From Starting Over to Creating a New Legacy

Abraham was passionate about cars for as long as he can remember. “Cars were something I liked since I was a child. I started working with them, and then I fell in love with them.” His father, Jose, owned a very large and popular body shop in Venezuela for over thirty years. When his father got his start in the car business, he would go from shop to shop working where he could and learning everything he could about the trade. Eventually, he earned enough to open his own body shop, which then extended into multiple body shops. “My Dad started from scratch, with nothing, and he became one of the biggest body shops in the country. We would average around 1200 cars per year.”

SEARCHING FOR A NEW BEGINNING

When the political situation in Venezuela became too dire to continue living there comfortably, Abraham set his sights on America and moved to Miami. He did not want to give up on his dream of working with cars, and at 17 years old he found himself in the same shoes as his father. “I began to work in different body shops, and I went from body shop to body shop until I had enough money and connections to open up a space for my father and I.” Jose, Abraham’s father, moved to Miami after Abraham set up his first shop and they began building up their legacy again from scratch. “It was a new country, a new language, a new system. We didn’t know how to do anything in terms of business.” Abraham and Jose had built a good reputation in Venezuela and in Miami, and it helped them to keep going. They were able to quickly build a customer base and get settled. They worked together, Jose trained Abraham how to manage a business, and Abraham found opportunities in Miami for them. “It wasn’t easy, and I couldn’t do anything without my father.”

“It took us about three years to really feel settled. It wasn’t until 2019 that we started to see the results of what we were doing and the growth of our business.” Then, the pandemic hit. “People didn’t want to drive or leave their homes. More people were working from home, and it was hard to get customers.” But Abraham and Jose remained patient. They had completed two of their main goals, moving to America and recreating their body shop, they knew they couldn’t give up now. Eventually things started to open, and Abraham and Jose saw an influx of customers. They reached out to Ascendus and received an $18,000 loan from the Southern Opportunity and Resilience Program to create a new system so that they could do more jobs at the same time in different locations in Miami. “Our goal was to be the best, keep growing, and keep innovating to make things better.” The new system allowed them to do just that. They were able to expand their locations, keep stock of materials and tools, create better management, and invest into marketing. “With the help of Ascendus we were able to get to the next step and keep going.”

CREATING A LEGACY

In just three years since their opening, Denar Garage has gained a huge following in Miami. Abraham and Jose have worked with national brands such as Carvana, hotel companies, racing companies, and boating companies. They have also worked with celebrities, actors, and music producers. Their biggest accomplishment so far is getting to work with Fabio Lamborghini and recreating an official car for him at a pop-up exhibit at a Miami museum. “We love what we do, we do a good job, and it pays off.”

To learn more about Denar Garage, visit: https://www.instagram.com/abrahamj14/