Entrepreneurship is all about tapping into opportunities. Sometimes it is finding a niche that’s neglected by the market and at other times, it’s re-inventing the mundane or status quo.
Evan Ferguson, HBA ’14, is attempting to do both with the launch of Trademaven.ca, which aims to change the way people trade in their automobiles; a pinpoint niche in a disreputable industry.
Ferguson is in the fourth year of a five-year dual HBA and chemical engineering degree, but isn’t waiting until he graduates to become an entrepreneur. Through Ivey’s extensive network, Ferguson came across Glenn Verkindt, a retired businessman who was looking for a student to build on a business opportunity. As they started working on what was originally Verkindt’s idea, they began to pivot. Soon, Ferguson was not just a hired gun but a partner.
Trademaven is designed to save money for customers who want to purchase a new car and trade in their old one. Its model eliminates the fixed overhead of a traditional dealership, offering the customer the best price on the new car, and a fair market value on the trade-in. As HST is calculated on the difference between the value of the two cars, customers also save on taxes.
“Traditional dealerships bury their high margin in the price of the car,” says Ferguson. “Trademaven.ca does all its deals for a fixed fee to ensure complete transparency.” The company has now received its operating licenses and is starting to work with several customers to tweak the business model.
Being transparent is an integral part to Trademaven.ca’s future success and Ferguson counts on people’s bad experiences with car dealerships to open doors for the venture. “People always feel like they are getting cheated and they don’t really understand what the dealer is doing. Where’s their margin? Are you getting kick-backs? So the reputation is not great and there’s very little transparency.”
Fellow HBA ’14, Mohsin Khandwala, had played an important part in making the initial connection between Ferguson and Verkindt. He had worked in the Accounts Receivable department at a major Brampton-based dealership in 2012, where he was exposed to the costs dealerships incur, the margins they generate, as well as the headaches associated with cash flows in the industry. Having heard Ferguson constantly talking about Trademaven.ca and its ongoing evolution, Khandwala joined to help refine the business plan and simplify the venture’s objectives. He calls himself a sounding board for Ferguson.
Upon Khandwala’s recommendation, Trademaven.ca was entered into Western’s Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition and took first place, securing a spot at the national finals in Ottawa – Ivey’s first national finalists since 2010.
While the team didn’t win the 2014 Nicol Award, they got a chance to pitch their idea to a room of influential businessmen in the capital. After the gala, they were approached with interest by guests who had their fair share of horror stories dealing with dealerships.
Ferguson says that the competition was a valuable experience. “It helped me answer the tough questions,” he says. “It also helped me refine the value proposition to a simple statement.”
In his fifth and final year, Ferguson is hoping to add a few more entrepreneurship focused classes at Ivey. “I’m so fortunate to be getting all the fundamentals and theory, while being hands-on with a business at the same time,” he says.
Having gathered important feedback at the two competitions and completing their first customer transaction, Ferguson and Trademaven.ca have certainly hit the road running and are looking forward to the journey ahead.