Business Spotlight: Siding with a Twist

On the surface, ABC Seamless Siding & Windows Inc. is a little fish in a big pond. It sits quietly tucked away off U.S. Highway 65 in Ozark, hidden from the view of most passersby, and steadily employs a group of seven.

But a lone glass trophy on a shelf in Scott Martin’s office speaks volumes about how even an apparent mom-and-pop shop can mean a lot to a national franchise.

As area franchisee, Martin’s company was named 2013 ABC Seamless Steel Siding Franchise of the Year. He accepted the honor during ABC Seamless’ annual banquet in December at the company’s Fargo, N.D., headquarters.

“Our goal as a franchise is to be here for the long haul, and Scott helps that goal by running a heck of a business,” says Leroy Wegner, vice president of ABC Seamless.

Although on the small end among 130 franchises, Wegner says Martin’s operation is on another plateau, recording zero customer complaints since opening and adapting new business strategies that benefit the franchise, such as adding log siding and extra equipment to his supply.

Martin currently has four machines his installation crew uses to uncoil the rolls of 28-gauge steel siding, which average 750 pounds and 1,300 feet apiece. With on-site manufacturing, a single job can take three to four rolls to complete.

Each machine, though, is about $70,000, and Martin has budgeted to buy a fifth machine this year.

“We’ve got some huge volume franchises out there. He’s small in comparison, but he’s just good at what he does,” Wegner says.

The sales hat
Organized as ABC Seamless of the Ozarks, Martin wears a lot of different hats but has a flair for sales.

After graduating from high school, Martin began working for a telemarketing company that made appointments for window replacements. After three years, he shifted into a sales role.

For 15 years, he worked out of Kansas City selling replacement windows but eventually became interested in business ownership.

Martin worked for a year at an ABC Seamless franchise in Kansas City owned by Dale Oyer, who also co-owns a branch in Columbia. Oyer helped Martin get his financial footing as a silent partner in the Springfield-area franchise.

With a franchise fee of $12,000 and monthly royalties between 2 percent and 5 percent of sales, ABC Seamless Siding & Windows was on its way in January 2007. Martin and Oyer own a territory covering roughly 120 miles around Springfield.

After two months of working out of a small storage unit, with limited equipment, Martin moved to an office space in Nixa. Last year, he settled in Ozark.

“I wanted to figure out how to do this on my own,” Martin says. “It is a very competitive industry, but this is what I have done since I was just out of high school.”

In the first 18 months, Martin played almost every role in the company, except installation.

“I was the warehouse man. I was the office manager. I was the salesperson. So I did everything but the hammer,” he says.

With nearly 90 percent of work in residential remodeling, Martin’s business is buzzing. Still, ABC Seamless felt the drop of the housing market that started in 2007.

“If we had to survive on new homes only, it would have hurt us pretty bad,” Martin says, noting 75 percent of job orders are for strictly siding.

In 2010, revenue dipped nearly 20 percent and remained flat until last year, when Martin’s shop recorded a 25 percent revenue spike to just under $1.25 million.

Weather works
Robert Presley recently hired ABC Seamless for new siding, gutters and soffit, a decorative finish covering existing overhangs and roof edges to add detail to the overall appearance of the home.

Presley says he connected with ABC Seamless when his Ravenwood subdivision neighbors recommended the company upon completion of their siding work. After calling Martin, Presley says he was sold.

“I just liked the way he talked,” he says of Martin.

After reviewing ABC Seamless’ 33 color options, Presley and his wife chose one of the most popular, sand tone, and began the nearly month-long, $21,500 renovation process on their southeast Springfield home.

Martin says residential siding jobs usually take a week – and run about $16,000 on average – but this year’s winter has forced his crew into longer time frames.

“They worked some miserable days out there, in the wind and cold,” Robert Presley says of the task to replace his 20-year-old siding. “You name it, and I think they would have been there to get the work done.”

As a result of the weather, the typical eight-week waiting list has jumped to 12 to 14 weeks.

Martin says he hopes to grow the window side of the business, which currently is about 20 percent of sales through a private label, Associated Material Inc.

“We are, by far, not the largest dealer (ABC Seamless) has,” Martin says, “but we have increased steadily and just made people happy.”