Roofing contractors know how easy it is to feel successful when the phones are ringing, crews are busy, and new jobs keep filling the schedule. But Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO of The Coffee Shops and Founder and Past Chairperson of National Women in Roofing, says activity alone does not tell leaders whether the company is truly healthy. During a featured PowerChat with Greg Cummings, Ellsworth challenged contractors to look deeper than revenue and understand when the business is profitable, where costs are rising, and which parts of the company may be losing money.
That message closely aligns with the work of Power100, which brings together home improvement leaders around the business decisions that shape long-term growth. Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry.
Through conversations like this PowerChat, contractors can hear how experienced leaders think about financial discipline, people, technology, culture, and the systems needed to build stronger companies before the market puts those choices under pressure.
A full sales board can feel like proof that everything is working.
The phones are ringing. Crews are moving from job to job. Salespeople are closing deals. New work keeps coming in. Revenue may even reach another company record.
But none of those signs answers one important question.
Is the business actually making money?
That question became one of the strongest warnings in Ellsworth’s PowerChat conversation with Cummings.
Construction companies face costs that can move fast. Material prices can rise. Fuel can become more expensive. Payroll can grow as the team gets larger. A small mistake in pricing or production can repeat across many jobs. A company may sell more work than ever while keeping less from each project.
From the outside, that business can look like it is winning.
Inside, the numbers may tell a very different story.
Ellsworth urged contractors to understand the difference before it becomes a serious problem.
“People need to know their numbers. What are your numbers? When are you profitable? When are you not profitable? Don’t just try to win. Don’t just look at the revenue. You need to know where you’re at, especially in construction.” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
Her point is not that contractors should stop chasing growth.
It is that growth needs proof to back it up.
A company owner should know what it costs to complete the work. Leaders should understand which jobs generate healthy profits and which do not. They should know whether higher sales are improving the business or simply creating more work, more payroll, and more risk.
This is where a strong roofing company’s financial management becomes more than reading a revenue report.
Financial clarity gives leaders a better view of what the company can truly afford.
It can help an owner decide whether the business is ready to hire another person. It can show whether a new technology investment makes sense. It can help leaders decide when to raise prices, slow spending, save cash, or expand into another market.
Without that clarity, leaders may make major decisions based on how busy the company feels instead of how healthy it really is.
Ellsworth also connected this lesson to the changing cost of doing business.
“I mean, with the material prices increase, with gas prices, everything that’s going on right now. If you don’t know your numbers, you’re in big trouble. You’re in big trouble.” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
That warning becomes even more important after strong years.
A good market can make weak habits harder to see. When customers are spending and jobs are easy to find, a company may be able to carry waste, poor pricing, or rising expenses without feeling the full effect right away.
But markets change.
Demand can slow. Customers can become more careful. Costs can rise faster than prices. A company that looked strong during an easy period may suddenly discover that it never built enough room for a harder one.
Ellsworth has seen those cycles before. Her broader message to contractors is to prepare while there is still time.
That starts with knowing what the numbers mean now.
Strong financial management at a roofing company gives leaders the chance to spot trouble before it becomes an emergency. It can reveal where money is being made, where it is being lost, and whether the company is building enough strength to handle a slower season.
It also gives leaders a stronger base for decisions about people.
Employees are one of the largest investments a company makes. Hiring, training, retaining, and supporting a strong team all require money. When leaders understand the business’s true financial position, they can make better choices about growth without placing the company or its people under avoidable pressure.
The same is true for technology.
A new system may promise more speed or better reporting, but the business still needs to know whether the investment is creating real value. Financial discipline helps leaders assess whether a tool benefits the company or merely adds another monthly cost.
For Ellsworth, the numbers are not separate from leadership.
They help make leadership clearer.
A contractor who knows the company’s real financial position can move with greater confidence because the decision is based on more than hope.
That is the heart of this PowerChat perspective.
Winning is not simply seeing a larger revenue number at the end of the year.
Winning is understanding what the company earned, what it spent, what it kept, where it is exposed, and whether it is prepared for what comes next.
Because when the market finally tests the business, leaders should not have to guess where they stand.
They should already know.
During her PowerChat conversation with Greg Cummings, Heidi J. Ellsworth moved the discussion beyond sales, revenue, and company size. Her point was simple. A contractor can look successful from the outside while financial pressure is growing inside the business.
Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
That is why Ellsworth urged leaders to understand what sits behind the revenue number.
Profit, rising costs, people, systems, technology, and market changes all shape a company’s real health. When leaders understand those areas, they gain more than financial knowledge. They gain the ability to make stronger choices before pressure forces them to react.
The conversation also showed that financial discipline is not about becoming afraid to spend or grow. It is about knowing what the company can carry, where money is creating value, and where a decision may create trouble later.
From there, Ellsworth and Cummings explored six areas that help contractors turn strong sales into a stronger business.
A growing sales number can create excitement.
More jobs are coming in. Crews are busy. Sales teams are closing. The company may be serving more customers than it did the year before.
But Ellsworth warned that those signs do not tell leaders whether the business is becoming healthier.
“What are your numbers? When are you profitable? When are you not profitable? Don’t just look at the revenue.” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
That question changes the way leaders look at growth.
Instead of asking only how much work the company sold, they must ask what it cost to complete that work. A job that looked strong when it was sold may yield lower profit after material, labour, fuel, and other costs are accounted for.
The same is true across the company.
One service may create strong margins while another creates more problems than profit. One market may support healthy pricing, while another requires too much travel or labour. One sales team may generate high revenue but also incur high costs after the sale.
That is why roofing business advice for contractors should go deeper than telling owners to sell more.
Leaders need to know where profit comes from.
They also need to know where it disappears.
Growth should raise more questions as the company grows.
These questions help leaders see whether growth is creating strength or simply creating more activity.
Strong business resources for roofing contractors should help owners understand the difference before the company becomes too large to ignore it.
A strong market can make almost every decision feel like a good one.
When leads are easy to find and customers are ready to spend, companies can carry waste for a long time without feeling the full effect.
A weak process may still produce enough work.
An expensive tool may remain in place even if the team barely uses it.
A new hire may be added before the company is truly ready.
A growing expense may look small compared with rising revenue.
Ellsworth pointed to the years after COVID as an example of how strong demand can create a false sense of safety.
“We’ve had some really high times over the last couple of years, especially in home improvement after COVID. And people did spend a lot of money on things that didn’t invest back into their business.” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
That difference between spending and investing matters.
Money spent on training, better processes, useful technology, strong people, or savings can help prepare the company for what comes next.
Money spent without a clear purpose may only increase pressure later.
The key question is what the expense leaves behind.
If the answer is no, the company may have spent money without strengthening the business.
That becomes clear when demand changes.
A business built only for easy years may struggle when customers become more careful or leads become harder to close.
Strong roofing leadership and business growth resources can help owners look beyond short-term wins and ask whether today’s decisions are making tomorrow’s company safer.
Ellsworth has watched construction move through both good and difficult markets.
Her lesson is not to fear the next slow period.
It is expected that business will change.
“When you really talk to successful contractors, they expect the down cycles. They expect it. They work for it. They build for it. They do their systems and processes, saving money, knowing their numbers.” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
That type of preparation gives leaders choices.
A company that has saved money may have time to adjust rather than make a sudden cut.
A company that knows its margins can see which work still makes sense.
A company with clear systems can find problems faster.
A company that understands its costs can adjust pricing before losses become too large.
Those choices become harder when leaders wait until cash is tight.
At that point, the market may begin making decisions for the business.
Hiring freezes happen quickly.
Marketing gets cut without a plan.
Good employees may be lost.
Technology or training investments may stop exactly when the company needs better systems.
Preparation changes that.
It gives owners room to think.
This is one reason why growing a roofing company should include more than sales goals. Growth should also include the strength to handle a slower season without losing everything built during the good one.
Financial discipline is most useful when it becomes normal before the company needs it.
That is how resilience is built.
Not during the emergency.
Before it.
Ellsworth did not treat financial strength as a separate issue from culture.
She connected the numbers directly to the people doing the work.
“Companies overall understand that the people in their company are their greatest asset. And if you aren’t taking care of them, then you’re losing them. What’s that cost?” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
That final question matters.
When a strong employee leaves, the cost does not end with one empty position.
The company may need to recruit.
A manager may spend time interviewing.
A new employee must be trained.
Productivity may fall while the new person learns.
Customers may feel the loss of experience.
Other employees may carry more work.
Those costs can build quickly.
That makes employee retention in the roofing industry part of the business’s financial health.
A strong culture can help protect that investment.
Employees are more likely to stay when leaders communicate clearly, create real opportunities, care about safety, and treat people with respect.
Poor culture can create the opposite effect.
Turnover rises.
Trust falls.
Managers spend more time replacing people than developing them.
The financial cost can grow even when it is not shown as a single line item on a report.
This is why roofing company culture and financial discipline should support each other.
Knowing the numbers gives leaders a better chance to make responsible choices about hiring, training, pay, safety, and career growth.
The goal is not to cut people to improve a report.
The goal is to build a company strong enough to invest in the right people and keep them.
Knowing the numbers once is not enough.
A company needs a regular way to review what is happening.
Ellsworth shared how The Coffee Shops adopted EOS and became more systematic about tracking business performance, long-term goals, and workplace culture.
“Whatever system you use, whatever you do out there, I think putting that in place in your business and being very systematic about it will help you get there.” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
The name of the system matters less than the habit behind it.
Leaders need a repeatable way to look at the business.
Without regular review, small issues can stay hidden until they become large ones.
A weak margin may continue across many jobs.
A tool may continue to cost money even when employees are not using it.
A culture problem may grow because no one asks the team how things feel.
Ellsworth described a quarterly “vibe check” used within The Coffee Shops to understand where the culture is strong and where the company needs improvement.
That example shows why systems are about more than finance.
The right process helps leaders connect people, goals, culture, and money.
It also makes roofing business education for contractors more practical, turning learning into something the team can review and act on.
No system makes leadership perfect.
Ellsworth openly said she still gets things wrong.
The value comes from having a way to notice, learn, and correct the problem.
Companies do not need to wait for the perfect system.
They need to begin measuring what matters.
Numbers can show a contractor what is happening inside the company.
Trusted peers can help explain what may be happening across the industry.
A business owner may notice material costs climbing and wonder whether the problem is local or widespread.
Another contractor may already have changed pricing.
A peer may have tested a software system the owner is considering.
Someone else may have expanded into a new service and discovered costs that were not initially clear.
Those conversations create context.
“Contractors should ask contractors, how did you like this technology? How did you like this software? Did it work? How did it fit with your culture?” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
A strong online roofing contractor community gives leaders access to those experiences before they spend money or make a large change.
The goal is not to copy another company.
It is to learn from what happened there.
That may help an owner ask a better question before signing a contract.
It may reveal a cost that was missing from the plan.
It may show that the company needs more training before adding another system.
Ellsworth also encouraged contractors to use professional associations as places to test ideas.
“Getting involved with your associations allows you and your online communities to test these ideas and to hear what other people are doing.” Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO, The Coffee Shops
That makes roofing industry associations valuable for more than networking.
They can help leaders understand the market around their own numbers.
Sometimes the strongest financial decision is not a new investment.
It is avoiding the wrong one.
A single conversation can save money before it leaves the company.
A shared lesson can stop a weak process before it spreads.
A trusted peer can help an owner see that a problem needs attention sooner than expected.
The company still needs its own numbers.
But those numbers become more useful when leaders understand the larger world around them.
Heidi J. Ellsworth’s influence in roofing is evident not only in the companies and communities she has helped build. It can also be seen in the recognition she has earned from leaders across the roofing, media, technology, and business sectors.
Heidi Ellsworth Earns Inaugural WORLD Award from NWIR
In 2020, Ellsworth became the first recipient of the W.O.R.L.D. Award, the Woman of Outstanding Roofing Leadership and Distinction Award, presented by National Women in Roofing. The honour recognized her long-term commitment to leadership, perseverance, mentoring, and helping other women build stronger careers in roofing.
Her impact has also reached beyond the roofing industry itself. Ellsworth was named among the Top Women Leaders of Oregon in both 2023 and 2026 by Women We Admire. In 2021, she was also recognized as a Top Women in Media Changemaker, an honor tied to her impact on digital media and the way roofing professionals find information, education, and one another online.
Those awards reflect work that Ellsworth has been building for years.
As a co-founder of National Women in Roofing, she helped turn a need for stronger professional connections into an organization focused on recruitment, retention, education, mentoring, and leadership opportunities for women across the roofing industry. Her role as a founder and past chairperson helped create a structure in which women could support one another while also strengthening the larger industry.
Ellsworth also helped co-found the Roofing Technology Think Tank, known as RT3, which brings together roofing professionals to focus on technology, innovation, and the future of the industry. That work connects closely with the message she shared during her PowerChat with Greg Cummings. Better businesses are not built by chasing change for its own sake. They are built when leaders understand what is happening, learn from others, and apply new ideas in ways that strengthen the company.
Her record of leadership also gives weight to her warning that contractors must know more than their revenue.
Ellsworth has spent years helping roofing professionals think beyond what looks successful on the surface. Whether the focus is financial discipline, technology, mentoring, education, or the professional community, the same idea recurs in her work.
Strong industries are built when people have better information, stronger relationships, and more confidence to make the right decisions.
For contractors reading her advice to know their numbers before the market tests them, Ellsworth’s career offers proof that the message comes from more than observation alone. It comes from decades spent helping roofing professionals prepare for change, build stronger networks, and create systems that can support what comes next.
Growth should still be the goal.
Heidi J. Ellsworth’s message is not about slowing ambition or becoming afraid of the next move. It is about making sure the business understands what that growth is asking it to carry.
A company that knows its margins can price with more confidence. A company that understands its costs can see pressure earlier. A company that saves during strong periods has more room when the market changes. A company that understands the value of good employees can make better choices about culture, training, and retention.
That kind of clarity gives leaders something revenue alone cannot provide.
It gives them a better sense of what the business can handle.
Ellsworth’s wider leadership view brings those pieces together. Numbers matter, but they do not stand alone. People matter. Technology matters. Systems matter. Industry relationships matter. Each one becomes stronger when leaders understand how it connects to the company’s health.
That is what makes responsible growth different from growth for its own sake.
The largest revenue figure may attract attention, but it does not automatically prove that the company is strong.
A healthier question is whether the business can keep its promises, support its people, invest with purpose, and stay steady when the market becomes harder.
For Ellsworth, that is where real preparation begins.
Know what the company sells.
Know what it costs.
Know what it keeps.
Know where it is strong.
Know where it is exposed.
When the next market change arrives, the contractors with the clearest view of their business will not need to guess whether they are ready.
They will already know.
We do not automatically treat every industry voice as an Expert Contributor. We describe Expert Contributors as CEOs, founders, and category experts who have been vetted, verified, and approved through our ranking system. Once approved, they can share original articles, appear in interviews, and bring proven industry experience to the Power100 audience. Our goal is to connect home improvement leaders with insights from people who have already gained real-world experience in the field.
We believe strong leadership should show up in more places than a financial report. Our evaluation process looks at several areas, including leadership, company culture, customer experience, community engagement, and sustainable growth. This helps us look at how a CEO leads the company as a whole, not only how large the business has become.
RoofersCoffeeShop offers more than articles and industry news. Its platform includes classifieds where roofing professionals can find job openings, available crews, and other industry opportunities. It also provides forums, directories, education, and resources, making it useful as both a learning platform and a roofing-industry marketplace for contractors seeking practical help.
RoofersCoffeeShop offers R Club, a contractor membership community focused on business growth, industry connections, learning, and peer relationships. The program gives contractors another way to meet people who understand roofing and share experiences that may help them make stronger decisions. That makes it part of a wider roofing contractor community rather than only a place to consume information.
Higher revenue does not prove that each job is making money. Material costs, fuel, labor, payroll, and other expenses can rise while sales also rise. Heidi J. Ellsworth warns contractors to know when they are profitable and when they are not, instead of judging success by revenue alone. Strong financial management at a roofing company helps leaders understand what the company actually retains after the work is completed.
Because preparation gives leaders more choices later. Ellsworth explains that successful contractors expect down cycles and prepare through systems, savings, and a clear understanding of their numbers. When the market becomes harder, those companies have more room to adjust rather than making rushed decisions when cash becomes tight. This makes financial planning an important part of growing a roofing company in the long term.
It can support both. National Women in Roofing provides members with mentoring, leadership development, training, employment opportunities, and recruitment tools to help companies attract talent. Its programs also help women build skills and make stronger career decisions, giving employers another way to support professional development inside the roofing industry. These resources make roofing leadership training for women part of a wider workforce development effort.
Yes. Members can access online training sessions and NWIR Days, the organization’s annual conference focused on leadership and career growth. National Women in Roofing also offers mentoring and other professional development resources that help members strengthen skills throughout the year. For women exploring a career in roofing, the organization offers more than networking by creating several paths for learning and leadership growth.
Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry. Led by Greg Cummings, Power100 helps contractors and CEOs learn from proven leadership, stronger business systems, and real industry experience. Through national rankings, PowerChat interviews, expert insights, and the Power100 Inner Circle, the platform provides home improvement leaders with practical knowledge and trusted connections to help them better understand their business, prepare for change, and build companies that are strong beyond the revenue number.
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Power100 is the nation's premier CEO ranking and media platform for the home improvement industry. Using a proprietary 5-layer evaluation system, Power100 identifies and celebrates the top CEOs, companies, and strategic partners driving innovation, customer satisfaction, and leadership excellence across the country.
