RenoDuck

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“We have all heard stories of terrible contractor experience and we are on the market to change that,” Alex says. “Through new technologies and thoughtfully developed processes we can focus on what matters to the client – an amazing experience.”

“Our goal is to be the one-stop shop that provides all of our clients’ basement finishing and renovation needs,” he adds. “Our team’s background in technology and marketing allows us to do things differently than our competition – everything has a process, all our transactions and management are automated, and our business is paperless.”

Prior to starting RenoDuck, Alex came from a background in IT and marketing. For most of his professional career, he worked as a data analyst for various GTA companies, while on the side running an automation software development business with a partner. As a software developer, one of the products he built was an automated marketing platform for “blue collar businesses” – roofing, flooring, garage door repair, painting, et cetera.

“Something that I very quickly and understood was that there was a pretty big gap in that market,” Alex says. “There were a lot of guys who knew how to swing a hammer, but they didn’t know how to build processes, or how to build a brand, or how to structure it like a proper business. So I saw that gap and I went into that industry.” 

Alex first started RenoDuck in 2018, originally alongside a partner he’s since bought out. Early on, they decided to focus primarily on basement renovations, mostly because basements tended to be substantial jobs, meaning they would not have to sell a large volume to stay afloat. Very quickly, they realized that basements are actually some of the most complex renovation projects, because they “entail pretty much everything from framing to painting.”

“If you do basements, you basically have to learn every single aspect of interior renovation and construction,” Alex says.

That complexity ended up being a positive, Alex adds, because it meant RenoDuck had to get very good very quickly – and that’s what they did. They made basements their focus for almost five straight years, and in that time they became one of the most skilled providers of basement finishing solutions in the Greater Toronto Area. Then in 2023, backed by that expertise and corresponding reputation, they decided to expand their service offering and open a kitchen division and bathroom division. These days, basements are still the company’s “bread and butter,” but Alex says RenoDuck can essentially take on “anything interior.”

“We’ve grown a lot in terms of both our size and capabilities,’ he says. “We’re probably the fastest growing renovation company in the GTA. Five years ago no one knew about us, now basically everyone knows about us and we compete with the biggest companies on the market.”

Alex credits RenoDuck’s propulsive growth to several key factors. Firstly, he credits the quality of their product, which he says has always been their number one priority.

“I’ve always said the product comes first and sales come second,” he explains. “Obviously sales are important, but if the product is terrible then it doesn’t matter how well you sell, because you’re not going to be around for very long. We want to be around for a very long time. We’re in this for the long haul.”

In addition, when it does come to selling, Alex says they emphasize education and avoid high-pressure sales tactics. He believes that emphasis has also powered the company’s growth.

“We’ve always put an emphasis on education,” he says. “And I know for a fact our presentation is top-notch, because that’s what people tell us. That’s based off the feedback we get not only from the clients who go with us, but even the clients who don’t go with us because we’re out of their budget. They tell us stories of going to other contractors and the contractor just gives them a price and that’s it. Whereas with us, we go through a whole presentation – we spend about two to three hours at their house, we explain who we are, what the building process is going to be like, what’s included, what’s not included, et cetera.”

“We’re very transparent and we educate the client,” he reiterates. “We’re more like designers and consultants than salespeople. Sometimes a client will want to do something, but if we don’t think it’s going to work, or if we think there’s a better way to do it, we’ll let them know and explain why. We’re not there to push the narrative, but at least we’re going to give them all the options and explain to them the pros and cons of certain solutions.”

“From what our clients tell us, not all contractors take the time to do that,” he adds. “I think that’s been a big reason we’ve been successful – we take a consultative approach, not a sales-driven approach.”

Over the past few years, RenoDuck’s unique approach has been consistently recognized and rewarded in the form of industry accolades, glowing customer testimonials, as well as featured appearances in local media including The Marc & Mandy Show, Citytv, and the National Home Show. Also, in recognition of their customer service, the company has also won HomeStars ‘Best of’ Award five years running, every year from 2019 to 2023.

Again, Alex credits that consistent recognition to the consistent quality of their work. That consistency, he elaborates, starts with their stringent material selection:

“We vet all of the products we use internally,” he explains. “Before we put a product in our catalogue, we make sure the quality is high, and we make sure it comes from a well-known and reputable supplier. We only want to use the best materials.”

That quality comes with a price, Alex admits, but he says it doesn’t necessarily have to come with an extravagant price:

“We’re not going to sell a client the cheapest materials,” he says. “At the same time, we’re not going to try to sell them the most expensive materials, either – not unless they want us to.”

Alex also credits RenoDuck’s quality to the high calibre of their employees and trades. Again, he admits that employing that calibre of people means paying a little more, but he firmly believes the extra cost is worth it, and he believes most clients ultimately come to agree:

“We pay our trades and our employees very well. That allows us to access a larger pool of higher quality team members. We pay a little bit more than some other companies, but we get so much more value in return.”

“Value is really the most important thing,” he adds. “That’s what we keep in mind more than anything else. That’s what we try to deliver to the client. And a lot of the time, the best option, the option that makes the most sense, is not the most expensive option. We try our best to help our clients find the sweet spot and get the most value for their money.”

“For example, if we’re just going to lay standard laminate, we’re not going to waste our client’s money on a super-expensive flooring specialist,” he explains. “We don’t need a rock star to do that – but we do need someone good, someone reliable, someone who will show up on time, be clean, be professional, and pay attention to the details. That means we don’t hire the cheapest trades, either.  We find the right balance and we provide the most value.”

The value RenoDuck can offer clients is also enhanced by the volume of their work. In order to make the business work, they only need to make a little bit of money off every job, because they do so many jobs at once and per year. Contractors that do fewer jobs, naturally, have to charge more in order to make money.

According to Alex, RenoDuck is able to work at such a high volume without compromising quality – while delivering superior quality, even – because of the efficiency of their systems and processes. This is where his background in software development and data analysis has really paid off:

“We’ve built a well-oiled machine in terms of production,” he says. “We work like clockwork. We use project management tools, we use CRM systems, and we use a bunch of internal tools in order to standardize everything. So the efficiency of our employees is extremely high. Our project manager can manage up to 75 jobs per year – he can do that because of the processes we’ve put in place, because everything is standardized from project to project.”

In Alex’s view, RenoDuck has been successful because of the quality of the work – but technology is what has enabled them to turn that success into growth. 

“Technology in this industry is not required for a really small business,” he says. “If you’re doing one basement or two basements a month, you could keep track of everything on a piece of paper if you really wanted to. You’d be wasting a lot of time, but you could do it. But if you want to scale up, you need technology.”

Adopting the right technology for RenoDuck, Alex says, was “very easy” for him considering his background. Not only was he able to acquire the right project management software and CRM system, he was also able to implement those tools maximally effectively, which he believes makes him relatively unique in the renovation sector:

“There’s a lot of friction in this industry when it comes to third-party implementation,” he explains. “A lot of the people in this industry don’t know how to do it themselves, but they also don’t know how to manage the people who know how to do it. So a lot of other contractors might have the right tools, but the implementation is very often subpar. Their systems are not put in place properly. They’re not efficient. There’s a lot of leakage.”

“The truth is, the only way you can properly run a large-scale renovation company that’s doing a lot of jobs at the same time is if you have your processes down to a T,” Alex continues. “That’s the only way it’s going to work. When you sneeze, there has to be a process for that. That’s what we have at RenoDuck.”

“We have a lot of different tools that were designed to increase our efficiency, to lower the amount of time we need to spend on certain tasks, and to lower our margin for error. A lot of those tools are unique to us. I believe that makes us pretty special. And I know that’s why we’ve been able to grow as fast as we have while still delivering the quality we deliver.”

A renovation destination

As previously mentioned, last year was when RenoDuck officially expanded their service offering beyond basements to include kitchens and bathrooms. Alex says that expansion was necessary in order to keep growing the company at the pace they are accustomed to growing:

“There are only so many times you can double your revenue year over year in a limited market,” he explains. “Our market was ‘basements in the GTA,’ which meant we had two options – we could either stick with basements and expand to other cities, or we could add other services. We chose to add other services.”

“And kitchen and bathrooms are something we already know,” he adds. “We’ve done them in the past. We know how to do them well. We’re basically providing the same services, just in a different area of the house. It’s been a very easy and seamless transition.”

Moving forward, Alex says RenoDuck will continue to add services and capabilities to their offering – for example, they are now getting in the furniture business, they are building relationships with electronics providers, and they are getting into material distribution. They are doing various things, Alex says, all with the goal of offering even more value to clients.

Ultimately, Alex’s goal is to grow RenoDuck into the GTA’s “number one destination for home renovations.” He doesn’t yet have a concrete prognostication of when they are going to get there, but he says that’s actually an advantage, because it means they can be flexible and adapt to the changing needs of the market as needed. They have the ability to make those pivots, he explains, because they are not yet a huge company:

“We’re still quite agile,” he says. “If the opportunity comes to grow faster, we can take it. If we need to slow down, we can do that too. We have a plan of action, but we don’t have a timeline. We’re going to take it step by step and make adjustments as we see fit.”

For more on RenoDuck – including more on their detailed process, their past projects, what sets them apart, their appearances in local media, and how to get in touch with Alex and his expert team – visit https://www.renoduckhomes.com/