A Q&A with Ryan Fubini, owner of Enhanced Roofing and Remodeling

What sets you apart from the competition? Put another way, what do you offer that the others might not?

Arlington, VA is my family’s home, and I was raised here in NoVa.  Arlington is where my three daughters go to school, and it’s where I built my business from the ground-up.  I began as a 23-year-old kid with a dream, and today I am proud to deliver quality homes in my own hometown. My clients are my neighbors, and a part of my community. Because of that, I am intimately involved in every project we do. I want our clients to know the people who are working on their home, from the top down. We don’t simply sell a job and then hand it off to an endless series of contractors, never to engage again. Building homes is more than just getting the next sale to me. I am an active part of our projects every day, and accessible to our clients to ensure they are more than satisfied with our work.

What brings you the most satisfaction in the work you do?

Honestly, it’s seeing the joy expressed by our homeowners as they bask in the glory of their new home or remodel.  I love to see the look of satisfaction and pride on a homeowner’s face when they see their space transformed. And I treasure the notes we get from homeowners telling us how happy they are with their projects. I take pride in our work and knowing that we created a place that others will call home.

How has what you do changed over time? What part(s) of what you do remains unchanged?

Software. Software. Software. Today we rely much more heavily on software for workflow, scheduling, marketing, billing and communication with our clients.  It has allowed us to be better organized and to better service our homeowners.

At the same time, our work has gotten bigger… there are a lot more projects, but our approach hasn’t changed. The company has responded to our growth by adding staff, building infrastructure and investing in ways to better serve our clients.  Technology has made our projects run smoother, but it hasn’t replaced our dedication to hands-on ownership and face-to-face client meetings to ensure complete communication and satisfaction.

What is the biggest challenge you regularly face in your job?

It’s probably the frustration I experience when I really want to work with a client, but we just don’t have the bandwidth to do so. We’re a boutique builder/remodeler. We can only grow so fast. So if a client needs a job done within a month, and we are stacked at the time, it’s tough for me to turn down the opportunity. But I’m also not willing to sacrifice quality of my current projects at the expense of landing a new one.

What is the one thing that potential clients should know about you?

I’m an honest, down-to-earth, tell-it-like-is kind of person. I won’t sell a remodel job and slowly increase the price for extras, unless the client requests new work. I also employ my own workers/laborers, rather than farming out to subcontractors (except for mechanical trades).  That means all our employees are stakeholders in our success.  While my wife teases me that I should add a little more “polish” to my presentations, I think my customers appreciate that I’m a no-nonsense kind of guy. Hopefully they’ll look beyond the t-shirt and jeans, and find I’m focused on the quality of my work and delivering it to the satisfaction of our clients.