Canadians are buying cars online and having them delivered to their door

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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_02: Hello, this is Robert Smigel coming to today with Canada's podcast where we talk to you on
[00:09] SPEAKER_02: to Ponyers, where making it happen here in British Columbia.
[00:13] SPEAKER_02: Today's guest is Cody Green, the founder of Canada Drives.
[00:17] SPEAKER_02: In 2010, based on his experience working in car dealerships, Cody started Canada Drives
[00:23] SPEAKER_02: enabling Canadians for the first time to get approved for auto financing online.
[00:28] SPEAKER_02: Fast forward to 2021, Canada Drives is the fastest growing platform and powering Canadians
[00:37] SPEAKER_02: to buy a vehicle 100% online and have it delivered straight to their door.
[00:44] SPEAKER_02: Well Cody, welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:46] SPEAKER_02: Thanks for taking the time today to be here for all our listeners.
[00:49] SPEAKER_00: Thanks Robert, it's great to be here.
[00:51] SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
[00:52] SPEAKER_02: Okay, want you to tell us a little bit more about yourself and give us the details on your
[00:56] SPEAKER_02: current business.
[00:58] SPEAKER_00: Yes, so as you said, I'm founder, Kostiel, Canada Drives.
[01:03] SPEAKER_00: My professional experience started working in car dealerships across Western Canada and
[01:08] SPEAKER_00: that's when the idea for Canada Drives was formed.
[01:12] SPEAKER_00: So 2010 started out as a financial technology company FinTech, really sitting at the intersection
[01:19] SPEAKER_00: between car shoppers, dealerships and lenders and allowing Canadians to get approved for
[01:25] SPEAKER_00: auto financing online before they went shopping for their vehicles.
[01:28] SPEAKER_00: So that's sort of where it all started.
[01:32] SPEAKER_00: Fast forward a few years.
[01:35] SPEAKER_00: Now we're trying to tackle 100% online car shopping.
[01:39] SPEAKER_00: So our mission today is to be the easiest place to buy or sell your car in Canada.
[01:44] SPEAKER_00: And as I said, we're doing this by having a 100% online car shopping experience.
[01:49] SPEAKER_00: So what that actually means for someone is they're able to go on a website shop for a vehicle
[01:54] SPEAKER_00: and pay for the vehicle.
[01:55] SPEAKER_00: So whether they're putting it on their credit card or we're helping them out getting their
[01:59] SPEAKER_00: financing and then book a delivery and have the vehicle dropped off at their doorstep.
[02:04] SPEAKER_00: So you can imagine buying a vehicle, sort of site on scene online despite as many pictures
[02:09] SPEAKER_00: as we can show is a big leap for a lot of people.
[02:12] SPEAKER_00: And so we also offer a seven day love at a return of guarantee to make sure everybody's
[02:15] SPEAKER_00: 100% happy with their purchase.
[02:18] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you know, also time, I remember one time a few years ago, I didn't have time
[02:23] SPEAKER_02: to look for a car.
[02:25] SPEAKER_02: So I had my father actually go out there and do all the work because he's retired.
[02:29] SPEAKER_02: And he went out there, did all the work.
[02:30] SPEAKER_02: I mean, neither money and stuff like that.
[02:32] SPEAKER_02: But time, you know, it takes a lot of time to go do all this stuff, right?
[02:37] SPEAKER_02: So that's another point, pain point.
[02:39] SPEAKER_00: I think you guys just all think.
[02:41] SPEAKER_00: I think they say the average person spends four plus hours in the dealership to buy a vehicle.
[02:46] SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people go there knowing what they want.
[02:48] SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, that isn't time well spent typically like the test drive may last 50 minutes.
[02:54] SPEAKER_00: And that may or may not tell you everything you want to know about a vehicle.
[02:58] SPEAKER_00: And so that's why we like this kind of test.
[02:59] SPEAKER_00: Don't we make it fast and easy online.
[03:01] SPEAKER_00: If you don't love the vehicle, we'll come grab it from you.
[03:04] SPEAKER_00: So it's been, it's been super well received in BC so far.
[03:07] SPEAKER_02: I love the track or the truck and the trailer that pulls up to your door and makes it look
[03:12] SPEAKER_02: so convenient.
[03:14] SPEAKER_02: So awesome.
[03:15] SPEAKER_02: Okay, did you need financing to start your company and how do you currently make money in the business now?
[03:21] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we were, we were fortunate.
[03:22] SPEAKER_00: We were able to bootstrap the business in the earlier years and really only received financing later on
[03:29] SPEAKER_00: when we started owning the inventory, ourself.
[03:31] SPEAKER_00: As you can imagine hundreds and hundreds of vehicles cost a lot of money to hold an inventory.
[03:36] SPEAKER_00: And as far as making money, we today we primarily make money by selling vehicles.
[03:41] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[03:42] SPEAKER_02: So it's like a commission type of thing, right?
[03:45] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[03:46] SPEAKER_02: I want you to give me a key piece of knowledge or information about your industry that our listeners can get learned from.
[03:56] SPEAKER_00: So automotive retail is the biggest consumer industry in Canada.
[04:03] SPEAKER_00: I think the last number had it marked at $140 billion, but it's also the industry with the least e-commerce penetration.
[04:10] SPEAKER_00: I think in 2020, it's going up.
[04:13] SPEAKER_00: It was like around 1%.
[04:16] SPEAKER_00: And so it's really the last frontier for e-commerce to make their mark on the industry.
[04:22] SPEAKER_02: Okay, you are located in BC, but what is the long term vision and what will your company look like in the future?
[04:28] SPEAKER_02: Do you see the company expanding into other areas and where beyond that could be see or even Canada?
[04:35] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we believe Canada drives could become ubiquitous with car shopping in Canada.
[04:40] SPEAKER_00: So although we've started in BC, we are really looking at this through a national strategy.
[04:47] SPEAKER_00: And so when we look back and we're saying, hey, were we successful or weren't we successful?
[04:53] SPEAKER_00: When we're one of those first places that people think about when they're thinking of buying their vehicle in Canada, that's when we'll know, okay, we've accomplished what we wanted to here.
[05:03] SPEAKER_02: Awesome. Okay, we've learned a bit about you and we've learned a little bit about your business.
[05:08] SPEAKER_02: We want to talk about your entrepreneur journey now.
[05:10] SPEAKER_02: What are the biggest benefits for you and being an entrepreneur here in British Columbia?
[05:14] SPEAKER_02: I want you to give us some of the good points about starting a company here, but also want you to give some of the tough things or challenges for listeners so they can keep it out for them.
[05:23] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so Vancouver is an amazing city and what I love about it, it's truly an international city and it brings some of the smartest hardworking people from really around the world.
[05:35] SPEAKER_00: We have a team of over 400 people and say when I used to look out on the floor, I guess now when I look onto the Zoom calls, that the amount of people that were born outside of Canada is simply amazing.
[05:48] SPEAKER_00: And they were just drawn to that energy that is Vancouver and really that quality of life that we have living here.
[05:55] SPEAKER_00: As far as the bad things, I think we all know it's not the cheapest place to live.
[06:01] SPEAKER_00: So whether that's buying a house or whether that's renting, I think that is one strike against that.
[06:08] SPEAKER_00: I think as far as other negatives, if you're a Canada focused company, Toronto still kind of holds away as the epicenter for Canada.
[06:18] SPEAKER_00: So being in Vancouver, you do feel like you're a little bit on the outside of that and having to sort of work from the outside in for the heart of Canada.
[06:26] SPEAKER_02: Okay, I want you to imagine that you're coming to Vancouver for the first time.
[06:31] SPEAKER_02: If you were to start all over again and you just moved here to Vancouver BC, but this time you don't know anyone knowing what you know now, what would you do and how would you go about starting all over again as an entrepreneur.
[06:44] SPEAKER_00: So I think I'd make a more concerted effort, especially early on to connect with like-minded people in the city.
[06:53] SPEAKER_00: How I would do this, I would probably source out events and now a lot of them are digital, but even in person digital where you could meet other people, people that are excited about building companies and solving big problems.
[07:07] SPEAKER_00: And I was due to Vancouver and went through this process and if I could rewind, I would have just done it faster.
[07:14] SPEAKER_00: I don't think it was until I started building those relationships over the last couple years that I really realized what I had been missing out on there.
[07:22] SPEAKER_02: Okay, now let's talk about your routine.
[07:24] SPEAKER_02: What's the first hour look like for you when you get up in the morning? Do you have a specific teen or a rich will that helps you get motivated start your day?
[07:31] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I get up pretty early and I don't really have an opinion whether someone needs to be an early or they can sleep in.
[07:41] SPEAKER_00: I just found that's the cadence that I've I've settled into. So typically I'm waking up around 5 a.m. I've got two boys six and three and I don't know if they followed my lead or what, but if I wasn't getting up on my own accord, they'd be waking me up because they're following shortly after.
[07:59] SPEAKER_00: Typically past that I'm going to have a breakfast and then some some form of exercise. So in the in the winter that's going to be lifting weights in the summer spring fall that's going to be getting out for a run or going for a bike ride.
[08:14] SPEAKER_00: Once I've done that, obviously showered and all that good stuff. I do like being at my computer pretty early in the morning. So logging in at 730 and feeling like I have a jump on the day.
[08:24] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so exercise is big for you totally. So we had show crown on the show not too long ago and she said that being an entrepreneur is a lot like being an athlete. You need to be at peak performance. Do you believe that?
[08:37] SPEAKER_00: I do. I think one of the things early on I would not prioritize sleep. It seems like the easy place to steal from, but I think as more of my job is about thinking and trying to make some really important decisions throughout the day and less about just what I can get done in the day.
[08:53] SPEAKER_00: I think the amount of hours to throw at it. Sleep is definitely something that I've given a bigger priority before it's kind of that last pillar of health that people tackle sort of last on the list.
[09:04] SPEAKER_02: Do you think entrepreneurs have to be weird or unique in a positive way or wired differently?
[09:12] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know if you have to be wired differently or if you have to get rewired differently.
[09:18] SPEAKER_00: So I think you do have to sort of straddle a few different worlds. You need to be very pragmatic, but then also very bold in the next breath.
[09:33] SPEAKER_00: And I think you learn to really become a little bit more even keel. I think in the early years it was easy to ride the highs up in the lows down.
[09:44] SPEAKER_00: But as you get more sort of years in the game, you definitely allow it to get yourself to moderate that a lot better.
[09:52] SPEAKER_02: Okay, how do you educate yourself? Any books that you're reading, audio, podcasts, and can you recommend any books for listeners who are also aspiring entrepreneurs?
[10:02] SPEAKER_00: So the book I'm reading right now may be a little early for recommendations. I'm reading World Order by Henry Kissinger.
[10:09] SPEAKER_00: It's been a great book so far, but I'm not at the end. So I think I like this one. It breaks down sort of the international playing field, how we got to where we are today.
[10:20] SPEAKER_00: So I'm finding that pretty fascinating. I think as far as books, I recommend the one I've probably given as a gift the most is a shoe dog. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that one.
[10:30] SPEAKER_00: I've read it. Of course, yeah, very good. Yeah, Nike. Yeah.
[10:34] SPEAKER_00: Exactly. And I feel it's one of those stories that hasn't been told as often in the media as maybe like the apples, the Facebook, the Amazon's of the world. I think what I would really resonates to me with that story is just like how gritty it was in the early years and like, yeah, wasn't it wasn't
[10:51] SPEAKER_00: it wasn't obvious that it was going to work or they were going to make it or they were going to become the Titan that they are today. It was like, okay.
[10:58] SPEAKER_00: We just got to get to the next payroll and and really built an industry around them. So it's yeah, I've really enjoyed reading that one.
[11:06] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, speaking of payroll, I like the part where it is his wife at the time was putting the checks in her drawer where we're cashing them.
[11:13] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was pretty fun. Yeah.
[11:16] SPEAKER_02: Okay, online offline tools. You mentioned zoom.
[11:20] SPEAKER_02: Anything else?
[11:21] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so zoom wasn't wasn't in the repertoire for 12 months ago and now it's hard to imagine life without it.
[11:29] SPEAKER_00: Our organization is heavy on Slack as well. So that's our our main messaging system.
[11:36] SPEAKER_00: As far as tools outside of the business, as you were kind of alluding to like a bit of a bit of a fitness and health junkie. So I sort of my my favorite tools like I'll use my fitness path.
[11:50] SPEAKER_00: I'll as an example for nutrition.
[11:53] SPEAKER_00: I'll have the smartwatch for for running tracking my kilometers and then I actually just got one of those rings for tracking my sleep, which has been interesting.
[12:02] SPEAKER_02: Awesome. Okay, let's talk about how you balance work and how you balance your life. How do you relax and not think about work and what are your favorite activities to do in BC?
[12:13] SPEAKER_02: BC is known for skiing, biking, kayaking, golfing, hiking or simply going for a drive. Any of those you're into?
[12:20] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I said I like I like getting out and going for run. I like going for a bike ride.
[12:26] SPEAKER_00: In the winter, I like getting up going snowboarding. We've got so many great mountains here.
[12:32] SPEAKER_00: And just generally being outside a bit of fair weather to be to be honest, but like getting outside with my my wife and my two boys and just going on some kind of adventure and enjoying what we have in BC.
[12:45] SPEAKER_01: If you were doing what you do now for profession, what would you like to do?
[12:52] SPEAKER_00: So many, many, many years ago, I was a professional musician.
[12:58] SPEAKER_00: So yeah, so that I played bass guitar.
[13:02] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[13:04] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so played a few different styles. I was living in Alberta at the time. So country was where you'd get the work.
[13:10] SPEAKER_00: It feels a world away now, but being on stage, playing music is pretty exciting. And so I think I think maybe doing that. I think
[13:21] SPEAKER_00: barring this, barring that it would probably be another company. I love building things. I love solving problems. So I think I would end up back somewhere similar to where I am today.
[13:34] SPEAKER_01: What kind of a job is you not like to do? Couldn't do it.
[13:39] SPEAKER_01: And.
[13:42] SPEAKER_00: So I have a couple of friends who are pilots. And I thought being a pilot would be a really cool job. Maybe like, oh, I'm going to get a private pilot's license and rent a plane to go for a flight.
[13:55] SPEAKER_00: But, but being in there with them training, it's, it's very like methodical and processes and watching and monitoring and really the excitement comes when things are going wrong.
[14:04] SPEAKER_00: And so I feel like your court of zones would be like spiking. I feel like that's probably a bad job for me. Or at least one I wouldn't, wouldn't enjoy in business. What is your favorite word, quote or sentence that you like to use?
[14:22] SPEAKER_00: I think I think there's two that I will, I will say to people and I think one kind of goes back to what I was saying before about being even keel things are never as good or as bad as they seem. I think it just like, no matter the high, no matter the low, it's it's probably somewhere more in the middle than you think.
[14:43] SPEAKER_00: And then maybe this saying's a little bit more when things aren't going as smooth. I like to saying a smooth scene never made a good sailor.
[14:51] SPEAKER_01: What is your least favorite word or sentence you do not like to hear?
[14:58] SPEAKER_00: I don't, I don't, maybe I don't mind hearing it because I just promise me to ignore it. But I like, I don't like being told I can't do something to me that's an immediate. Well, OK, I've never wanted to do something more.
[15:13] SPEAKER_02: So Jai, even more somebody says that can't be done. Then I will say, all right, OK, here we go.
[15:20] SPEAKER_02: OK, if you had to pick one or two words to describe yourself, what would it be and why?
[15:28] SPEAKER_01: I would like to think I'm very accountable.
[15:32] SPEAKER_00: I would also, and I hope my peers would describe it. I'm also very determined. I think those two would probably fit me.
[15:41] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, those seems to be two common traits and entrepreneurs. That's for sure. Anything keeping you up at night.
[15:50] SPEAKER_00: Besides my two boys, I think like we have an amazing team at Canada drives. And so for me, if I, if I'm up at night, I'm always just wanting to ensure that I'm, I'm growing, I'm developing as a leader to just make sure that us as a team can capitalize on the opportunities we have.
[16:13] SPEAKER_00: So I think that's probably probably the big thing is just like I really do feel we sit at a transformational time and just want to make sure that we're capitalizing up in the opportunity and I'm not the reason like I'm not getting in the way.
[16:26] SPEAKER_02: OK, I want you to give us the top three things on your inspired lifeless. This could be if you want to travel more philanthropy, right? A book.
[16:36] SPEAKER_02: Anything like that that you'd like to start a new company or anything that you kind of like to do to inspire yourself in different directions.
[16:45] SPEAKER_00: So top three things. I, it's hard not to crave travel right now. So I'm going to go there first. I think especially when my boys a little bit old, I'd love to travel with them, get back to Europe.
[16:56] SPEAKER_00: But I think I'm very like I'm immersive way to teach them some of that history. I think would be pretty special.
[17:03] SPEAKER_00: Going back to the music side of things. I think playing at a like a Coachella or some huge music festival would be, would be pretty cool.
[17:13] SPEAKER_00: As far as the third thing, I don't know if I have one to be honest. I'm having a lot of fun with what I'm doing right now. And so hopefully that is my third thing and just seeing where this can go.
[17:23] SPEAKER_01: Awesome. Do you have any advice that you may have received that you can pass on to entrepreneurs throughout Canada?
[17:33] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think one one one thing I see and one thing I've been told is is I will see companies in there. They'll have a solution and they're out hunting for a problem.
[17:47] SPEAKER_00: I think really focus on solving a real problem for your customer. If you can do that, there's a business that can be built around it.
[17:57] SPEAKER_00: So I think that's that's a big piece of advice. I think the other thing is consistency.
[18:04] SPEAKER_00: A lot of entrepreneurship honestly is just showing up every day and that's going to be a big part of the waiting formula.
[18:11] SPEAKER_00: You can't control if you're the smartest person out there, but you can control if you're going to outwork people.
[18:18] SPEAKER_00: So if you're like the hardest working person in the room, it's going to make up for a lot of other things.
[18:23] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it also being a leader, you know, people look up to you. Leaders create leaders, right? So I think that's one of the things that entrepreneurs can be known for.
[18:33] SPEAKER_02: Okay, Cody, you ready to have some fun?
[18:35] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[18:36] SPEAKER_02: Okay, well, as you know, under current situation, you know, being online, the internet is a big component of how we exist, whether it be Zoom, whether we talk in a client, whether we talk in the staff, you name it, we're always connected to entrepreneurs.
[18:50] SPEAKER_02: We want to take you away from that. There's a small tropical island just off of Fiji that only has one phone booth there. There is no internet. This place does exist.
[18:58] SPEAKER_02: We're going to drop you off there. You won't have a computer or smartphone or tablet. You can use the phone booth. Like if there any time to call the boat, we'll come pick you up.
[19:07] SPEAKER_02: How long would you last before you made that call? And what would you do while you were there?
[19:12] SPEAKER_00: So am I allowed to use this phone booth to check in on things, make a couple of business calls. This is a one way line to that.
[19:20] SPEAKER_02: Now, you can use the phone booth. There's just no internet on the island. You can use as much as you want. You have food, water, all that stuff. You just know internet.
[19:30] SPEAKER_00: It honestly sounds lovely, Robert. I think I think I'm good for a week or two, definitely.
[19:37] SPEAKER_00: Especially coming off this year. I'm not the retire on the tropical island kind of guy. So I think it's a week or two and I'm going to call the boat and want to kind of get back into the swing of things.
[19:50] SPEAKER_00: But I could probably spend a couple of weeks working on my town.
[19:54] SPEAKER_02: So you would take it as time off. I've had some entrepreneurs start a business there surfing coconuts doing selling coconuts, starting a plantation. You name it. I've heard it all.
[20:05] SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah. I'm turning the coconuts into NFTs and crypto on the island. That's happening of course. But yeah.
[20:13] SPEAKER_02: I'm also going to get nice and warm there too.
[20:15] SPEAKER_02: Okay. Awesome. We're going to wrap things up. How can our nurses get hold of you and is there anything you'd like to add before you leave us today?
[20:23] SPEAKER_00: So getting a hold of me, I think best place. If you go to Canada drives dot CA, you're going to find my email there, my LinkedIn there and those are great ways to track me down.
[20:33] SPEAKER_00: To add for listeners today, I think being an entrepreneur in Canada and specifically Vancouver, we're very fortunate that the environment we live in there.
[20:42] SPEAKER_00: So just making the most of that opportunity and never being afraid to ask for help or don't worry about that risk about asking silly questions to myself or others. I think just life too short.
[20:54] SPEAKER_02: So move forward if there's something on your mind. Go ahead toward on the table. We'll discuss it.
[21:01] SPEAKER_02: Okay. Thanks for coming on the show. I've learned a lot about you and sure our listeners have as well.
[21:07] SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Robert.
[21:08] SPEAKER_01: Great. We'll see you next time.
[21:14] Speaker UNKNOWN: Thank you.