The GTA Construction Report – November 2009 – PAGE B1
Shorex Roofing focuses on commercial re-roofing, maintenance
Astounding growth built on solid
business plan and reliable reputation
STAFF WRITER – The GTA Construction Report Special Feature
Shorex Roofing Corporation’s growth has been as-
tounding, yet the story that brought the company to
recognition earlier this year as one of Profit Magazine’s
“Hottest Startups” shows how this business will thrive
and be around for the long-term.
“We had about $11 million in business volume in
2008,” says Shawn O’Reilly, president of the Barrie-
based company. “In 2007, our sales were $5.4 million,
and in our first year of business, in 2006, we started out
with $1.6 million.”
These growth rates would strain the capacities of
most entrepreneurs, especially with the looming reces-
sion which took hold in late 2008 and early 2009. But
O’Reilly had a plan, and his vision both allowed the
rapid growth and permitted him to make the strategic
changes to improve Shorex’s profitability as many com-
petitors struggled to survive
Volume this year has declined to about $7 million,
but Shorex is achieving its goal of shifting from new
construction to non-residential re-roofing and contract
maintenance services, with branches and operations
throughout Ontario and eventually across Canada.
The key to the company’s success, says O’Reilly, is
its reliability and responsiveness. He has built the busi-
ness with an emphasis on service – new clients are at-
tracted with competitive pricing, but stay when they find
that Shorex delivers the goods. New branches are
opened with service and maintenance personnel in place;
the goal is to win small introductory jobs and then prove
that Shorex can reliably deliver its services for higher-
margin projects.
But how can you explain the rapid growth?
O’Reilly says he has worked since 1986 in the roof-
ing industry, “starting as a labourer and roofer for an-
other company, working my way up through several
companies over the years.”
Ultimately, he became the operations manager for a
large multi-national. This gave him knowledge and un-
derstanding of the industry, and most importantly, the
connections with key suppliers who appreciated his busi-
ness understanding.
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