ROGER AUSTIN IS not easily daunted by failure. After a business venture did not meet the success he had hoped for, he switched gears and went into another one.
Today, he operates Contractors Trading Associates Inc., a company offering energy conservation solutions through the application of waterproofing and heat reflective coating systems on roofs.
He told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that he has always been an entrepreneur at heart.
“We had to get some income coming in, so we started to do some pressure washing and . . . my nature is that I want to be the best at what I do. So, I went looking around as I wanted to see what would make a successful pressure washing company. I went online and I did some research on pressure washing companies and then I noticed there was pressure washing on roofs, so I became curious,” the managing director explained.
“From there, I learnt about the things that we currently do: reflective coating and pressure washing for roofs. In no time, my interest was piqued. I contacted a company overseas and in no short order the guys were in Barbados.”
That was back in 2006 and ten years on he can count the headquarters of the Caribbean Examinations Council, various hotels, Kensington Oval and the more recent branch of Popular Discounts among the list of jobs the company has done.
Austin said that while most of the work has been in the commercial industry working with some of the bigger construction firms, plans for the future include targeting more residential properties.
“What we are trying to do now for 2017 is to have a more residential contact, because most of our work comes from construction companies or big companies who want water proofing,” he added.
The system used is a coating rather than a paint although it is similar in nature. He explained: “With the systems, depending on the surface you’re working on, if you’re working on a roof and it’s a concrete roof, with our systems we tend to use a primer, a fabric, a base coat and then a top coat which is heat reflective. That means that the heat from the sun doesn’t penetrate into your roof.
“For instance, you have a metal roof on your house and you’re at work and have it closed. You get home around five to six o’clock . . . when you walk in, your house would be very hot because the heat would be migrating through the roof and going into the various rooms.
“Then you have to turn on your AC to take that hot air out or turn on the fan or open the windows to push the hot air out. What happens is that the heat doesn’t leave the walls until late in the night and you have your fans or the AC on trying to cool the air. What our coatings do is reduce the heat gain that goes into the house.”
This is where the energy conservation comes in as it could reduce the amount of electricity consumed.
He strives on offering customers quality as he believes this will lead to more work as people would be comfortable with what they offer. His team ranges from as many as ten to as few as two depending on the size of the project.
Austin noted that among his company’s triumphs would be putting in the work and reaping the results.
“What has been defining for us is the quality of our work. I have people come up to me sometimes that have never done business with us and say: ‘I know CTA and I know the kind of quality work that you guys do’.
“When we started, we didn’t have a lot of money. We had a pressure washer. A lot of people would say if you want to start a business you need a lot of money, Yes, technically you do, but what I have found is that you need to have a dream first. You need to feel it. It has to have you up till three o’clock in the morning trying to put the puzzle together.
“At the beginning, we didn’t have a lot of capital to say let us do this thing in a massive way. So, it started with a few small jobs like 1 000 square feet or 500 square feet. If you want to expand, you had to go talk to some people and I went about doing that and eventually we got some opportunities and we had to prove ourselves . . . but we did.” (GBM)
