The first-ever Canadian automotive business-to-business marketplace has launched and it’s geared toward helping dealers, manufacturers, body shops and suppliers find employees, which is a key issue in the industry.
Branded as Beepzz Canada—it is accessible on the internet through beepzz.ca—the company launched on Tuesday and came about through a discussion between co-founders Farid Ahmad and Jessi Kessel. Ahmad is the founder of Dealer Solutions Mergers and Acquisitions, and Kessel joined the company 11 months ago after working for Auto Careers Group, a company Ahmad co-owned before selling it to his partner last September.
Kessel said she and Ahmad are “serial entrepreneurs” who have known each other for 20 years. They came up with the idea for Beepzz about 18 months ago.
“We thought it was a great idea, but we didn’t know if the auto industry would think that way,” said Kessel in an interview with Canadian auto dealer. “We didn’t see anything that was full-service as we imagined when it comes to finding the resources in one place, related to businesses in the marketplace. That’s what we wanted to develop—more of a community platform.”
Kessel, who has an automotive background in marketing and advertising, said there are some examples of province-wide job boards specific to the industry, but the key to this is the national scope, along with the fact that it is inclusive to all automotive categories, including collision repair, marine and powersports dealers.
“When I talked to dealer owners out west or out east, specifically for jobs, they were going to LinkedIn or Indeed and getting a very general audience and a lot of junk applications, like people that were general managers at grocery stores and thought it was the same thing as a car dealership,” said Kessel. “We wanted to make sure the audience reached Canada-wide and we were successful in doing that and now have jobs from coast to coast.”
The site already has more than 250 jobs listed, which Kessel said has already exceeded expectations for launching. She said the site directory has 4,000-plus business listings, about 90% consisting of new car dealers and used car dealers. The company also has a buy-sell section.
Kessel said Beepzz derives its name because of the automotive industry connection and the beeping sound of a car to capture people’s attention.
“The concept behind Beepzz is the marketplace and getting the attention to your company listing or to your ad in a classified,” said Kessel. “Right now, it’s in its infancy as far as the features and capabilities of where it’s going and where we want to take the company. It’s going to further connect us not just in the dealership world. There’s different sectors to the auto industry.”
She said the company is trying to build a centralized hub.
“I am happy if the industry is happy with it and I think it’s going to grow organically if we provide them with the value that’s there,” said Kessel. “My hope and wish is that all the dealership groups throughout Canada are on the site. We really wanted to create a platform, by car people, for car people.
“It’s important to us that the features and everything we put into Beepzz is going to be a method and resource that makes it easier for everyone in the car industry to connect with one another and grow their careers and businesses.”
