Growth Club
1851 Growth Club
Ideal Siding Founder and CEO Shares His Journey into Franchising
On a recent episode of “Meet the Zor,” Alex Filipuk shared how he went from working at PayPal to starting a lead generation business and, eventually, a franchise.
Alex Filipuk who is the CEO and Founder of Ideal Siding, recently spoke with 1851 Founder, Publisher and CEO Nick Powills during his regular podcast, “Meet the Zor.” During the interview, Filipuk discussed his unconventional journey into franchising.
While working at PayPal, Filipuk found himself gradually drawn into marketing tasks, despite a background in finance and computer science. Eventually, he started a lead generation company of his own, specializing in siding projects. Although his original plan was to set up 50 corporate locations for siding companies, a franchising expert in Vancouver changed his mind by emphasizing the better brand management and economics that franchises offer.
“I'm glad I met him because he shared this wisdom, and [franchising] is way better,” said Filipuk. “We wouldn't be able to do what we have right now with corporate locations.”
Filipuk's interest in siding began in 2011, when he was working as a director at a church. One of his friends in the industry was struggling financially after a drastic pay cut; Filipuk decided to use his marketing skills to help his friend find clients directly. Although initially skeptical due to his lack of experience, Filipuk successfully generated leads through website creation, SEO audits and social media efforts. From this experience, Filipuk envisioned a future where every homeowner in North America could easily access reputable siding companies.
“I thought, ‘What if we changed the whole siding industry?’” Filipuk said. “What if we allowed every homeowner in every city in North America to actually get a good company that will not run away — that will give them a good warranty, good service and good pricing.”
Determined to make this vision a reality, Filipuk set a goal of growing the siding company to over $100 million system-wide within 10 years. Through research, meetings with industry leaders and testing in various markets, Filipuk began implementing improvements and expanding the business.
In 2019, Ideal Siding started offering franchise opportunities and has since become the fastest-growing siding franchise in North America.
You can watch and listen to the entire interview above or on YouTube.
