Matt’s Story
Hey, my name is Matt Fruge and I want to welcome you to our channel. I also want to take a minute to explain my story, what SquareDash is, the content we release here, and why we do what we do.
In 2010, I started a roofing business because I thought I was smarter than every other roofing company owner I had worked for. At that point, I thought I could out-hustle all the other roofing contractors in Dallas.
But, I didn't realize the biggest problem in the roofing business couldn't be solved with hard work or a big brain. And the biggest problem in our business is how roofing companies do business related to insurance claims. Now, I had experience selling all kinds of things before I got into roofing.
You may have seen full-page ads in either Field and Stream, Guns and Ammo, or the VFW magazines selling rare coins or silver dollars. Well, they all lead back to a call center in Beaumont, Texas, where I grew up and was one of the guys on the other end of those ads. Long story short, I learned how to sell a quarter for a dollar and sold a ton of gold and silver, but I didn't feel good about it.
So I quit in 2008 and moved to the Dallas Fort Worth area where I didn't know a soul. I ended up responding to an ad for a roofing company. That's where everything changed for me. After a storm, I'd drive around offering a free roof inspection and if they needed it, I'd help the homeowners make a claim with their insurance company and walk them through the whole process from playing to building the roof.
I was proud to sell something people needed to protect their homes and families. Turns out, I was pretty good at it so probably like a lot of people who started their own roofing company I saw how much money I was making and as I was driving around picking up customer payments in the evenings I started kind of doing the math.
And, if I was making this much, I knew how much the owner was making, and he wasn't driving around at six o'clock at night knocking on doors or picking up checks. So, I started my own business. I sold a ton of roofs, but the business demanded my constant presence. I was doing everything I was selling.
I was collecting the checks. I was putting the crews together. I was running production. And I knew if I wanted to scale what I was doing into a real profitable business, I was going to need some help. So, I rented a small office space and eventually started hiring some back office staff and some sales reps bought some trucks and trailers and I had a raft, and it looked really nice.
The business grew, but so did the bills. And, on paper, business was good. We had plenty of jobs lined up with approved insurance claims, but getting paid took forever. I mean, like forever. And, while everybody else is looking forward to Fridays, I hated Fridays. Friday sucked because that's when I had to make payroll and pay all the bills on more Fridays than I want to remember.
I was actually moving money from my personal account into my business account to keep the business running. I thought to myself, the money should flow in the other direction, right? So, I started looking for options, but none were good. The bank wouldn't give me a loan because I didn't have the financials to back it up, and the only people that it seemed like would loan me money were these merchant cash advance companies. At 60% interest in daily payments, I didn't really have a choice, so I ended up paying enormous fees that kept me from growing.
I was doing more business, but the only people that seemed to be getting rich would be these MCA companies. While I could solve all the other problems in my business, there was one problem that I couldn't solve because it was a structural problem related to this industry.
This problem was crippling my business, and it's probably the same one that may be holding you back if you're a business owner, and it's cash flow. The poor cash flow is the root of all evil, and I've got lots of friends in the roofing world and when they're honest with me, they tell me they're fighting the same battle. I realized that if I could solve this, I could help my business and help my friends grow theirs, too.
That led me to create SquareDash, so now, rather than waiting eight or ten weeks to get your money after all the processes and approvals with an insurance claim. SquareDash actually pays you instantly on any approved insurance claim that you have, and you'll have that money in your account to buy materials, pay your people, and leverage the revenue that you've actually already created.
We've made it as simple as possible to use. All you really have to do is upload a copy of an approved scope in your contract, and our AI turns every insurance job into a retail job that gets you paid in real-time. No welcome calls. No credit applications. No waiting on the mortgage company.
Just fast, easy cash flow so you can grow your business. If you want to learn more, there's a link somewhere around this video, and you can just go to squaredash.com.
Get in Touch
I've been where you are and still do roofing jobs as they come to me on a referral basis today. The key difference is that jobs are more profitable and close out more quickly. With the SquareDash team handling billing and claim funding, our sales guys get paid faster than ever before.
Schedule a consultation any time. We would love to learn about your business and assess how we can help solve the cash flow constraints that are holding you back from growth.
For more detailed tips and insights from industry experts, visit the SquareDash blog