The Rapid Method

What is The Rapid Method?

The Rapid Method is all about rapid execution. It's also the way I've made most of my money over the last 5 years.

I was first exposed to this concept in 2016, a few months after I merged Clean Air Toronto (my first business) with Air Quality Canada.

My Air Quality Canada partner (Michael Feldstein) started Alberta Fire Restoration, a division of his other company, Rapid Group, to assist with the Fort McMurray wildfires — This was the costliest disaster in Canadian history.

Alberta Fire Restoration hired local subcontractors and charged insurance companies to restore homes that were affected by the wildfires. The beauty of this project was how quickly it went from a simple website and a phone number with an ad, to an extremely profitable operation essentially overnight.

While Mike was focused on restoring homes, I expanded Air Quality Canada to Fort McMurray to offer indoor air quality testing services and clearance certificates after remediation companies completed their work. While I wasn't directly involved with Alberta Fire Restoration, I was close enough to learn and see how it operated.

Creating companies isn't typically done overnight, but when the demand is so significant, all you really need is a 1-page website, a local phone number, and an ad to get traction.

These days, building a website can be done in hours with the right tool and a little less care for detail. The Rapid Method is all about speed.

In 2017, I had my first jab at implementing The Rapid Method.

After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, TX, Mike and I started Houston Flood Experts. We operated under Rapid Group. He funded the project and I ran the operations for a portion of the profits — This is how we structured all future Rapid Method ventures.

A few months later, after the Sonoma Wildfires, we started Cali Fire Restoration and managed to generate ~$400k in revenue within approximately four months.

Other examples of successful Rapid Method projects

• In Spring 2018, Mike called me (from Boston, MA) to share what he had seen in the news — Thousands of Toronto homes damaged by severe winds. He suggested that I set up an online presence for roofing services. So... I created Rapid Roofing, another division of Rapid Group. At the time, Rapid Group already had an employee with experience in managing insurance claims, which proved useful when it came to billing for our work. Within minutes of activating the website and ads, calls started to pour in... The next step was to learn about roofing... We hired local contractors to conduct the repairs, and we billed insurance for the work. This time, we generated ~$700k within a few months and repaired hundreds of damaged roofs.

• In 2020, when COVID-19 hit, Mike created EnviroCleanse — A cleaning and disinfecting company. After quickly acquiring hundreds of leads, the operations were handed off to Air Quality Canada (a business him and I co-own) to leverage its systems and team. As soon as I streamlined and standardized operational processes, Justin Liberman (Air Quality Canada's Head of Operations) was very equipped to manage another service-based business within the Greater Toronto Area. EnviroCleanse generated ~$40k/month for 1 year+ passively.

Now, The Rapid Method isn't only about making money...

It is also a method to discover potential rapidly, and often at a low cost.

We've leveraged the methodology to assess when to start new companies focused around natural disasters, so these brands only existed temporarily while the demand kept them alive. I say brand because they were websites more so than they were actual companies — I'll expand on this below.

How we utilized The Rapid Method after natural disasters:

Here is a step by step process of how we actually launched these brands overnight 👇

1. Recognition that a disaster had either already taken place or was expected to (like an incoming hurricane)
2. Brainstorm services that were likely going to be in greatest demand
3. Buy a website address on GoDaddy
4. Set up an email (typically team@domain.com) for inquiries
5. Buy a local phone number with OpenPhone
6. Create a 1 page landing page with Unbounce (this was effectively our website)
7. Set up Google Ads for people searching pertinent keywords (ex. "toronto roofing")
8. Create a simple Client Relationship Management (CRM) to manage incoming leads via Airtable IF by this point, leads are pouring in and the opportunity seems worth pursuing, then...
9. Hire local contractors via Kijiji (or similar) to carry out the actual work
10. Hire a virtual receptionist service to assist with incoming calls such as Ruby Receptionist
11. Create a digital contract for customers to sign so that we could contact insurance companies on their behalf — We used Docusign
12. Register the brand name with our bank (this way, we could invoice and operate out of an existing company without having to create a new corporation every time)

Yet again...

The Rapid Method was utilized to launch Jaspr — a business that sells air purifiers.

As Jaspr prepared to launch in the D2C space (with only a single employee named Nicholas Belanger), Ontario's regulatory body for dentists published guidelines for reopening, which suggested that clinics needed an air purifier in every operatory... Rapid Method time...

Within hours of setting up ads, Jaspr began to gain traction. Orders and inquiries were rushing in. Mike updated me on the situation and I quickly jumped onboard to assist. At the time, we were still in the midst of figuring out how/when it would make sense for me to join the Jaspr team, but this evidently became the most important project.

We sold out instantly and were able to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in a matter of days.

Until now, my life has been one of constant change, often adapting to the outside world. But things are a little different now. I've learned that you can impose your will on the world and create your own opportunities without always having to wait around for them.

It has been an exciting journey to say the least, but I'm finally starting to be at peace every time another natural disaster goes by, while continuing to stay focused on a single objective — That is, helping founders automate operations so they can focus more on growth.

More recent posts ⤵️