BUSINESS ROZHOVOR

If You Know How to Do Something,

Just Do It...

Mr. Květoslav Bašista, the owner of the engineering company BAŠISTA s.r.o., took us through his own

personal journey from the initial first steps of an employee setting out after the Velvet Revolution

trying to start his own business.

How did it all start? Tell us about your background

and the activities that your company is involved in.

After the Velvet Revolution, I witnessed the collapse

of the engineering company that I worked for because

the management was unable to maintain it. And so,

I said to myself, “If you know how to do something, try

and do it.” During the year of 1991, there was a chance

for everyone, including myself and that chance was

something that I believed in. I decided that I was going

to leave the company and start doing what I knew how

to do best. There were many opportunities available at

that time, for example, ‘let’s go to Germany and make

some money, and when we come back we can start

something’. However, I knew that in returning, it might

be a totally different situation here.

“

The following day, a customer

came all the way from the Netherlands

wearing his rubber boots and started

to look for his parts and then to clean

and preserve them. This action was

a big encouragement for me to continue

overcoming all of the obstacles that were

still ahead of us.

”

In the beginning, there were just the three of us, but

I soon realized that not everyone has the drive like I did.

A motto that I go by is : “If you understand yourself,

you can be alone.” In the beginning, I started with cam

machines. However, the quality and the quantity of

the production was poor and the orientation towards

Germany was demanding. I decided to go to Germany

myself, and I went “the Czech way”, with only some

bread, salami and water in my bag. I visited an iron

processing company, and the way it smelled inside

was a pleasant smell for me. I didn’t speak German

but instead, I showed them what I could do and gave

them an offer. Within a week, I had my first orders.

I got additional contacts from other companies and

we had enough work and we were able to confirm

orders for every quarter. However, it so happened

that the order didn’t come. So this time, with a keg of

beer and a bottle of slivovitz, I returned to Germany

again where I was informed that the company was

losing money on me and that they had cheaper supply

options from China. Fortunately, in the end they were

12 ǀ POSITIV 2/2023

fair and offered me a new order. I knew that I now

had a quarter of a year to rethink how I was going to

get it done. I came to the conclusion that simple, lowmaintenance series won’t hold up in Europe, so I started

to focus on very challenging and precise, high value

production. We succeeded and had contracts with

companies from Denmark, Netherlands and Germany,

introducing CNC machines along the way, which took

our company down a new path. This current customer

rates us as their biggest and best supplier. We have

worked with much effort and diligence, learning that it

is far more difficult to keep that positive rating, rather

than just getting it.

Today, we operate 40 % of locksmith work and 40 % of

machining. We have also added the assembly of finished

machines. We have achieved what we set out to do. It

has been two years of hard work, but our determination

has earned a lot of trust with our main customer.

Currently, our primary objective is to attract and recruit

young talent who can effectively manage the integration

of digitalisation into our production process.

What has been the biggest obstacle you have

encountered? Have you ever experienced moments

when you wanted to give up?

During my experience, I have encountered two

big obstacles. The first significant challenge was

during the 1997 flood when our plant was severely

affected. I watched the water rise for a few days, and

upon returning to the plant, I was met with broken

gates and machines that were covered in mud and

leaves. However, what amazed me the most was

the immediate response of our employees. They

asked when they should come to clean up and get

back to work. Their resilience and dedication gave me

a renewed sense of purpose. We had a tremendous

amount of work ahead of us, including cleaning

and repairing 83 engines. I am happy that we were

successful and restored them to working condition

again. The following day, a customer came all the

way from the Netherlands wearing his rubber boots

and started to look for his parts and then to clean and

preserve them. This action was a big encouragement

for me to continue overcoming all of the obstacles

that were still ahead of us.

The second challenge was when we made the decision

to switch and change to a technology. We only had

a few hours to do the switch and to ask ourselves