Jonny and Sharni Ravet run the business and said their ethos is to do what they can to support thiir community.
“We’re not doing it just to draw customers in, we’re trying to give back,” Jonny said.
Seymour Tyre and Mechanical are currently sponsors of the Seymour, Avenel and Longwood Football Clubs, the Seymour Show ‘n’ Shine, and young Speedway prodigy Nate Shortt, who has recently taken off to Adelaide for the FIM SGP Academy.
These sponsorships, however, are just the beginning of what Jonny, Sharni, and the team at Seymour Tyre and Mechanical have given to the community.
“In a little town like this, you have to get behind each other,” Jonny said.
“When I was broke as a joke, I always had dreams of having a workshop and being in a position where I could do things like this.”
The first few years of Seymour Tyre and Mechanical, however, were rocky.
Jonny and Sharni began the business by taking out a mortgage on a house in Euroa, where Jonny was working at the time.
Then, COVID hit, leaving him jobless.
And so, the Ravets decided to take a risk that has since proved worthwhile.
“We pulled all our savings out and rolled the dice on this place,” Jonny said.
When Seymour Tyre and Mechanical first went into operation, Jonny would often be working seven days a week, sometimes over 12 hours per day, while Sharni was juggling a job at the Violet Town Nursing Home with a part-time position in Seymour Tyre and Mechanical’s front office.
They would work public holidays and weekends, only taking off Christmas Day during the business’s first year of operation.
When they finally started to see the results of the work they had been putting in, Jonny and Sharni were able to create the work culture they set out to form, and offer support to other local businesses.
The staff at Seymour Tyre and Mechanical are not only provided with coffee and lunch, but every day they work accrues $10 to their tax-free Christmas bonus, which is paid out in a large sum at the end of the year.
“I want everyone to have a good time and enjoy coming to work,” Jonny said.
“We give them as much as they give us, really,” Sharni said.
“They put in 110 per cent while they’re here.”
The wider community has also benefited from Sharni and Jonny’s generosity.
From Jonny putting on $100 tabs at King's Perk and giving away fuel cards from the locally owned BP, to Seymour Tyre and Mechanical sponsoring young kids like Nate Shortt to achieve their dreams.
Offering support seems second nature to Sharni and Jonny.
“There wasn’t a lot of help at the start for us, so we’re trying to give what we didn’t have and what we wished we had,” Jonny said.
Despite the difficult few years the Ravets have had, they still manage to have a positive impact on the community.
Last year, Jonny had open-heart surgery and was announced clinically dead in front of Sharni, but was successfully resuscitated after one minute.
Although worried about the fate of the business, Jonny said his staff managed to step up and keep it afloat while he was stuck in a hospital bed.
“They really, really showed how incredible they are, and how much support they can give back to us in a time of need,” Sharni said.
“It’s been hard, but these guys haven’t even batted an eyelid, they just took it in their stride and kept going,” Jonny said.
In creating an enjoyable culture for their staff and offering assistance in the community where it is needed, Sharni and Jonny’s generosity has returned to them with support from their staff and from the community.
This reimbursement, however, is not what drives the Ravets.
They are, rather, motivated by their own experience as a growing small business.
“Don’t do something expecting something back, just do it because it’s the right thing to do,” Jonny said.
“More small businesses should get behind other small businesses.
“Small businesses are pretty much the engine room of the country.”
Although there have been hard times for Seymour Tyre and Mechanical, they never hesitate to offer support where it is due, and in return, they have received support back.
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