Peter Egan's Professional Bio and Abbreviated Career History
Egan Medical Equipment & Supply
Professional & Career Information
Peter's first "real job" was writing for the local newspaper (the St. Tammany News - then known as the Newsbanner) as a sports stringer.
Granted, unlike his three siblings, Peter had worked in his father's company, Egan Healthcare Services, since the age of 13, but the job as a sportswriter was his first-ever employment outside of the family business.
The Dawn of an Entrepreneur
In May of 2005, Peter started selling New Orleans tourist trinkets on Ebay to help pay his rent and tuition. When Hurricane Katrina struck, he was forced to move north across Lake Pontchartrain back to Covington, where he continued his Ebay efforts.
However, with the French Market under water, he had to abandon his product line and re-brand his business as a retail merchant selling medical equipment out of his father's retail store on Tyler Street in Covington.
Amid all of the chaos brought on by Katrina, Peter was somehow able to pick up right where he had left off with his Ebay efforts, continuing to build upon his momentum even after the storm had destroyed all of his earthly possessions and forced him to refund several thousand dollars in unfulfilled orders resulting from the flooding of the New Orleans post office. Amazingly, only two of roughly 35 customers who were issued refunds in the immediate aftermath of Katrina refused to accept the money upon learning that they would not be receiving their order and why.
Online Sales Skills Translate into Retail Medical Equipment Success
The loss of a few thousand dollars, not to mention his house and all of his earthly possessions turned out to be of minimal deterrent to Peter's determination to succeed. He essentially moved into the Egan Healthcare building across from the Hospital in Covington and started selling the medical equipment products and medical supplies present in the store.
He did this without his father's, not the company's blessing, as the company's sole focus was on damage control in the wake of the greatest disaster in the history of the United States, and the top executives had little time to ponder the efficacy of an e-commerce venture when deciding upon whether or not the company could make payroll in the weeks after the storm, how many people would have to be laid off, and who.
Regardless, Peter continued despite being told he was prohibited from doing so. By Christmas of 2005, he was selling more online than were all four of the Egan Medical Equipment retail stores combined. During the time in which he pursued the Ebay/E-commerce venture using his father's products, Peter taught himself HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), Web Design & Development, and most importantly SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Yes, One Can Have Too Much Success
Before long, he had achieved the #1 overall rank in MSN, Yahoo and Google search for the term "medical equipment" (searched with or without quotes), and had his site in the top-10 for roughly 40 product-specific keyword terms and phrases. While an astonishing achievement, this led to some pretty significant problems as overnight the business went from manageable to selling far more than one man could possibly process and ship, and keeping track of inventory became a living nightmare.
Due to the Katrina aftermath, there was very little labor available for hire, and what was available in terms of help was extremely expensive and non-English speaking. This eventually resulted in Peter leaving his father's company to start his own business.
Peter's first "real job" was writing for the local newspaper (the St. Tammany News - then known as the Newsbanner) as a sports stringer.
Granted, unlike his three siblings, Peter had worked in his father's company, Egan Healthcare Services, since the age of 13, but the job as a sportswriter was his first-ever employment outside of the family business.
The Dawn of an Entrepreneur
In May of 2005, Peter started selling New Orleans tourist trinkets on Ebay to help pay his rent and tuition. When Hurricane Katrina struck, he was forced to move north across Lake Pontchartrain back to Covington, where he continued his Ebay efforts.
However, with the French Market under water, he had to abandon his product line and re-brand his business as a retail merchant selling medical equipment out of his father's retail store on Tyler Street in Covington.
Amid all of the chaos brought on by Katrina, Peter was somehow able to pick up right where he had left off with his Ebay efforts, continuing to build upon his momentum even after the storm had destroyed all of his earthly possessions and forced him to refund several thousand dollars in unfulfilled orders resulting from the flooding of the New Orleans post office. Amazingly, only two of roughly 35 customers who were issued refunds in the immediate aftermath of Katrina refused to accept the money upon learning that they would not be receiving their order and why.
Online Sales Skills Translate into Retail Medical Equipment Success
The loss of a few thousand dollars, not to mention his house and all of his earthly possessions turned out to be of minimal deterrent to Peter's determination to succeed. He essentially moved into the Egan Healthcare building across from the Hospital in Covington and started selling the medical equipment products and medical supplies present in the store.
He did this without his father's, not the company's blessing, as the company's sole focus was on damage control in the wake of the greatest disaster in the history of the United States, and the top executives had little time to ponder the efficacy of an e-commerce venture when deciding upon whether or not the company could make payroll in the weeks after the storm, how many people would have to be laid off, and who.
Regardless, Peter continued despite being told he was prohibited from doing so. By Christmas of 2005, he was selling more online than were all four of the Egan Medical Equipment retail stores combined. During the time in which he pursued the Ebay/E-commerce venture using his father's products, Peter taught himself HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), Web Design & Development, and most importantly SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Yes, One Can Have Too Much Success
Before long, he had achieved the #1 overall rank in MSN, Yahoo and Google search for the term "medical equipment" (searched with or without quotes), and had his site in the top-10 for roughly 40 product-specific keyword terms and phrases. While an astonishing achievement, this led to some pretty significant problems as overnight the business went from manageable to selling far more than one man could possibly process and ship, and keeping track of inventory became a living nightmare.
Due to the Katrina aftermath, there was very little labor available for hire, and what was available in terms of help was extremely expensive and non-English speaking. This eventually resulted in Peter leaving his father's company to start his own business.
From DME to Domain Names
In early 2007, Peter founded FatLester.com, his consortium of premium domain names. He still owns and operated both the site and the blog located at FatLester.com, and still trades in premium domains, although not as actively as he once did.
In June of 2008, Peter founded GoDotYourself.com, a domain registrar, web hosting and do-it-yourself website design software company that is still in existence today. Peter still serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Go Dot Yourself, but is not heavily involved in its day-to-day operations.
In the time between 2009 and present, Peter has founded a number of different websites while continuing to develop his online empire. He took a seven month leave-of-absence from his own business ventures to take a position as the Grassroots Coordinator for U.S. Senator David Vitter's 2010 reelection campaign.
Unfinished Business: The Return of Egan Medical Equipment & Supply
In January of 2011, Peter reestablished EganMedical.com, and as of the time of this writing, both the brick-and-mortar business and online store are as strong as they've ever been. Barring some unforeseen event, he is on-pace to accomplish his long-time goal of retiring by age 35. He would then purchase a 200-foot yacht and acquire a harem of beautiful (and topless) women to feed him strawberries and grapes in the Caribbean sun for the remainder of his time on earth.
In June of 2008, Peter founded GoDotYourself.com, a domain registrar, web hosting and do-it-yourself website design software company that is still in existence today. Peter still serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Go Dot Yourself, but is not heavily involved in its day-to-day operations.
In the time between 2009 and present, Peter has founded a number of different websites while continuing to develop his online empire. He took a seven month leave-of-absence from his own business ventures to take a position as the Grassroots Coordinator for U.S. Senator David Vitter's 2010 reelection campaign.
Unfinished Business: The Return of Egan Medical Equipment & Supply
In January of 2011, Peter reestablished EganMedical.com, and as of the time of this writing, both the brick-and-mortar business and online store are as strong as they've ever been. Barring some unforeseen event, he is on-pace to accomplish his long-time goal of retiring by age 35. He would then purchase a 200-foot yacht and acquire a harem of beautiful (and topless) women to feed him strawberries and grapes in the Caribbean sun for the remainder of his time on earth.
