Nadia Shuaib is not your typical lawyer. A practicing solicitor in Scotland, she married a Canadian man and put her career on pause to begin a new life in Toronto, Canada. While preparing to take the Canadian Bar exam, she began supporting her husband’s hobby business selling cell phone accessories from home.
She listed a few items on eBay, just to see what would happen. The inventory sold quicker than she expected, and her part-time project suddenly became a full-time business. By 2015 Nadia had built relationships with suppliers in Asia and had hired employees to help manage sales – many of whom are also new immigrants. Today, Budget Electronics operates out of two warehouses in Toronto, servicing both wholesale and retail customers.
“I never would have thought that I would have left my career in law to start my own business in selling on eBay, and that it would be as rewarding as what it is,” Nadia said.
Through leveraging eBay and other online channels to open her business to global markets, Budget Electronics was able to grow into a multimillion dollar business over the short span of four years. She’s not alone: eBay data shows that the average Canadian SMB on eBay sells to 18 countries.
Nadia sees eBay as an equalizer in ecommerce. Though her business operates in a heavily male-dominated industry, ecommerce has allowed her to succeed.
“eBay removes those stereotypical barriers that are in place and puts everyone on a level playing field and you can just follow your dreams,” she said.
In 2016, Nadia won Canada’s Omni-Channel Entrepreneur of the Year Award, just days after accomplishing her lifelong dream of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
