I have been fascinated by maps right from when I was little. Attending a military school not only spurred my interest in maps, but also gave me a deeper understanding of its value and possibilities it brings to not just the military, but everyone else. It gives that “god-like” view of the world.
In contemporary times, I realized that I have this urge to always open my Maps app while on a trip even when I know where I am headed. I tend to look out for anything not identified on the map. Apart from helping me identify new areas, it challenges me to add the missing place on Google Maps, which I use a lot. When my wife opened a small cake shop which she bakes from home, I realized one fundamental problem…no one knows it exists. I decided to add her business up on Map and that was when she really got the exposure she needed. It then struck me that there would be many other small businesses struggling from this problem. Big businesses do not suffer this as others will quickly update the location on the map from the first day of opening es
pecially if it is well located. I read a report recently by the U.S. Small Business Administration that over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail within the first 5 years. It was added that low exposure contributes to this figure. Inder to change the statistics no matter how little, it behooves on us to ensure that we don’t ignore the small business when updating maps. In fact, that should be a priority as this will make Maps more robust for direction finding and advice.