Former Cayman Islands cricket coach Peter Anderson is back in business after a rollercoaster period in which he battled cancer and saw a business relationship turn sour.
Undeterred by setbacks, the 64-year-old from the Australian Gold Coast, who is in five-year remission from throat cancer, is seeing sales of his Fresh Fresheners air fresheners soar. The colourful, eye-catching designs featuring everything from hot sauce to Donald Trump are sold in gas stations and retailers across Grand Cayman and, says Anderson, “business is booming”.
Expansion plans
Anderson now plans to grow the business further by targeting the corporate market as well as expanding the range of merchandise, and says he is going to focus on the Jamaican market next.
“I’m an ideas person,” he says. “I design a lot of things, I’m a dreamer, I make things happen. But I’ve been burnt badly – I’m too generous. I’ve designed a lot of things, and some things haven’t turned out how they should.”
As a professional sportsman, Anderson had a distinguished career, playing first class cricket in his native Australia before coaching the national teams in Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and the Cayman Islands. It was in Australia where he says he first discovered his entrepreneurial creativity.
“I was a typical sportsman in that I went into business after my playing career,” he said. “I had ice-cream shops and tyre shops, I surrounded myself with good people and did very well. I’m hyperactive and I’m very passionate about things.”
Alongside his growing business career, Anderson worked his way up through the coaching qualifications to become an international cricket coach. He spent two years living in Papua New Guinea coaching the national team, before moving to Afghanistan and setting up the cricket academy there, taking the national team to seventh in the world rankings.
“There’s a massive cricket community there,” he says. “The Taliban loved cricket.”
However, it was a tough time to be in Afghanistan, he says. “I was there for two years and moved five times. I saw some terrible things and it started getting really dangerous.”
It was while Anderson was in Afghanistan that the Cayman Islands came calling, and, while the results speak for themselves – Anderson led Cayman to a best-ever ICC T20I ranking of 41st in the world, having taken over as technical director when they were ranked 52nd – the relationship didn’t last long.
“It was challenging,” says Anderson, diplomatically. “It wasn’t what I’d envisaged.”
Matters were made worse by his cancer diagnosis which he describes as “a speed bump – it happens to everyone. I came back to Cayman after treatment having lost 55 pounds and no one recognised me.”
He did some coaching in the US while recovering, but it was several years later after he parted ways with his subsequent business venture, that he hit upon success.
Starting again
“I sulked for three months,” he said, “but I had all these air fresheners which I’d brought back from the States, which were really funny. One day I picked up my samples, put a shirt on, dressed myself up and went cold calling. Now all of a sudden I’m doing corporate business with the likes of Cay 9, Jacques Scott, Cayman Crystal Caves and Animal House.”
Thanks to Anderson’s efforts, the products are now sold in service stations on the island and in retailers such as Cost U Less and A. L. Thompson’s and business is booming.
As well as Donald Trump and hot sauce, the air freshener designs include doughnuts, dollar bills, French fries, aliens and koala bears wearing sunglasses. Anderson now has plans to expand into selling hats as well as taking the business to Jamaica.
“We’re going to hit Jamaica hard,” he says. “It’s been fun for me to get off my arse and get out there and meet people.”
Anderson also runs three community laundromats – “It’s $2 for drying and $3 washing,” he says – “and they’re doing very well. I take over run-down laundromats, I do them up, paint them, install wi-fi, drop the price, get new equipment, treat people with respect and I look after people. They’re open 24/7 and I plan on having five at the end of the year.”
Knockbacks
Anderson is currently writing a book about his event-packed life, called ‘Caught in the Middle’ and while he had plans to wind down next year, with some European travel with his French-Canadian wife Josee, he admits, “I’m happier now that I’m busier that ever. I’m close to retirement and starting to wind down although I’m really winding up. I’ve been knocked back all the time but I’m still going. I’m trying to create something fun.”
He is also back at the cricket nets, giving private coaching at Pickleball Cayman.
“If you’ve got your health and your passion, you can do anything,” he says. “You don’t need money. If you have a good idea and have passion and work hard you can create something. I’ve been a millionaire, I’ve been broke, I’ve been on my arse with cancer, without a job, without anything to my name, and yet I’ve got back up again.”
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