Clive Berghofer’s success as a property developer is an Australian story to remember. Clive started out as a struggling Toowoomba kid, who left school at 13 with little reading or writing skills. After years of working with his hands, as well as buying and developing land, he taught himself to be a businessman and quickly grew to be one of the country’s richest individuals.
Clive has donated $10 million to the Queensland Institute of Medical Research to help find a cure for cancer. He has also donated to schools, sporting clubs, charities and hospitals across Toowoomba and other areas in Queensland.
Last week, Gold Coast My BT reporter Melanie Baker spoke to Clive about his successes, and the state of the land development industry today.
Q: You’ve had many successes in your long career, but what would you consider to be your greatest achievement?
A: I’m not sure really! I started in business early in life. I built the Wilsonton Hotel; I designed it myself with no architects or anything and built it with my own hands in record time – six weeks.
I was also in politics. Becoming mayor of the city was also a pretty big achievement. I spent about 11 and a half years as mayor.
Q: You famously left school at age 13. What did it take for you to get to the position you are in today?
A: I started from absolutely naught. My father had no money to educate me and they say now in modern-day terms that I was dyslectic. I couldn’t read, I couldn’t write and I couldn’t spell. In the school I went to, there were only four kids in the whole class. I ended up coming fourth in my class, which was at the very bottom. There were only 16 kids in the whole school. The only thing I could beat the other kids at was arithmetic.
I was determined to work because I couldn’t do anything with bits of paper, so I knew I could beat the other people by working harder than them. I’ve been a workaholic my whole life – I’ve practically worked from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed, seven days a week for many years. I’m almost 82 in May, and I’m still out working on the job now. I don’t need to, but I need some jobs on my mind.
Q: Do you have any advice for young people starting out in the land development and sales industry?
A: For young people, they’ve got to put their heads down and their backs up and get into it. Common sense has gone out the door. I think with the emphasis on computers today – you’ll ask people a question and they’ll type it in and the first thing that comes up will be their answer. Lots of answers come up on computers, but that doesn’t meant they’re right.
I’ve spoken about common sense a lot in schools over the years, and I say to kids that education by itself is handy but it’s nothing much. With education and common sense, you’re on top of the world. I’ve said that I’ve only had common sense and that’s carried me through life.
Q: How different is the land development industry now to what it was when you were starting out?
A: There are so many rules and regulations, and unfortunately at the end of the day the cost of land has gotten very expensive. I’ve got two rules when you’re buying something – first it’s got to be practical, two it’s got to be affordable.
It’s all good to be driving Mercedes cars when you can afford them, but most people can’t afford a Mercedes – they’ve got to drive a cheaper car. That’s the way it’s getting with houses – the conditions are so bad that the average person won’t get to owning a home.
At the end of the day, it’s the working man who pays for it. The businessman doesn’t pay for it, he just adds it onto his bill.
Q: What would you say are the most important qualities of a business leader?
A: One thing that was lucky for me is my father went through the depression and he said that if ‘I’ve got to do it tough, you’ve got to do it tough’. He taught me how to work, he taught me how to do it properly, and he taught me how to be honest and that’s three pretty important things in business.
I’ve always been very honest in business. I’m a millionaire, but I’m still very respected by the public because I haven’t gone out and sleazed the public. A lot of people get rich, and at the end of the day they don’t have a lot of friends. A lot of people selling things just want to make as big of a profit as possible. I’ve tried to treat people with respect – I’ve always tried to produce things better, cheaper and quicker than anybody else.
Who do you think we should send a Q&A? What should we ask them? Send your list of questions to toowoomba@brisbanetimes.com.au and we’ll do our best to track down some answers.
