NEW YORK — A new report says “roofing company” is among the best to start in 2018.

FitSmallBusiness.com, an online business publication that aims to help small business owners, recently released its list of the 40 best businesses to start this year.

Roofing company came in fourth, edged out only by pet spa, child daycare center and landscaping service.

“Roofing companies earn the fourth place spot on our list, ranking well for competition, industry growth, barrier to entry, and profit margin,” FitSmallBusiness.com said about starting a roofing company.

Additionally, the report said “Roofing jobs are also among the most sustainable of those we considered, as they ranked eighth for growth with an estimated increase of 11 percent between 2016 and 2026.”

Of course, for a ton of great insight from top experts on the future of the roofing industry, you can always check out Roofing Contractor's State of the Industry Report and Survey 2018. To see just how successful roofing companies can be, check out the 2018 Top Roofing Contractors List that was recently released.

In compiling its general list of best types of companies to start, FitSmallBusiness reviewed all 50 states and analyzed publicly-available data from leading sources including the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Small Business Administration, and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The publication based the ranking of the best businesses to start on 10 metrics across six total categories. The businesses were ranked for each metric, and each of the six categories was given a weight based on its importance to starting a business.

FitSmallBusiness.com then multiplied the weight for each metric by each business's ranking to come up with the weighted ranking, adding the categories together to come up with an overall score, which was used to rank each business-type.

Companies at the top of the list were generally deemed to have few barriers to entry, high profit potential, as well as a higher likelihood that they will receive loans, and a high potential for industry growth.

Here is the top 10 list of businesses to start in 2018, in order, according to FitSmallBusiness.com:

1. Landscaping service
2. Child daycare center
3. Pet spa
4. Roofing company
5. Courier, messenger and local delivery service
6. Janitorial service
7. Residential remodeling
8. Full service restaurant
9. Beer, wine and liquor store
10. Limousine service

"There are a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs to start businesses that don't require millions in start-up cash or advanced degrees, but that still have high profit potential," said Eric Noe, editor-in-chief, FitSmallBusiness.com.

The rest of the list, including more detail on how roofing was scored, can be found at https://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-businesses-to-start/