I sat down with Clive Berghofer renowned Queensland businessman and philanthropist who gave a $50,000,000 donation to Queensland Institute Of Medical Research (QIMR), the biggest single philanthropic donation by any Australian citizen.
I spoke to him about his life-long journey from rags to riches through success in business and philanthropy.
What does it take to go from rags to riches by achieving success in business and life?
Shaun ( Executive Distributors )
Why don’t you tell us about some of the ways that you contributed to the local community in Queensland?
Clive Berghofer
I’m a self-made person with no education. I grew up in the war years. I’m 82 years of age.
I had a pretty hard start in life because things were difficult after the war. I started working in a sawmill, and then as a carpenter.
Then I got a job as a carpenter’s laborer. I did a lot of weekend work. I said if they can do it why can’t I. I learned a lot better than a lot of people because of hands-on experience.
I started building almost 60 years ago in 1959 when I started my own business and I’ve been working ever since.
I’ve done lots of things. Built lots of houses, started developing land in 1964. I built a hotel in 1972 in Toowoomba and I designed it myself. In 1973 I became a counselor on the Toowoomba city council.
Then 1982 I was mayor of the city until 1993. In 1986 I stood for parliament.
I’ve been a workaholic most of my life. I’ve worked from the time I got out of bed to the time that I went to bed.
I’ve built shopping centers which I designed myself, I don’t use architects. I designed the hotel all myself.
We did a lot with various sporting clubs and we did a lot of sponsors.
The university wanted to build a stadium and I gave them $500,000 a number of years ago.
They called it the Clive Berghofer Recreation area at the Toowoomba University.
That got me started in Philanthropy.
Shaun
What are some other ways that you’ve contributed to the Queensland community as a philanthropist?
Clive
The QIMR is one of the biggest medical research institutes in the southern hemisphere.
They built a new building there and then about five years ago I bought the naming rights to that building for $50,000,000.
It’s made a bit of history. My name has been displayed on the two huge signs on top of those buildings.
It costs me $100,000 a week for donations between sport, education, and health. Queensland gives an award each year on Queensland Day on the 6th of June.
On Queensland day they give out certificates for important people in Queensland and I received one of those just recently.
I’ve also got an AM from the Queen for what I’ve done in the community.
Shaun
What’s some advice that you would give to small and medium sized business owners in Queensland?
Clive
Treat people the way you would like to be treated yourself.
If a carpenter goes to a mechanic and the mechanic charges him too much money for the repair of his car then the carpenter’s not happy, is he?
Then when the mechanic goes to get his house built, he wants to be treated right, as well.
It’s got to be a two-way street. The big thing is convincing people. If you go for a job you have to convince the person that you are smart. If you can convince a person that you have the ability that’s a big thing.
You can catch more flys with honey then you can with vinegar.
Shaun
Do you have an example of how you’ve applied this principle of treating others how you’d like to be treated?
Clive
I built a hotel and in that hotel when you bought liquor from a brewery, if you were doubtful you paid cash.
Anyhow, there are two breweries in Toowoomba. I used one of the breweries and I have an account with them, however the other brewery, I did not. Generally every 7 days I would be billed for the beer with the brewery I had an account with.
Anyways, after 7 days I hadn’t gotten a statement and I’m such a good creditor I like to ring up and see what’s going on.
So I rang up and said “I haven’t got an account or a statement yet and I’m concerned that it might have gotten lost in the mail.”
Then he said, “You won’t get one for 30 days and you got 2 days to pay for it.”
I said, “what are you talking about?”
I rang up the other brewery in town and they wouldn’t give me a 30-day account.
Then one day, sometime after this conversation with the one brewery, I was on the roof of my hotel, fixing the roof, when a man calls out to me, he’s the owner of the brewery that wouldn’t give me a 30-day account.
He looked up on the roof and said “Mr. Berghofer” and I said “I’m bloody Mr. Berghofer what do you want? I’m busy!” He says “come down here I want to talk to you.”
I said “if you want to talk to me then come up here and talk to me” and he said, “I’m too old to get up there I will come and see you when you are down off of the roof.”
The brewery owner then came to the hotel Saturday morning and he said “You might not remember but I tried to get you off of the roof and you wouldn’t come down and talk to me.
Did you know that in my entire career that you’re the first person who wouldn’t stop work to talk to me? You know what I did for you, I gave you the thirty-day account.”
A 30-day account is rarely given to anyone.
I had convinced that guy to give me the account because he was convinced that I was the type of person that didn’t ask anyone for anything.
This is a good example of treating someone how they would like to be treated.