Top dog John Agostino founder of Tough Dog retires.

38 years ago, John Agostino chose family over traveling the world and hasn’t looked back. The 22nd of December 2023 will be John’s last official day in a global business he built initially beginning with three partners and an investment of just $3,000 each.

Giovanni (John) Agostino began his career as a Qantas flight attendant, not an engineer or mechanic but as a determined person looking for the next great opportunity. Working internationally meant half his time would be spent with long stints overseas, the other half with family at home. Having an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong desire to always be connected to family inspired John to look for a side hustle through his travels that would enable him to return home on a permanent basis allowing more family time.

After importing cars for a time, he eventually developed a relationship with G Brothers Mercedes in Mona Vale and began importing car parts.

Not long after this in 1984 Tough Dog Suspension began and establishing a business in the mid 80’s wasn’t easy. Interest rates soared, hitting over 18 per cent, forcing start-ups to rethink the way they accessed capital to build an inventory.  For John and Di Agostino, this meant selling the family home to extract the equity they needed to breathe life into Tough Dog, a risky move but one that would ultimately pay off.  

As with most startups, Tough Dog began from humble roots in a garage on the Northern Beaches, at this time they were rebadging and selling imported shock absorbers. However, John knew the limitations of importing and reselling product. For the business to grow they need to innovate, to start developing their own products and he set about building a strategy to create their own market leading suspension products.

Known then as Bulldog 4way Suspension, Tough Dog had its first big break in the early 90’s when they developed one of the first Coil Over Hydraulic Shocks and the business began to boom. The innovation didn’t stop at products, they also looked for new and innovative markets. They were the first to create cab mounts that connected truck cabins to chassis with their suspension, leveling the ride out and providing a far smoother journey, much to the delight of truck drivers and their chiropractors everywhere.

In the years that followed Tough Dog would go on to grow at a rapid rate forcing the organisation to relocate to larger premises six times as the business continued to expand. While the business grew, and continued to innovate building on their success, one thing remained a constant for John and the team at Tough Dog, the core of the business was always about family.  

After working at Tough Dog for around 30 years Simon Vella, Director of Product Development affectionately described the operating style of the business as, “similar to the chaos of a 1980’s Italian fruit shop in Marrickville.”

“It was always run like a bit of a fruit shop, Johnny came from a fruit shop so I think that was just natural for him. Things were fast paced, emotional, spur of the moment stuff with everything always happening all at once.”

“But that’s the thing about a family business everyone just gets in and gets things done. The one thing that Johnny taught a lot of us in this place was, you do what you have to do to get things done, you roll your sleeves up and you just get into it.”

This family-owned Italian businesses while frequently described as chaotic, always shared a common theme, ‘family before everything.’ Every school holiday John’s kids would be in the business helping out, Roy Agustino, John’s eldest son remembers being in the factory at just 8 years old.

“Yeah, they couldn’t slow me down right from the early days I remember I’d have a go at anything and everything. From packing screw packs to washer packs, to when I got older cutting, painting and linishing, I had a crack at everything,” said Roy.

Reflecting on his father’s approach to the business over the many years Roy said, “Dad was always a very caring and generous person. He acknowledged that through his hard work, other people worked hard and he looked after them, he was always one that really lead by example when it came to work ethic.”

Fondly known as Captain Chaos, John has always led the business from the front being hands on in everything from taking out the bins to creating the next leading innovation in suspension, he has a hand in it.

Ed Crowther General Manager of Tough Dog spoke about his experience working with John, and his strong sense of integrity, “John’s the consummate old school gentleman believing your word is your bond. You know you can trust him whatever he says, he’ll always make happen.”

This ethos helped John strengthen and form longstanding relationships has built significant value into the business over many years. Business like 4 Tracks in Malaysia, Tough Dogs very first export customer is still with the business and began trading in 1992 consistently buying from Tough Dog for over 30 years now.

While John is heading into retirement it doesn’t look like he’ll slow down anytime soon. Just two years ago at the age of 70, he got his motorbike license and enjoys heading out for a ride. While John’s family were not overly impressed with his new hobby, they struggled to talk him out of this newfound passion. In business and in life, John’s has always been a decisive leader who’s view, like most successful founders, is difficult to sway once he has made up his mind.

Roy Agustino spoke about John’s new passion, “We all tried to talk him out of it, but it was just like Johnny, he was out to prove us all wrong and went ahead anyway.”

John has been a guiding hand for many in Tough Dog and a mentor to the team, his legacy will be the vast knowledge he has imparted on the team, the strong sense of integrity and family values that sit at the core of the business.

Simon Vella thinking back on his relationship with John and what he has learnt over the years, “I always looked up to John, definitely in my eyes he was always the man. You always know with John that if he gives you his word, he will fall on his sword trying to deliver on it. I think this is something that we all hold true and will continue to remain part of the culture at Tough Dog well into the future.”