eBay Canada and Government of Canada honour small and medium-sized businesses

OTTAWA, Oct. 17, 2018 /CNW/ - This evening, eBay Canada, along with the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion and the Government of Canada, celebrated Canadian small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) at the 14^th annual eBay Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Ottawa. The awards ceremony recognized outstanding retail SMBs who have achieved great success by leveraging ecommerce, among other growth strategies. Along with Minister Ng, who delivered the opening remarks, London-Fanshawe MP Irene Mathyssen, Calgary Midnapore MP Stephanie Kusie and Vaughan-Woodbridge MP Francesco Sorbara were onsite to present awards recognizing outstanding achievements in global trade, integration of sales platforms, and overall entrepreneurial success.

"Small and medium sized businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy. It is wonderful to see Canadian business owners leveraging e-commerce to reach new customers," said Minister Ng. "When small and medium sized businesses succeed, everyone succeeds."

This year's winners – Ontario's Mike Maguire of MotoMike, Alberta's Matthew Dirk of SilverGoldBull and Quebec's Nima Tahmassbi of SoGoodToBuy – along with previous recipients joined Minister Ng and colleagues for a roundtable discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing Canadian retail SMBs. Sentiment from the meeting was reflective of a recent Leger survey of Canadian retail SMBs that revealed that, while the vast majority (93%) identified at least one challenge in growing their business in 2018 and 2019, overall optimism among this business community continues to increase.ⁱ Notably, the survey found that SMBs who sell on eBay are more optimistic than their counterparts.

"Technologies such as e-commerce and online marketplaces are modernizing and democratizing trade, creating optimistic environments and growth opportunities for Canadian retail businesses of all shapes and sizes," said Andrea Stairs, General Manager of eBay Canada & Latin America. "This year's Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners exemplify the big success that small businesses can achieve through participating in modern trade practices, and we're thrilled to recognize the incredible achievements of our Canadian eBay seller community."  

Further information about the 2018 eBay Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners:

Micro-Multinational Entrepreneur of the Year: Mike Maguire, Woodlawn, Ontario (eBay ID: motomike_canada)

After running a pizza shop in Ottawa, Ontario for a decade, Mike traded in his apron to pursue his passion for cars. He got a position in the parts department of a local car dealership where his entrepreneurial instinct led him to opening an eBay store to sell the company's deadstock inventory. He saw products begin to move off the shelves to customers not just across the country, but around the world, so he doubled down on his ecommerce efforts. Realizing that he could further capitalize on his interest and expertise in sourcing motorcycle and car parts, Mike left the dealership a couple of years later to embark on his own eBay venture. Clearing off shelves in his own garage for his new business, he began sourcing rare, obsolete and liquidated parts for cars and motorcycles and created eBay listings that offered international shipping. Quickly, he found himself selling to customers across the globe, and his sales more than tripled within the first three months.

Today, over 75 per cent of Mike's sales are to buyers from international markets including Japan, France, Germany and the UK. His inventory portfolio has grown along with his export sales, and he now also caters to ATV, snowmobile and boating enthusiasts. His eBay business has grown from two shelves in his garage into a 3,000 sq. ft warehouse in the span of three years, and he's on track to double his annual sales in 2018.

Integrated Entrepreneur of the Year: Matthew Dirk, Calgary, Alberta (eBay ID: silvergoldbull)

When Matthew joined the Silver Gold Bull team in Calgary, he had one objective –  expand the bullion business's online presence to broaden their customer base. He believed bullion, a traditional business-to-business industry, was primed to tap into the consumer market thanks to ecommerce, and he saw an opportunity to show consumers how purchasing precious metals could be both fun as well as a smart, secure investment. While Silver Gold Bull was selling to traditional clients through their own website and over the phone, Matthew saw eBay as the right channel to penetrate the untapped consumer market. He initially established a store on eBay.ca, offering bullion products with consumer appeal like Canadian maple leaf coins and retro imprinted gold coins.

Instantly, he saw the consumer business take off – shattering the company's eBay sales goals in the first few weeks on the site. To continue the growth and amplify the company's international presence, Matthew opened an additional store on eBay.com to cater to US customers and has plans to open additional eBay stores soon. The company's online sales are up 400 per cent with total eBay sales anticipated to hit the $8 million mark by the end of the year.

Entrepreneur of the Year: Nima Tahmassbi, Montréal, Québec (eBay ID: sogoodtobuy)

In 2006, Nima began selling car accessories on eBay to support himself while finishing his university degree in Montréal. As a result of his early online success, Nima was offered North American distribution rights for a manufacturer of air conditioners and ductless heat pumps. Though cost-effectively shipping large appliances would be difficult, Nima saw the category as an unexplored area of opportunity. During the early days, eBay was Nima's main source of sales, and profits were used to build out other initiatives to help fuel growth – a warehouse, marketing and advertising, and, eventually, a company website. The business started taking off in 2008, but shortly after, it was hit by the effects of a recession when his manufacturer went out of business. Nima reacted by finding a new supplier, but this time around, he created his own in-house brand to protect his business from future manufacturer changes, as well as give him the freedom to expand his brand's product offerings.

Last year, Nima unexpectedly found himself contributing to recovery efforts in Texas from Hurricane Harvey. Learning that the affected region was unable to purchase power generators locally, and that Americans were turning to eBay to buy much-needed supplies at competitive prices, Nima's team quickly sourced in-demand items which they offered with free, expedited shipping. Today, Nima runs a multi-channel, multi-million-dollar business, operating out of four warehouses across North America. His once side business on eBay has become Canada's top online air conditioner brand.

About eBay
eBay Inc. EBAY is a global commerce leader including the Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity through Connected Commerce. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay is one of the world's largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2017, eBay enabled $88.4 billion of gross merchandise volume. eBay is visited by more than 8 million unique Canadians per month (comScore Media Metrix: August2018). For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

ⁱ Leger conducted a survey of 304 Canadian small retailers with <$13,000 in 2017 sales and a maximum of 99 employees online between August 10-22, 2018 with a margin of error of +/- 5.6 using Leger's online panel.

SOURCE eBay Canada

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