Young P.E.I. man learned all about business from his dad. Now he's his dad's boss

Dylan Mugridge was just 20 years old when he started his own business in the fall of 2020.

Back then he never thought that one day his dad, the man who taught him what he knew about the flooring and tile business, would come work for him.

But that's exactly what happened this month.

Dylan spoke with his dad, Craig, and pitched the idea of working together, saying, "Do you think it's worth giving it a shot?"

After 15 years at a flooring company in Summerside, Craig wanted to see his son's business dreams come alive and decided the invitation was all he needed. He was off to work for his son at DM Tile and Flooring.

"It was a tough decision, for sure, because I worked with a lot of good people," Craig said. "It was a good opportunity to help him grow. I didn't expect it to happen that fast." 

Dylan started helping his dad when he was 15, so he now has seven years of experience under his belt. Putting that experience to work and being on his own has been tough, but working side by side with his dad gives him the chance to grow his business.

"You don't have to train him because he trained me," Dylan said. "It's going to be the easiest employee I'll ever get, that's for sure."

Starting a new business during COVID-19

It's a pandemic-era business venture that was stressful for a young entrepreneur — buying all the necessary equipment, tools, a vehicle and doing all the work himself — but "it boomed pretty well immediately," he said.

"I definitely picked the right trade to go into, because there's not many tile installers out there now … it's crazy how fast it's progressed."

Dylan was worried about getting in over his head. Calls were coming in fast, the jobs kept getting bigger and now he's booked through to October. Before bringing Craig on, he said, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to work from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., then go home and answer emails and make calls until midnight.

"It was starting to get overwhelming to say the least," Dylan said. "Taking on him I've been able to get things done at a quicker pace, and call people back who I may have turned down or wasn't able to accept their work because of how busy it's been."

He's always had Craig's support, who was watching his son's business bloom from the beginning.

"I encouraged it right from the start," he said. "He's a bit of a perfectionist, which in the tile industry you need to be." 

'Keep it small, keep it simple'

"It really is amazing, I can't say how proud I am of him," Craig said. "It's unheard of nowadays, trades are just so busy and there's such a demand for tradespeople. I would recommend anybody, if they have the like and the passion for it, to go for it and take the jump."

Dylan said he's excited to see where his business ends up in five years. He started it as something he thought would be small, just running it himself and taking on jobs when they came along.

"Keep it small, keep it simple," he remembers thinking at the time.

But the way things have been going, he says "I'm even considering … maybe in a year's time hiring on another employee or something.

"Have a couple other guys going that I can make sure when I get older [I'll] maybe slow down a bit."

For now, who knows? He'll says he'll cross that bridge when he gets there. Maybe someday a child of his own will come along and he'll end up working for them, too.

"Someday, hopefully. If that's how it works," he said with a laugh. "That's the hope."