Recently, a leading publication asked me to write an article regarding women and their role in contracting and I felt such a topic would also be of value to Roofing Contractor readers. First, I want to make it clear that I am no expert in this area, though there are women in my life — a wife and two lovely daughters who both are married, young adults with careers. And I do think that we all often take the gender issue too seriously. However, I enjoyed my daughter’s joke about how men are like parking spaces: All the goods ones are taken and rest are handicapped.
At any rate, I am going to talk about something more important than the battle of the sexes: helping contractors make money. And I am going to start by saying that the unsung hero in many a contractor shop is the office administrator or manager. While I realize that you may have been expecting an article about women entrepreneurs or managers, the administrative position is one of the most important components to a contractor’s success. Now I know there are people out there who will say this is a sexist approach and this could be a man’s job. This is absolutely true; but in 90 percent of the contracting businesses I encounter, a competent woman holds this position. So I would like to dedicate this article to those unsung heroes.