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