Not all Sydney roof repair businesses have squeaky clean beginnings

Sydney, Australia suited Kevin McGeever in the late 1980s.
He had escaped Dublin and had spent a decade in Sydney rebuilding his new life. Now married with two young children, life was good in the Sutherland shire.

Amongst other things, he had a roofing repair company. In the mid 1980s, the newspaper classifieds were his playground. All manner of work and opportunities lurked in this section of Sydney’s daily papers. This was just the best way to get business opportunities – not just roof repair ones…

Kevin had amassed a reputation for trading properties, but this time around he had an idea.

If he could easily sell properties before they were built, why couldn’t he sell a business just as a concept. These were the days before franchising was a thing. The code of practice for franchising did not emerge until 1993.

How much is a roofing company in Sydney worth?

There was a roofing company for sale recently In Sydney for $1,350.00. Of course, every company is valued differently.

Back in the 1980s things were a bit cheaper.
But this did not deter Kevin. During his younger life in Dublin, he was able to sell a single property multiple times. So the question was not how much he could sell his roofing company for, but how many times he could sell it over and over again?
So while any normal business owner would be asking how much the sale price of his company was, Kevin was not normal. He was a creative genius.
Why can’t he sell he’s roofing company just like he used to sell he’s fictitious properties?
The question was not how much he could sell the business for, but how many times he could sell it over and over again.

 

The roofing professionals – the beginning.

Kevin had a way with words.
His roofing repair company was not just any roofing company . He picked “THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS” because it had the ring of authority and expertise.
Sydney is a big place.
Kevin just happen to live in southern Sydney. It only made total sense to Kevin that they could be four other roofing companies in Sydney serving the four quadrants. North, South, East and West. Suddenly, there were four companies he could own and sell.
That was the beginning of the roofing professionals Northside, Eastside, Westside and Southside.
So Kevin went to work with the classifieds….Because this was where everything was traded – even businesses.

Kevin knew how to paint a pretty picture, so the four roofing companies he put up for sale in the classifieds looked good. So good that he quickly manage to find four buyers.

Nowadays, there are businesses that are sold on just a concept. But back in the 1980s this was not heard of. Most businesses were sold as going concerns.

Viable businesses had track records, auditable financial accounts, business plans, and were attractive money making machines. Kevin didn’t need any of this.

He could make all this up and create a sense of reality that could fool anyone.

It is reported that Kevin sold his roofing business not four – but five times. This is what creative geniuses do. Not only did Kevin have the roofing professionals split up into four companies, he was also able to sell the original company (called the roofing professionals) for a bonus.

 

When things catch up with you.

Talk is easy and some people can make others believe anything. It is the fulfillment part that lets every conman down. And Kevin was no exception.

When broken promises associated with the roofing repair businesses that he sold off started to make life uncomfortable for Kevin, he took the easy way out. He had left the his first life in Dublin when it became uncomfortable. So, it was second nature to leave his second life behind (along with the family and non-cash assets).

He made his way to the America for a third life with a second wife.

Then his life became more complicated. He was eventually put in prison a few years ago for faking his own death.

Some small business owners can be extremely resilient

Rather than collapse under buyer’s remorse and the disappointment of a bad investment, two of the roofing businesses survived. Both owners had sufficient financial, emotional and intellectual expertise to turn things around.

Ron Conrad developed his roofing business (The Roofing Professionals Northside) into a thriving roof repair and roof replacement brand in the north shore areas.
Sum Yuen (The Roofing Professionals Westside) had great success serving the western suburbs with roof repair and roof replacement services.
Sum Yuen eventually decided to call it a day in the early 2000’s and passed the baton to his younger brother Jack.

Jack the roofer (as he is affectionally known) revamped the business into a specialty roof repair service in Sydney. The Roofing Professionals Westside in the 2020’s has the reputation of being in the business of being busy. The continuing stream of phone calls to Jack mostly goes to voicemail. The homeowners who manage to get into the queue to get their roofs repaired by jack’s small team of specialty roof repairers, are even prepared to wait months for this service…

Meanwhile, Ron developed vertigo on the roof. Not a good thing to have as a roofer. And this made him decide to sell his business in 2017. Ron had lived in the eastern suburbs and his The Roofing Professionals Northside had the ‘Eastside’ covered (since the original owners of The Roofing Professionals Eastside had ceased trading decades ago). This meant that he was able to sell two businesses (legitimately).

Boris Despot bought The Roofing Professionals Eastside and he is slowly developing this roofing business like any new business owner would.
Brad Butcher was one of Ron’s workers who saw the advantages of buying The Roofing Professionals Northside. He now covers northern Sydney with his style of roofing work.

All these stories are current and there will be more interesting tales coming…