From a Garage-Based Business to a Global Business

REGION From a Garage-Based Business to a Global Business In the early 90s, two brothers-in-law, Erich Stavař and Bohumír Blachut, decided to sell books from coupon privatization and, with the 12,000 crowns they made, start a business. Their determination and persistent work paid off: the family company Isotra, which literally came to existence in a garage, now ranks among the leaders in shielding technology and supplies almost fifty countries around the world with its products and machines. Gentlemen, you began doing business in a garage, and now you have climbed to the top of the industry in shielding technology. What is the key to your success? B. Blachut: We began with the wholesale production of window seals along with their assembly. This is how the name Isotra came to beISO from the word “izolace” (literally isolation, but meaning here insulation, referring to the seal) and TRA from the word “trade.” After 1993, the demand for window blinds expanded Isotra’s activities first to the assembly of these blinds and then later to their production. Our constant efforts in perfecting our products lead to us deciding to produce our own components for blinds and other shielding technologies in 1995. The portfolio kept expanding, and today we provide interior and exterior blinds, fabric blinds, solar blinds, plisse, Japanese walls, outdoor roller blinds, mosquito nets, awnings, screen blinds and pergolas. Important components include the production of components, profiling tracks, cutting tools and technological complexes for blinds production. E. Stavař: We were lucky, we were growing from the very beginning. It was definitely a very specific situation; there was big demand for our products. It is hard for us today to imagine that blinds were really not available back then and you had to wait a year or two to get them. It was also thanks to this that we reached 25 million CZK in sales in our second year, and in years after that to 42 million CZK, and 59 million CZK after that, it has continually increased. Text: redakce Foto: archiv Isotra a.s. www.isotra.cz You are based in Opava. How is it doing business here and what conditions does the city present you? B. Blachut: Currently we employ more than 500 people. I am convinced that having qualified and motivated employees will help us maintain a good position on the market not only right now, but also in the future. Unfortunately, a big part of our working capacity has been moved to the ever-expanding state sphere--newly created state offices absorb an increasing amount of workers that used to work in industrial fields and services, and manufacturing companies now miss them. Despite this, we are able to find employees that want to work at Isotra and build values with us. We offer our employees many benefits, including, for example, a subsidy for 46 ǀ POSITIV 1/2020 pension insurance, a reward for exceeding profits, a five-day holiday, social rewards, sick days and more. A lot of people know each other in Opava, and you are a family company. What social responsibilities do you have? E. Stavař: Isotra has been operating in Opava for a long time and employs over 500 people. It is also because of this that in 2019 we decided to link up with the Opava football club with the goal of developing the positive value of both companies and brand communication. We greatly value the opportunity to work with SFC Opava. It is not a short-term project; we believe we will be able to develop the values of both Isotra and SFC Opava in the long run. As their exclusive partner, we will have plenty of room for communication and support. We would also like to connect with personalities like Jaromír Jágr that have done big things in their life, and can be seen as an example for the rest of society. B. Blachut: We have been working with Jaromír Jágr for a year now through the Rytíř hockey club, and it has been very interesting for us. I sincerely value people that have done something in their life and act with their heart, thinking not only of their own success but want to support others. It is for these reasons, along with a couple others, that we wanted to expand our direct cooperation with Jaromír Jágr. His hard work and achievements speak for themselves and more, he acts very human. That for me, that is key. You are famous for introducing numerous new products on the market. How important is innovation in your business? B. Blachut: Our long-term vision involves us becoming the technological leader in shielding technology, and that is why we constantly innovate not only our final products, but also components and production technologies, which means CNC profiling machines from the production of shielding systems. Isotra profiles itself as a European company and we supported this strategy even in the field of trade by founding the daughter company Isotra Jalousien GmbH, which operates on the German market. We consider this part of the market very important, as it has the biggest sales potential in the field of shielding technologies in Europe. Thank you for the interview. -editorial-