"I believe your strengths are your roadmap and a smile on your face is the best measure of success."
Peel Financial – Canada’s largest equipment financing source with over 20 years of experience in providing innovative and affordable heavy equipment financing solutions across industries in Canada.
Sukhbir Dhaliwal founded Peel Financial in 2007. Year after year, the company has grown steadily and interestingly clocked business over CAD 1 bn even during dire times for the global economy induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
What started in a 1300 sq ft set-up with Sukh and just one employee and 2 lenders to work with, Peel Financial has today expanded to be a 70+ employees strong firm, working with most of the lending firms in Canada and the US.
Peel Financial now has 3 offices across Canada, namely in Manitoba, British Columbia, and Brampton.
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Table of Contents
In the past year, what is the greatest business achievement you’d like to celebrate with your team? Please share the details of that success.
Sukhbir Dhaliwal: I am a firm believer that no achievement is too small. A little progress each day, no matter how small, brings you closer to your end goals. Following the same mantra, year after year, Peel Financial has grown steadily to become the largest independent equipment financing source in Canada.
Last year we created history by breaking all our previous records by funding close to CAD 400 million. That would be over 4000+ deals and 5000+ pieces of equipment making money for their owners.
2022 was quite an eventful year for Peel Financial. I am excited to reveal to your readers that not only we had our best funding year, we also secured a new home for Peel
Financial. My team is delighted to be moving to our new location-based at 8125, Dixie Road, Brampton.
This used to be the iconic TD Canada Trust branch, boasting a 10,125 square feet floor area and an envious location in the heart of Brampton. The modernisation and redesign of the internal space is in full swing and we hope to move in by the end of April 2023.
What advice do you wish you received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Sukhbir Dhaliwal: I wish someone told me 25 years ago to listen to my heart and create my own destiny. I learnt it the hard way but my advice to every budding entrepreneur would be that if the opportunity doesn’t come knocking, you need to build your own door. A successful business won’t just fall in your lap.
You must believe in yourself and take a leap. Small steps lead to big things. Just be honest to yourself and put your best foot forward. And be ready for challenges you might face along the way. Success isn’t an overnight phenomenon. As long as you are ready to persevere and not give up on your goals, you are bound to succeed!
I have been fortunate to have built an excellent team around me over the years. Their dedication and enthusiasm for our business and its products is next to none. My simple message to my team is to keep doing what they have been doing and the results will follow.
Here is a two fold question: What is the book that influenced you the most and how? Please share some life lessons you learned. Now what book have you gifted the most and why?
Sukhbir Dhaliwal: “Leaders Eat Last” -Book by Simon Sinek, Sinek analyses problems from many angles, including those of the managers, the workers, and society at large. He acknowledges both the idealistic and the realistic aspects of how leadership situations in the workplace.
I believe Honesty and Integrity is the key leadership mantra in building trusted relationship with your customers and employees. Whether it’s acknowledging mistakes, or giving credit for achievements, or being open and transparent about the business deals, great leaders always exhibit integrity.
When people see evidence that leaders lack integrity, that can be nearly impossible to recover from. Good communication skills cannot be underestimated. Leaders must motivate, instruct and discipline the people they oversee. Leaders who fail to develop these skills are often perceived as being weak.
The best leaders also understand the loyalty is not a one-way street. True loyalty is ensuring that all team members have equal opportunities and are treated with fairness. It’s standing up for your team members in crisis and conflict. Employees who believe leadership is loyal to them are much more likely to show their own loyalty when it Matters.
A good leader always empowers his employees and allows them to grow and express themselves. When employees are empowered, they are more likely to make decisions that are in the best interest of the company and the customers.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Sukhbir Dhaliwal: Businesses all over the world are experiencing inflationary pressures and cost of living has hit through the roof. With economies shrinking, interest rates increasing and fuel prices at its highest, consumer demand for new and used trucking equipment has hit a historical low.
At Peel Financial, we too felt the pinch of this challenging economic climate but are prepared and ready to ride the storm. My team is working hard to reach out to our customers to offer the best-customized service available on the market and help them through these difficult times.
2020, 2021, 2022 threw a lot of curve balls into businesses on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past years, how can businesses thrive in 2023? What lessons have you learned and what advice would you share?
Sukhbir Dhaliwal: An extended health pandemic lasting more than two years was the last thing businesses had thought of. It brought about problems we had never experienced before and has exposed us to many unknown vulnerabilities. Many valuable lessons were learned working through these tough times.
The most important lesson learned was to always prepare yourself for the unexpected. Every business needs a scalable and efficient backup plan. You must have a plan in place to help avoid prolonged business interruptions and resourcing issues during a crisis like the one experienced with COVID.
The pandemic taught us the importance of a healthy work-life balance. Through this crisis, we have realised how busy everyone’s lives are outside of work. Businesses should use this crisis as a powerful moment to remind their team to respect the life they live both inside and outside of work and strike a fine balance.
What does “success” in the year to come mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Sukhbir Dhaliwal: On a business level my barometer of success is limited to my customers and my employees, whom I treat as my extended family. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a beaming smile on the faces of my returning customers, day in and day out.
My customers know that my team and I won’t give up until we secure the best deal in the market for them. And what better inspiration and success story in this world than knowing that I am able to support and empower 70+ employees and their families through Peel Financial.
Personally, I strongly believe success should be measured by qualitative standards, not quantifiable ones like one’s wealth. True success for me is the quality time I spend with my loved ones, the positive impact I have on others or the balanced lifestyle I lead.
Feelings of happiness, fulfillment and success are not reserved only for those who have lots of money or material possessions. Those who wake up in gratitude face each day with a brightness of hope. I believe this hope is worth a lot more than the money one owns.
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Sukhbir Dhaliwal for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Sukhbir Dhaliwal or his company, you can do it through his – Instagram
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