balance being dedicated to the business while also having time for family. 

However, one thing he has found that really helps is something called “power vacations”. 

With these, Martin and his family will leave on a Friday afternoon to go hiking up the mountains, spend time in Florida, or some other destination and then come back late on Sunday night. 

He would do this once a quarter in addition to devoting every Sunday to just spending time with his kids.

This also highlights another important reason why Martin hammers the importance of reaching the 12 million mark with other contractors…

Because the sooner you can hire that general manager, the easier it will become to step outside of the business and make time for family as well.

Success Secrets For Dominating Your Local Market

One of the things that really helped Martin grow his company so rapidly… 

Was having the courage to do things differently than his local competitors.

However, doing this is easier said than done because at the early stages of trying something new or different it’s not going to just immediately go well.

And when that happens, it’s really easy to listen to that little voice that tells you to just follow what other people are doing in your area because they are already doing well. 

But while doing things the same way as your competitors feels like the safest option, it’s not going to be the best decision for massive growth.

That’s because if you’re doing things exactly the same as the other contractors in your area, your customers will have no compelling reason to choose your services over theirs.

In addition to this, your competitors are never going to reveal their best secrets, so even if you wanted to, you’re never going to be able to replicate their strategies with the same level of detail.

That’s why Martin stresses the importance of going to events.

This allows you to be exposed to proven ideas from other cities and states.

But most importantly… 

Because you are talking with contractors who are not in direct competition with you and are coming to this event to learn, share, and grow…

You’re going to get access to a lot of detailed, quality information and trade secrets that you’d never get from a local competitor. 

However, Martin mentions another important success tip that pairs really well with attending events and conferences:

Not being afraid to ask questions. 

A big reason he says this is because a few years ago Martin managed to get 30 minutes with another successful business owner…

So he showed up prepared with a notepad full of questions.

All because he wanted to know what he needed to do after 17 million in revenue and how he could grow past that point. 

The answers and insight he got strongly contributed to how quickly he was able to reach the 40 million mark with his business.

This is why Martin thinks that the younger generation of contractors is going to achieve big success a lot faster and easier than he did.

Not because these guys are working harder than him, but because they aren’t afraid to ask questions and whenever he’s speaking at an event now, a large section of the crowd is made up of these younger guys who are eager to learn and get ahead.

So, as a result, they are getting exposed to far more insights and lessons that can help rapidly accelerate the growth of their business. 

Which is why you do not want to miss out on the Transform Conference, the number one live event for growth-minded contractors.

At this event, you’ll get the chance to learn directly from dozens of 8 figure business owners like Martin Pettigrew, who are eager to share their knowledge and help move the industry forward…

All while networking with hundreds of other driven and successful contractors from all over the country who will be in attendance.

To see the full list of speakers, what they’ll be covering at this event, whether there are still tickets available, or any other details:

→ Just click here to learn more now