June 30, 2007

10 minutes with Doug Meharg
By: Simone Joseph

Doug Meharg dropped out of school in Grade 10 and was independently wealthy at age 28.

Mr. Meharg was born and still lives in Markham, is married and has four children and three grandchildren. After dropping out of school, he was a carpenter’s apprentice.

His father offered him the opportunity to design and build a house for the family without pay. He worked nights and weekends on the project. When completed, his family had plumbing for the first time and did away with the outhouse.

That house still stands on 14th Avenue.

He started a building company, Doug Meharg Ltd. in 1953 (at age 21) with $5,000.

His company ended up building about 500 houses in Markham, Unionville and Stouffville and a subdivision at the old fairgrounds at Hwy. 7 and Hwy. 48.

From there, he bought the Skyloft ski resort in Uxbridge (in 1995) and sold it last year.

Now 76, he is trying to build up a business, Kids Ride to Riches, that teaches children money management. The first seminar was last weekend for 12 to 15-year-olds.

Mr. Meharg has had his own issues with money. While he has been a millionaire for more than 40 years, he has only learned the value of enjoying his money in the past two years.

Q: Why did you go into building business?
A: My mother was always after my father to fix up the house. That was the inspiration. I felt it was something I could accomplish. My father gave me the opportunity to build a house for free. The other reason is when I built the house, it is something I could see from the foundation to the roof.

Q: What was the hardest part of being in the construction industry?
A: Getting enough money so I could build the houses. I built the houses on speculation. Once I sold the house, that is when I got the profit.

Q: What was the inspiration for Kids Ride to Riches?
A: Kids came to Skyloft during the week to learn to ski. I would see kids in the cafeteria with $10 or $20 bills. I asked where they got the money. They said ‘from mom or dad’ and then I said, ‘Do you know where they got the money?’ They didn’t know. These kids need to be taught something about managing money. They were spending it on junk food. French fries and gravy. It amazed me how much they had to spend.

Q: How did this experience translate into a business idea?
A: I thought about it a lot. As a kid, I learned how to manage my money. My dad did not give it to me. If I wanted a bike, I had to earn money. He bought a few seeds for us. My father was a market gardener. We would plant the seeds, cultivate them and sell them in the market. That is how we earned our money. At Skyloft, the father or mother would give $10 or $20, they (the children) would spend it until it is gone. They didn’t save any of it.

I read a book when I was 17: The Richest Man in Babylon. The philosophy: Pay yourself first before you pay anyone else. If you do that, you can become independently wealthy.

Q: Any regrets?
A: Not being able to take a commercial (typing) course in high school. I never got encouragement to go to university. We never had money, anyway. Not going to university might have been a gift, but I don’t recommend it. It allowed me to educate myself. I have been taking courses at York University — law courses, economics courses. I took public speaking courses.

Article also available at http://www.theliberal.com/News/People%20Profiles/article/33562