Building the Toronto Operation

Creating a new operating base for a building materials distributor serving both trade customers and homeowners.

Context

RF Transparent began in Montreal and grew through e-commerce, distribution, and building-supply channels. In 2022, I created the Toronto operation and took responsibility for turning a new market into a functioning part of the company, not just a sales territory.

Problem

Glass railing materials are heavy, fragile, and operationally unforgiving. Serving a new region meant building warehouse capacity, inventory flow, fulfillment, customer support, and a local team at the same time, while maintaining reliable service for both B2B and B2C customers.

Approach

I treated the expansion as a connected operating system. The physical flow of material, the information employees needed, the customer experience, and the economics of each decision had to reinforce one another. We built capacity in stages, standardized repeatable work, and adjusted processes as real volume exposed the next constraint.

Execution

The work included establishing and organizing warehouse capacity, recruiting and training the team, and developing the routines behind receiving, storage, picking, packing, customer service, and fulfillment. I stayed close to the floor and the numbers, then turned what worked into processes the team could run without depending on one person.

Outcomes

• Created RF Transparent's Toronto operation in 2022.
• Helped grow the company to more than $10M in annual revenue.
• Supported a business with about 50 people, more than 40,000 square feet of warehouse space, and customers across Canada and the United States.

What I Learned

Physical growth is rarely one big strategic move. It is a sequence of connected decisions about space, people, inventory, cash, and information. The best systems reduce the need for heroics and make the next stage of growth easier to see.