Episode Summary:
When COVID hit, Levi Rock got laid off for three weeks. That was enough to convince him that being an employee wasn’t any safer than owning the business, so in 2020 he started Red Seal Fire Protection out of Windsor, Ontario. Five years later the company runs 17 employees on a reputation built on one thing: show up when you say you will, and get inspection reports and deficiency quotes back within 48 hours.
In this episode, Levi sits down with Drew Slocum to break down the service-first strategy behind that growth. They get into the recurring-revenue membership model Red Seal built around emergency service calls, why he turns down most new-installation work, and how the company uses explainer videos on social media to educate property managers and recruit the next generation of fitters. They also dig into the gap between NFPA 25 and what the Ontario Fire Code actually enforces, why contractors and AHJs need to talk more, and how moving off PDF forms onto Inspect Point made every technician’s reports faster and more consistent.
Good listen for any fitter or tech thinking about going out on their own, and any contractor trying to grow a service business the right way.
