Since Dave Aloisio started DARE in 1976, business has boomed and three generations continue to work side-by-side to provide automotive repair and care.
From the “Family Owned & Operated” issue.
There’s a recurring theme to these stories: a new business grows slowly until the founder of the business needs extra help. He/she hires a child to lend a hand, and the business takes off.
As Jonathan Aloisio of DARE Auto (Dave’s Automotive Repair Enterprises) tells it, that’s exactly how it happened…and then some. “This business was built on my back!” he jokes, while his sister Laura laughs in the background. “They’re all just riding my coattails!”
Jonathan started at DARE, the business launched by his father Dave in 1976, full-time after high school, although he’d been working summers since 1985. It had grown from a single bay and one technician to three bays and three technicians. “It was still a very small shop when I joined,” Jonathan says. “Just my dad, me, and one other guy!”
In Good Hands
Business has since boomed. Today they boat eight bays, seven full-time technicians, and four administrative staff, who oversee their automotive repair, used auto sales and detailing enterprises. Dave retired five years ago, confident his business was in good hands.
As much as he jokes, Jonathan says a lot of credit for that growth goes to his sister, Laura, who joined the family business in 1998. “My brother had never taken a vacation since working here,” says Laura. “So, when he got married, my dad told me to come in and answer the phones while he went on his honeymoon.” She now works six days a week, and Jonathan refers to her as “a title company in and of herself.”
With a third generation working at DARE, Jonathan’s sons JT and Christopher, the family sees no sign of business slowing. “Having family you trust lets your business grow, because you can rely on them,” says Jonathan. “It’s hard not to succeed when you know that the people next to you will do anything for you.”