Peter H Thomas (Century 21 Canada Founder) Losing $70 Million and Why He Never Panicked
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What is Peter Thomas's background and how did he start Century 21 Canada?
All right, guys, check it out. I got Peter Thomas in the house. This guy is 52 years old. You got quite the history. Peter, why don't we just tell us a little bit about you, your history. Tell me your three biggest mistakes, too, because we were talking about that earlier.
The... Mistakes are not listening to my wife enough. I should listen to her more and I'd be probably more successful. Listen to the wife, Rita. But I think when I got started in marketing and sales, I started selling mutual funds when I got out of the army. And then went into franchising and learned about franchising. I was lucky enough to be able to acquire the rights for Canada for the Century 21 concept, the real estate concept.
Century 21 of all of Canada. Yeah, yeah.
What were Peter Thomas's biggest challenges and failures in business?
And that was sort of my first. And what year was that? 74. 1974.
Okay. 74, yeah. And really got lucky, and I've always been blessed that I get great people around me. Everybody around me is much smarter than me. Yeah, I know how that goes. And so, you know, the people help you, and you grow, and And we grew that one to about eight billion. That was my first- Eight billion? Yeah, in sales, in sales. That's fantastic. It was, it was an amazing concept and pretty wonderful.
How did Peter Thomas cope with losing $70 million?
I got lucky and lightning struck twice. I had another company called Dogtopia. Dogtopia where they take care of dogs. Dog, yeah, doggy daycare, yeah. The lady had, she had about amount of 15, 20 stores. and was kind of struggling looking for money. And so I wound up lending her some money, and then that loan turned into equity, and then it was gonna go broke, so I wound up taking over the business, and it's got about 300 now, over 300 stores. And I sold at 165. I took- 165. Yeah, I took it from like 15 to 165. incredible what uh what were some of the mistakes that you made along the way that you know maybe not mistakes but failures that toughened you up a little bit um uh i was trying to think of that very good i thought you know i don't focus on mistakes yeah you know you don't you forget about them so i had to really think about them uh and i'm sure there was many many of them along the way um
I think mistakes can be made in the very beginnings of your negotiations. When you think you understand a deal, you're looking at it, and you negotiate the terms of it, you'd be much better off if you didn't say yes too quickly. I sometimes agree to the deal, shake hands, and you got a deal, and then you realize a little bit later you left a lot on the table.
It makes sense.
What strategies did Peter Thomas use to negotiate with creditors?
You know, I think getting the smart people, we've got a whole deal team, lawyer team. And I talked to so many people that have been ripped off. I mean, look at Bernie Madoff. I mean, that's crazy. And he was a good one.
I mean, he was good at it. That does amaze me sometimes. You hear those people who rip people off. The top celebrities, the top lawyers, everybody gets taken in on it.
Oh, yeah. It's insane. I watched a whole documentary about that, and it was insane how long he kept that going. I love the fact, it seems like you're living your best life. You're 87. You're sharp as a wit.
What values guide Peter Thomas in his life and business?
You're happily, you're talking about getting a dog.
Yeah, yeah. Which is super cool. We had one before. I think, Tony, the big thing that I have to guide me I did a program, gosh, 40, 30, 40 years ago called Life Pilot. And I was in YPO, the Young Presidents Organization, traveled all over the world teaching this program. And really what it was was about And there's so many people, you work hard, you work, work, work, and it becomes possessed by it. And so I teach values. And really, I'm going to be teaching at Joe's, the Genius Youth, at the end of the month. And I haven't taught a program for about 20 years, so I'm kind of excited about it. That's really cool. But primarily what it is, Joe, is teach people what are your values. What do you, excuse me, I'll just turn this off.
How does Peter Thomas define happiness and success at 87?
No problem. You know, what are your values and what do you stand for? Like, mine are health, freedom, happiness, integrity, and now legacy. I'm really working on what can I leave behind.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Peter Thomas's background and how did he start Century 21 Canada?
0:00β0:46
2
What were Peter Thomas's biggest challenges and failures in business?
0:46β1:15
3
How did Peter Thomas cope with losing $70 million?
1:15β2:38
4
What strategies did Peter Thomas use to negotiate with creditors?
2:38β3:14
5
What values guide Peter Thomas in his life and business?
3:14β4:03
6
How does Peter Thomas define happiness and success at 87?
4:03β5:06
7
What lessons can be learned from Peter Thomas's experiences?
5:06β6:30
8
How can listeners apply Peter Thomas's insights to their own lives?
6:30β13:27
Speakers
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