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Young Roofer Transitions Into Company Owner
From 13-year-old roofer to multi-million-dollar business owner
John Wilson
April 02, 2025
What’s up everyone,
What were you doing at 13?
Probably not taking the first step toward owning a multi-million-dollar business.
But that’s exactly what Eddie Griffin did.
At that age, he started working for the roofing company he owns today.
In our latest podcast, we talk with him about:
Learning the “business side” of growing a company
How to build a scalable, retail-focused roofing model
Marketing, training, and the road to $50M
There’s a lot more. Keep scrolling.
Special Thanks To Service Scalers
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On The Pod This Week
Eddie Griffin started roofing at 13. By 2012, he owned the company he used to sweep up for.
Since then, he’s grown Brown Roofing into a $20M+ business with nine crews, a fully built-out back office, and one of the most impressive training facilities in the industry.
In this episode of Owned and Operated, Eddie breaks down the mindset, structure, and systems that helped him scale—and what’s still getting in the way as he aims for $50M.
Here’s what stood out from the conversation.
You can’t scale what you can’t see
Eddie admits he was great with a hammer, but had no clue how to run a business. His big turning point came when he invested in financial visibility.
A CFO helped him understand margins, overhead, and how fast he could grow.
Before that, he was hiring blindly and losing money without realizing it.
With clean financials, he built repeatable systems and scaled with confidence.
Eddie’s growth didn’t take off until he got clear on the numbers and stopped flying blind.
Brand drives leads when demand slows down
Brown Roofing spends $1.4M a year on marketing—and they don’t dial it back in the off-season. Eddie says the brand is what keeps the phone ringing, even when intent is low.
40% of his budget goes to brand: wrapped buses, radio, TV, and mailers.
The other 60% is direct response: PPC, SEO, and lead gen platforms.
Their SEO strategy includes constant blog content and location pages.
When others pull back, Eddie pushes forward. That’s why his brand stays top of mind.
Training is what separates a business from a hustle
Eddie runs nine subcontracted crews—and says quality doesn’t come from micromanaging. It comes from process. That’s why he built a 65,000 sq. ft. training facility with a full arena, mock roofs, and real equipment.
Project managers are trained to be the homeowner’s main point of trust.
Training infrastructure lets them grow without sacrificing quality.
He tracks backlog weekly—once it hits 3–4 weeks, they add another crew.
If you want predictable growth, you need predictable people—and that starts with training.
Want to hear how Eddie plans to hit $50M from a single location?
Listen to the full episode of Owned & Operated now.
⚡ Shout Out to Hatch ⚡
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If you’re not looking deeper into your pipeline, you’re seriously missing out on major growth opportunities.
See you in Friday’s newsletter. 👊
John
Disclosure: This newsletter includes sponsored content. However, all opinions expressed are entirely my own.
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