The articles written by the PÚBLICO Brasil team are written in the variant of the Portuguese language used in Brazil.
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Six years ago in Portugal, Renato Mizrahy, 53, from Rio de Janeiro, acquired his first company in 2019. He chose to invest in the car rental service for app drivers. “When I arrived I didn’t know what I was going to do and I came across this activity that had just been regulated by the Portuguese government. I wanted stability and tranquility to invest”, he recalls.
Initially, he acquired a company with two cars. At the end of the first year of operation, it was already 20.40% electric. For a short period, the businessman ventured into driving one of the cars himself, to understand the dynamics of the activity. This experience helped him understand the day-to-day life and needs of drivers, a learning experience that was fundamental to consolidating his business.
From the beginning, the businessman aimed to gain scale. He decided to set up several companies that work with platform drivers and sell them to Brazilian investors, while remaining as administrator. As the structure is set up, it shares costs.
His portfolio includes eight companies, three of which he owns, with more than 100 cars. Five companies are third-party companies, which vary in size, some with ten and others with 15 or 25 cars. In total, it manages 300 vehicles, mostly electric. “For investors, the process is very smooth, because I am the one responsible for the companies. If there is any error, I, the manager, will respond”, he explains.
Coming to Portugal was decided because of Brazil’s economic instability. “I arrived here with my life stabilized. When we decided to leave Brazil, we thought about going to the United States. We ended up choosing Portugal, because my wife is a Portuguese citizen” recalls Mizrahy.
The initial venture was soon expanded. He created a maintenance workshop and an electric vehicle dealership. “I worked for 30 years in mechanical workshops. I already understood a lot about the subject. I combined the useful with the pleasant and went to work with the administration of vehicles for mobility platforms”, he says.
In Portugal, the initial challenge was to learn how the country’s tax system and company legislation works, in addition to knowing how to buy cars and obtain bank financing. “In Portugal it is simpler than in Brazil to borrow money from the bank. As I already managed companies and understood cars, it was easy for me to establish myself. I believe that the majority of Portuguese companies in this sector are family-owned. In our case, we have physical space and 12 employees in total. Two workshops, one in Montijo and the other in Rio de Mouro, and a trailer. It is a different vision from that of Portuguese businesspeople. That’s why we’ve grown,” he explains.
With the tow truck and the workshop, the businessman guarantees quick assistance for any problem drivers have. The cars you have in excess, some from the car purchase and resale store, allow you to replace vehicles that are undergoing maintenance. This way, drivers are not left without work. The electric fleet guarantees great savings compared to combustion-powered vehicles and maintenance is much simpler.
Relationship with drivers
The majority of drivers who work with Mizrahi are Brazilians, but there are also Portuguese and some of other nationalities. Regarding the operation of the company, he says that vehicle rentals are weekly. The Uber and Bolt platforms pass on to the company the values obtained during trips. Mizrahy makes the due discounts and provides a spreadsheet for each driver, detailing the entire movement and the discounts related to rent and other expenses. What remains is the driver’s income.
He says he is concerned about treating drivers well. “We work to ensure that drivers have a balanced life. We have always paid them on Wednesdays for five years. There is no delay. He worked, he received it, even if the platform, due to some problem, delayed the transfer. They have priority. This gives us credibility”, guarantees the businessman.
All documentation and fleet management is carried out by the company. “Working as a driver is not easy. For those who spend hours driving, it is important, psychologically, to have everything sorted out. I don’t work on commission like some companies. If the driver pays the rent, the car is his. If he wants to go for a walk on the weekend, that’s his right. What you do with the car doesn’t concern me. We have our own workshop, and if we need to do maintenance, we do it. So he doesn’t have a headache. His job is just to drive, nothing else. Once a week, he receives a spreadsheet with all the accounts and, if he has any questions, just ask. It’s all transparent, there’s nothing obscure”, he details.
Mizrahy states that he is happy with the business environment he found in Portugal. “Bringing the money here and starting a business works. If you act correctly, you can prosper. The country’s stability helps growth. The profit margin may not be as large as in some businesses in Brazil, but the growth is sustainable and I believe in that”, he assesses.
One of the differences he sees in relation to business in Brazil is the inspection by the tax administration. “Due to the size of the company, we have supervision all the time. Nobody comes to blackmail or ask for money. On the contrary, they come to ask for clarification. They ask for information and the manager and accountant respond. The public servant comes to help us”, he adds.
The choice for electric vehicles was a choice since the beginning of the business, in 2019, when it acquired five electric cars. “When no one believed, I believed. And I wanted to specialize. I have a workshop specializing in electric car maintenance. In the car, I just need to fix a flat tire and change light bulbs. It’s a key turn. A gasoline car, which travels 2,500 kilometers per week, has maintenance every month. The tram is perfect for getting around the city”, he concludes.
