Summary

What happens when you ignore everything that industry tells you to do—and it works?

On this episode of Franchise Today, Stan Friedman sits down with Alex Filipuk, Founder and CEO of Ideal Siding, to unpack one of the most unconventional and successful franchise models in home services today.

Alex’s journey into franchising began unexpectedly—with a college assignment at age 23 and early work experience as a Subway Sandwich Artist. After building several businesses, including a lead generation company, he set out to create Ideal Siding around 2017–2018, as an owned and operated business. Following a conversation with Canadian franchise icon, Brian Scudamore, Alex pivoted to franchising, as his growth model of choice, against the advice of many.

Here’s the twist: Alex refuses to recruit contractors as franchisees. Instead, Ideal Siding targets coachable professionals from finance, tech, and academia—people who hire experienced crews rather than trying to do the work themselves.

The result? A franchise system that defied industry skepticism and now averages $950,000 in first-year revenue and $232,000 in owner discretionary profit across more than 90 operating units.

Launched during the COVID lock-downs, Ideal Siding grew through culture, discipline, and a relentless focus on franchisee profitability—not unit count.

This is a conversation about people, systems, and why the future of franchising belongs to those willing to break barriers to entry, thoughtfully.