Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ryan McBride. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Ryan, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

At Florida Roof Renewal we plant a mangrove tree for every roof that we restore. When we give roofs a longer life we keep roof debris out of landfills, thus creating a more sustainable situation for our state and our people. Mangroves are hugely important to the integrity of the Florida ecosystem. They protect coastlines from erosion, improve water and air quality, provide habitat for coastal fish, and they are 4 times more effective in mitigating climate change that terrestrial forests. We want to leave a legacy of great savings and great service to our customers. We also want to leave a legacy of a better Florida for future generations.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My business partner, Mark Baker, and I were friends at church and had a conversation about how we needed a side hustle to make a little more money. A week later Mark told me a friend of his was selling his old pressure washing equipment and getting out of the pressure washing business. “Wanna start a pressure washing company?” Mark asked next time I saw him. That was in 2018. We started out of the back of our trucks and when covid hit the company took off and we started landing bigger and bigger jobs and hiring crews. In 2021 I was searching for an add-on to our business and came across the roof rejuvenation industry. We were already cleaning roofs so decided to buy some product and a machine to see if we could treat roofs and offer customers a warranty too. It worked. In fact, it worked so well that by September of 2023 we sold the pressure washing business and went full-time into our new company, Florida Roof Renewal.
Since then we have begun our mangrove planting program and have been able to restore over 400 roofs in the state and plant as many mangroves.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We are in the roof rejuvenation business, not the roof replacement business. This year when the hurricanes hit it was a boon for roofers, but not necessarily roof rejuvenation companies. Our business actually slows down for a week or two after hurricanes as people are more concerned with immediate repair needs for their home. So we have to figure out how to survive and keep our guys busy in such times. This October after each hurricane that came through we pivoted and began cutting downed trees and helping with debris removal. We would door knock to find work or our crews and were able to make good money, keep our guys busy, and help out people in the neighborhood along the way.
Do I want to become a tree trimming company? Not really. However, I do want to keep food on the table for us and our guys so pivoting to cutting trees does the job in a pinch.

We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.

We sold our pressure washing business in September of 2023. If you’re looking to sell your business I would recommend a few things:

1) Keep good books and stay on top of your taxes. Our business broker was so impressed with our bookkeeping and our tax preparation and it helped streamline the process as potential buyers had fewer questions and could easily see the profitability and success of our business.

2) Keep good records of contact information from former customers. We were able to increase the value of our business by providing contact info for more than 1000 customers in our database.

3) Build your brand integrity. Our company had great reviews on both Google and the Better Business Bureau which added value for potential buyers. We also had well-developed social media content and posting.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.floridaroofenewal.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floridaroofrenewal/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@floridaroofrenewalllc

Image Credits
I took all of these photos.