No matter how you spin it, contractors build things and perform craft tasks. That’s what you get paid to do. Yes, you have the cost of giving an estimate and presenting the job, but does the customer really care? Yes, you have to order and handle material, but again, does the customer really care? Customers want a new roof over their heads. They don’t want to invest in a contractor’s overhead.
The most efficient organization is one. When you move beyond one, complications arise. Obviously, having just one person sell, install, bill and do all the other contracting functions. is not practical. As a company grows, communication, interaction and other management details complicate the process. But just because something is complicated does not mean it can’t be measured. In the last month or so, I have had some interesting phone calls from mature, profitable roofing companies that are struggling because they have too much overhead. Failure to look at the efficiency of your processes can create a bureaucracy.