Ask any homeowner who's tried to get three panels of siding fixed. They called siding companies. Nobody called back, or they got a price for the whole wall, or a salesman showed up to sell them a whole house. That frustration is your business opportunity.
Why the big companies pass
- The numbers don't work for them. A siding company has crews, sales reps, office staff, showrooms and marketing to pay for. A small repair job doesn't cover the cost of sending a crew and a salesperson.
- Their business is replacement. Whole-house jobs are what they're built to sell. Their marketing brings in replacement leads, and that's what they chase.
- Repairs are fiddly. Matching discontinued siding, working around landscaping, fixing someone else's old install: it takes experience and it's slow for a crew built for speed.
- Small jobs mess up the schedule. A crew that can finish a whole house in a few days doesn't want to break up the week for a two-hour repair.
Why it's perfect for one person
- Low overhead means a small job pays you well.
- Fast jobs: many repairs take a couple of hours.
- Repeat customers and referrals: the homeowner who couldn't get anyone to call back will tell everyone about you.
- Referrals from the big companies themselves. Some siding companies are happy to pass along repair calls to someone they trust, so they don't have to say no. Introduce yourself.
How to position yourself
Say it plainly in your marketing: "We fix siding. Small jobs welcome." Answer your phone. Give a straight price. Show up. That alone puts you ahead of most of the market.
When to send a job elsewhere
Be honest when a repair isn't really a repair: siding that's failing across the whole house, rotten sheathing everywhere, or a whole-side storm loss that needs replacing. Point them to a good replacement company. That honesty builds trust and gets you the next referral.
Start with how to start a siding repair business. Inside Siding Pro Academy, we show how to build a full schedule out of the jobs everyone else turns down.
Photo: from a real Siding Pro Academy repair job.
