He turned his wheelchair into an entrepreneurial endeavor

With a language barrier and a physical challenge setting him back, Venezuelan Pedro Gonzalez found a way to make a business out of his obstacles.

Gonzalez, 55, was left paralyzed after an accident in his home country of Venezuela in 2010. But that hasn’t held him back from pursuing his dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

In 2015, Gonzalez founded Handinator, a marketing business using his wheelchair as a platform to advertise.

“One night, I had the idea of Handinator. I added monitors to the wheelchair for ads. We are on the streets of Miami. It’s a different type of platform to advertise where people get to see the ads face-to-face.”

He has pipes attached to the back of his wheelchair, which hold the 25 x 15 and 15 x 16 advertising billboards. At the same time, he works for Ubereats servicing downtown, Midtown and Brickell, showcasing the wheelchair advertisements.

He charges $15 an hour with a minimum of 30 hours for advertising. His clients include Latin Café.

In his home country, Gonzalez ran an air-conditioning business and owned a farm. He was also a political activist against the Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro regimes.

Nothing has been verified, but he believes he was targeted.

“I was hit from behind by a truck and crashed into a wall. ... I don’t remember much because I was unconscious,” he said. “Many people think it was someone political who was against my views.”

In 2012, he arrived at the United States. He enrolled in a study at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis in 2015, but he says it didn’t help him.

One of his supporters is Horacio Fontana, whom he met at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s rehabilitation department.

Fontana, who owns ABC Biomedical Equipment Services, has designed Gonzalez’s wheelchair. His goal is to install solar-powered LED monitors so he can have space for several advertisers.

“He is a person who has strength and positivity,” Fontana said. “I wanted to help him because he had a wild idea, but I thought the idea was genuine. He proved that people who have disabilities can do anything a regular person can.”

Many who see him on the streets stop to take selfies and find him to be inspirational. In fact, he has become an Instagram sensation as the popular handle Lifestyle_miami featured him on a post.

“It has brought many good things,” he said. “It is innovative. I have found motivation in this not to give up.”

Contact

Contact Gonzalez at 786-848-2758 or follow him on Instagram at @handinatoradd.