Jeff Bryant, owner of Bryant Automotive has made a career out of looking for – and cultivating – the next great opportunity. In addition to his thriving 53-year-old automotive shop in Redding, CA, Bryant owns three other businesses, is a college instructor and works as an enrolled tax agent. He has watched his company grow an unprecedented amount, based largely on a simple premise.
Since its founding in 1968 by his parents, Tom and Margaret Bryant, Bryant Automotive has been focused on reliability and trustworthiness. The shop was created with the intention of becoming a reputable business that serves the greater Redding community.
The Bryants ensured this legacy by passing the shop down to their sons, Jeff and Dan. Jeff is proud to say his shop caters to a wide range of people, with a large percentage of his customers being single women. Thanks to the relationship he has fostered with them, Bryant says they trust his word.
Relationships such as these are a staple at Bryant Automotive. With its competent and caring staff of 12, the shop is constantly serving the community, including the other repair shops in the area. Jeff says that his business is “as important and needed” as the other shops and he has always viewed other shop owners as not only members of the same industry but as a great resource for networking and support.
The DRIVE January Shop Spotlight of the Month, Bryant Automotive has been designated as a AAA AAR shop, which has helped the shop in many ways. “AAA holds us accountable to a higher standard of customer service and the overall appearance of the business. We also receive a decent number of new clients every month through their marketing and towing program. It is good to be accountable,” Bryant says. “It keeps you focused on what’s important!”
Bryant admits that he doesn’t know it all and credits his relationship with DRIVE for helping to maximize his business. He says success takes a positive attitude and the ability to be coached. “I’m doing what I’ve been taught rather than thinking I know better. DRIVE knows how to succeed in this industry.”
Bryant says that before he began working with DRIVE business was chaotic and important issues weren’t being dealt with. He says he now understands how to better run his business, staying focused and accountable with each day being better than the last.
These days, Bryant says he is better organized, which leads to not only freedom in his finances, but freedom in his schedule as well. Recently he was able to work on a 1933 Packard with its 21,000 original miles and he says he’s looking forward to smogging a 1999 Lamborghini Diablo in the near future. Bryant Automotive is now able to work on anything automotive. “And we’re having fun,” Bryant says.
Prominently displayed over the shop’s front desk, is this promise from the Bryant Automotive team to all its customers: “Our purpose is to provide dependable service, safety, comfort, and peace of mind.”
