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GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca DOUG KEGO CELEBRATES SILVER ANNIVERSARY IN BUSINESS eight years before deciding to let his partners CVZIJNPVU)FIBETPNFUIJOHFMTFJONJOE One of his former partners helped him put UPHFUIFSBQSPQPTBMGPSB/JTTBOEFBMFSTIJQ 5IFPOFIJUDIUPIJTQMBOXBTUIBU/JTTBO Canada already had a nearby dealership across the Ottawa River in Lachute and wanted to avoid market conflict. So instead, Kego was offered the chance to buy the La- DIVUF/JTTBOEFBMFSTIJQ)FUIPVHIUBCPVUJU said yes, and took over the Lachute franchise JO+VOF#BTFEPOIJTQFSGPSNBODF BOEDPOWJODJOHBSHVNFOUT /JTTBO$BOBEB later allowed him to relocate the franchise UP)BXLFTCVSZJO4FQUFNCFSPGUIBUZFBS Kego broke ground on his new location UIBUBVUVNO TUBSUJOHXJUIBTRVBSF GPPUCVJMEJOHBOEBTUBGGPG JODMVEJOH himself. Over the years both the site and the staff have grown, but what he is proud of most are the people he has had working for him during those 25 years. “All of the people who’ve been with me deserve a ton of thanks,” he said. For the past 25 years Doug Kego has been the face and name behind Nissan Hawkesbury and he does not expect that to change. “I’m never retiring,” he says, with a grin, during an interview in his cluttered upstairs PGàDFBUUIFMPDBM/JTTBOEFBMFSTIJQi*WF been grateful to make a good living just talking to people.”
Twenty-five years ago, Kego brought his /JTTBOEFBMFSTIJQUP)BXLFTCVSZ*UXBTOU his first business venture and it was not his original goal to own a car dealership. It just seemed to follow as a natural result of what he likes to do, which is meet and talk with people about what they like, what they want, and what they dream about. Kego was born in Toronto but never knew IJTCJSUIQBSFOUT)FXBTBEPQUFEEBZT BGUFSIFXBTCPSOCZ#PCBOE"OOF,FHP XIP raised and loved him all through the years. )FTNJMFTXIFOIFSFDBMMTIJTDIJMEIPPE “We had nothing much, but I thought we were rich,” he said. “We had a roof over our heads and food on the table.” )FHSBEVBUFEGSPN)BXLFTCVSZ%JTUSJDU )JHI4DIPPM UIFMPDBMCJMJOHVBMIJHITDIPPM at the time. Sports, rather than academics, XBTNPSFIJTJOUFSFTU)FXFOUUP"MHPORVJO College for a welding trades course and got his certification, though in the end he didn’t do too much actual welding when he entered the job market. )FXPSLFEBUUIF11(QMBOUJO)BXLFTCVSZ then later with Canox, a welding supplies company. That is when he was introduced to sales. At that time, Kego was a young man on the go, but also a young man who did not have his own car, though he knew how to drive. That didn’t deter him from answering a newspaper ad for a car salesman position BU)BXLFTCVSZ$ISZTMFS)VHIJF#SPXO UIF sales manager at the time, was impressed with the young man without his own car and decided to give him a chance. “An absolutely outstanding man,” said ,FHPi)FUPPLNFVOEFSIJTXJOHu After a week at the Chrysler dealership, ZPVOH,FHPàOBMMZHPUIJTàSTUTBMF#SPXO congratulated him and also said he was glad that Kego had to work to get that first sale. If Kego had gotten his first sale within his first DPVQMFPGEBZTPOUIFKPC #SPXOFYQMBJOFE he might have gotten the wrong idea that sales was an easy thing to do. Kego spent a year at the Chrysler dea- lership, learning that sales was all about meeting people, learning and understanding what they needed, and trying to figure out how to provide that very thing. “I worked lots of hours, but that didn’t bother me,” he said. “I loved dealing with people, and I was making good money com- pared to when I was at Canox.” )JTUJNFBU)BXLFTCVSZ$ISZTMFSQSPWFE to be a key point in Kego’s business future. Through his sales dealings he got to know three fellows who were putting together a proposal to open a Mazda dealership. They offered Kego a chance to buy into the project XJUIBQFSDFOUTIBSFBOEUIFQSPNJTF that he could increase his partnership share JOUIFGVUVSF)FEFDJEFEUPHPGPSJU “I learned a lot about business in general that way,” he said, adding that he stayed on as a partner in the Mazda dealership for
Kego has watched all of the changes, up and downs, that have shaped the automo- tive industry over the past 25 years. While car styles have come and gone, and new technology offers customers more energy- efficient vehicles, and cars and trucks that DPNFXJUITUBOEBSEGFBUVSFTMJLF(14 UIBU XFSFVOIFBSEPGBRVBSUFSDFOUVSZBHP POF thing has never changed as far as Kego is concerned. i1FPQMFBSFQSFUUZNVDIUIFTBNF uIF said. “In a small town, if you give good TFSWJDF UIFOUIFSFTOPQSPCMFN#VUJGZPV give bad service, then everybody knows.” It is part of the message that Kego emphasizes when dealing with new customer service staff. Anyone in business, he obser- ved, needs to make themselves familiar to people and “to make sure the clients know they will get a fair shake.” That rule sums up how Kego views life in general. i'PMMPXZPVSIFBSU uIFTBJEi#FQBT - sionate about what you do Whatever you’re HPJOHUPEP CFIPOFTUBCPVUJU#FUIFCFTU you can be. If you get to do something you truly love to do, then you’re fortunate. And just treat people right. It’s as easy to smile at someone, as it is to frown.”
Après 25 ans comme visage et nom de Nissan Hawkesbury, Doug Kego aime toujours la meilleure partie de son travail, qui est de rencontrer et de parler avec les gens. —photo Gregg Chamberlain
When it all began, Doug Kego started Nissan Hawkesbury with a 6000-square-foot building and 11 staff, including himself. A quarter-century later, the premises have expanded and the staff has grown, but Kego says that treating his clients right is the key to success. —supplied photo
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