The Siding Guy, Desmond Tse: "Best practices for trade contractors"

If you’ve ever wanted to start your own trade contracting business or level up the one you have, you need to hear Des’s story. From the Home Depot pamphlet that taught him the siding installation techniques to picking up a couple contractors and building a business with 10 install crews running simultaneously. Part of learning the ropes was observing the mistakes of others to avoid those errors down the road. Des takes inventory. He focused his crews on a consistent product that was bonus driven for reduced waste and beating deadlines.

Des also got in front of another common issue for trade contractors- cashflow. He saved and accrued a company “float” that allowed Sublime Siding to always keep the ball rolling. It also allowed him to carry on when one of his partners went under and couldn’t pay him.

Now, financially secure he’s downsized and become the guy you’re all familiar with, The Siding Guy. The Siding Guy was intended to be fun, a creative outlet, but has become a bit of a pain for owner, Des, because everyone wants the siding guy on their job!

Des is a man with a plan. It didn’t take him long to know he was business oriented, despite the stigma of shame surrounding being a tradesperson he felt when he started out. As you may have seen on social, he is always strategizing and trying to shave seconds off every task.