In This Episode
Today we were joined on the show by business owner Peter Hans. Peter is the owner of Discover Map, the leading provider of curated guides to top tourist attractions in cities and towns throughout North America. During the show Peter shared his journey from a continent hopping investment banker to a business owner by purchasing a map business back in 2005. Along the way, Peter spent about 6 years at each of his respective stops until he got that “itch” to go and do something else.
Over the past 15+ years, Peter and his team have continued to grow and improve the map business which included an acquisition of a west coast competitor in 2011. Peter shared some of his insights from these acquisitions including how he was OK with “overpaying” for the west coast company. A couple of other lessons highlighted during the show include:
- How much he enjoys the “personal” nature of small business vs. his time in international finance,
- The circuitous route his career path has taken and how he could not have charted it out this way, and
- His business ties into his passion and enjoyment of traveling
While Peter isn’t sure what the future holds, he looks forward to continuing to grow Discover Map and enhancing its value especially through a focus on digitizing the business.
People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show
- Discover Map (https://discoverymap.com)
- St. Michael’s College in Vermont (https://www.smcvt.edu)
- Babson College (https://www.babson.edu)
- Union Bank of Switzerland/UBS (https://www.ubs.com/us/en.html)
- Fuji International Finance (https://companycheck.co.uk/company/01123184/FUJI-INTERNATIONAL-FINANCE/companies-house-data)
- Franchise Disclosure Document (https://www.franchise.org/faqs/what-information-does-a-franchise-disclosure-document-fdd-contain)
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