In the world of home ownership, there is always a constant. That is maintenance and upkeep. This is a natural ongoing dilemma because of time and money. If the homeowner cannot perform certain tasks such as painting or maybe masonry, then they must hire it out. But, it is pretty much in their control who they choose to perform this work and how much they will pay.

Now, if you throw in a small weather catastrophe such as a storm that includes wind and or hail, well now the homeowner control shifts pretty much to the "contractor". This is the person who will be doing the house repair. You see, most people do not realize that when a small storm passes through their town, very often damage from wind and hail to their roof and siding has occurred.

Damage to the roof and the siding is covered under the homeowner's insurance policy and therefore if they choose to get it repaired or replaced then the insurance has to pay for it, much like damage to a car.

This is where you come in. The first step in this process is to find areas within, let's say, a thirty mile radius of where you live that has sustained storm damage within one year prior. You can find this out for free by going on the National Weather Service web site, type in the state where you live, and start looking for storm dates. Always look at the hail reports and make sure the size is at least .88.

Bingo! You found a few and now it is time to spend a little money. Give yourself a company name and get some business cards and flyers printed up. Call your insurance co. and get a million dollars of liability. This will cost about one to two hundred dollars. I would also incorporate. This protects you personally a great deal, but you must treat this as a real business. The last thing is to get a tax I.D. number. Any accountant will get this for you or you will get it yourself if you know how.

OK, time to find a contractor that will do the work for you. This is easy, but REMEMBER they must have a license and be insured also. Note, some states require you as the business owner to be licensed. Go to any local Home Depot, Menards or roofing/siding supply house in your area and ask at the front desk for a list of preferred contractors. Get the names of at least three roofing contractors and three siding contractors.

Now that you settled on a contractor for each, time to go to your nearest roofing and siding suppliers and get an account. This is because you will be buying the roofing and siding. You will have to supply them with your business information and Tax I.D. Don't worry if you don't have credit or credit card, you can pre-pay in this business quite easily.

Put your sales hat on, here we go. This is really easy because you are basically giving something away for free. You must REMEMBER this will be a game of numbers. Take your flyers, business cards and new kackie pants and knock on doors. After you have your "presentation" down pat you should be able to get at least two appointments for every hour's work. Always do this between five and seven in the evening, Saturday and Sunday after twelve. These appointments are for inspection of their homes for hail damage. Homeowner must be home.

This concludes Part #1.