BUSINESS
Socially Responsible
Since Starting My Enterprise
Michal Bystroň is an entrepreneur in construction who is notable and noticeable in Ostrava
and the whole region. He built his construction company and the company has constructed buildings
which have won numerous awards in the Construction of the Year regional competition. He takes
part in many public building contracts, is a keen sportsman, regional patriot, and promoter of social
responsibility.
You have worked in construction and
development since the early 1990s. What
is your professional story?
My decision to focus on civil engineering was
strictly pragmatic. In the previous regime, my
father worked in a housing company and, in
the evenings, he designed plans for houses for
his friends, earning some 500 Czechoslovak
Crowns for each. That was a good sum of
money then. My target to become a builder,
too, was therefore obvious.
When I finished secondary school of civil
engineering, the Velvet Revolution came,
and I started my own enterprise. First,
I traded baby goods, supplying chemists
and the Prior shopping malls. At the same
time, I started working in one of the first
businesses responsible for the administration
of rental housing for those who had their
family rental blocks returned in restitution,
and suddenly had to look after blocks
of flats full of tenants, not knowing how
to handle them. This is where I met one of
the owners, whom I helped in relocating
tenants to new homes and transforming
those old homes into offices, as demanded
the trend of those times. I did the same
job for another few real-estate owners and
earned enough money to start my company.
In 1993, with two partners, I established
a construction company and began building,
starting with little plans and moving on
to big ones. We replaced old clinkers, doing
small repairs. One of the first big contracts
was a new town hall in Krásné Pole, where
we started, among the first in the Czech
Republic, Trend 94, our preparation
of housing satellites in Ostrava, Olomouc
and Hradec Králové. We built sample houses
in each of the cities and clients came to see
them. Unfortunately, this did not last. Our
clients included two managers of the former
Union Bank, who let us build two houses for
them which they never paid for. That ruined
our company.
Then I started my solo enterprise “Bystroň
stavitel” (Builder Bystroň), where I made
a rule that I would not work for businesses
but only for the final investor. This has always
paid off. From housing insulation I moved
on to insulating hundreds of blocks of flats
in Ostrava. I grew more and more successful,
the income increased as well as the volume
and number of contracts, so I transformed
my enterprise into the joint-stock company
Bystroň–zateplení (Bystroň–Insulation). With
a greater share of profit from traditional
construction jobs than from insulation, we
changed the name to Bystroň Group.
In the past two years, we have changed
the established company operation again.
We quit collaborating with unreliable
and expensive freelancers, and, via the
programme Ukraine, we employed dozens
Kulturní dům
26 ǀ POSITIV 2/2020
of workmen from Ukraine. The difference
was striking. We bought a major share in
a well-established locksmith company, and
we intend to acquire even more such crafts
which currently are very expensive for us
to buy. We began our own developmental
operation and have more plans to make
our services better and more efficient.
To keep track of all our activities well, in
2020, Bystroň Group and other companies
of ours will become members of a new
group, Bystroň Holding.
We can see the logo “Bystroň” on many
construction sites in Ostrava and around
our region. Which of your jobs do you
consider the best?
This is a difficult question. When I earned
my first money having insulated the front
of a house, I was very very proud.
Now, in a large company, we work on
huge public contracts. Even though we
are not particularly picky, I do prefer
interesting jobs which somehow differ. There
were not many of those in the past, but
recently most urban centers have invested
in attractive architectural solutions, which is
very positive.
We have completed more than 600
contracts since the company was founded.
I personally appreciate the new Pavilion
of Evolution in the Ostrava Zoo the most.
Fulnek