Did the company keep growing from 2005, when you moved into the first office?

For a while yes, but then there came a fall. I had a partner at the time, who became involved with a young lady who had substantial asset, but also needs which he couldn’t meet. So he did something he shouldn’t have, and ended up in prison for seven years. And he dragged me down with him. He indebted the company, issued false invoices, got the other companies involved... it was really very bad. I literally lost everything at the time. I had to sell everything, including the cafe; I lost the rest of the money I’d earned playing football. One minute you’ve got a promising company, and the next minute you can’t even afford a sandwich. On the other hand, I believe in the motto that you must never give up. You always have to fight, believe in yourself, in the team around you. So in 2006, I started building the company again from scratch. And when we finally got back up again, the financial crisis hit in autumn 2008. 

Ouch.

Indeed. And because we were focused on corporate clients, it affected us profoundly. Hence, I consider this period to be the second touchstone. We finally managed to cope with all the issues, but it took until 2011. At the time, we also had about 14 buses in addition to private automobiles. Purchasing them was a logical step, because when our clients needed to travel to a larger event or teambuilding, they needed a bus in addition to private cars and minivans. At the time, we hired various carriers, but there was always some kind of problem, the quality was insufficient. One day, I simply got sick of it and bought my first bus. In order to find further use for the buses, we also started operating incoming and tour transportation.

You had more than 100 cars and buses at the time. What was your vision for developing the company?

Various apps for personal transport started appearing on the Czech market at the time, like Uber, Tik Tack and others. The limousine business gradually stopped making sense to me. We were going around in circles - what we earned during high season was lost during low season. We were stuck in a rut. At the time, the market with long-distance bus lines opened up in Germany, and companies like MeinFernbus, DeinBus, FlixBus, PostBus and MegaBus were created. And Helmut Schuster, the former HR manager for Škoda Auto whom I was acquainted with, told me we should try it, that the business was ideal for us. I had lived in Germany for six years, I knew it well and I knew a bunch of important people there; but nevertheless, starting a business in Germany from the Czech Republic isn’t that simple. In the end, I decided to try it and see what happens. We contacted PostBus, whose chairman of the board I knew, because PostBus is a subsidiary of DHL and DHL had been our client for 10 years. They offered us the option of running the Prague to Munich and Berlin route for them, but I didn’t really like the brand of buses they were using. So I thought of asking the other companies about opportunities for cooperation. Both of the largest players, MeinFernbus and FlixBus, responded, and I got the best feeling from my meeting with the boss of FlixBus, André Schwämmlein and his managers. They were honest and voiced even the drawbacks, which I appreciated. The basic starting conditions were the worst of the three, but I liked the fact that the setup was similar to football - a basic salary that is nothing much, but excellent bonuses for good results. What’s more, I could buy any buses I wanted.

How important is the bus brand?

For me it was crucial that the given manufacturer offer facilities, maintenance and comprehensive services, including vehicle financing. EvoBus was the obvious choice, because it represents the Setra and Mercedes-Benz brands. We also buy MAN and Neoplan brand buses. We have tried these four brands and are satisfied with them. After three months of negotiations, we came to an agreement with FlixBus and started operating our four buses on the Prague - Mainz and Prague - Dusseldorf routes, starting in November 2014. In spring 2015, we bought 4 more buses and added the Prague - Hamburg and Prague - Vienna - Berlin routes. By the end of 2015, we had bought another 12 buses and suddenly we had 20. Gradually, I started building up a team of people, and it stopped being just a one-man show. Together, we managed to develop a structure, and FlixBus saw that it works, that we have results. In the following years, we grew by leaps and bounds, roughly 70% every year. 

How did you finance this massive growth?

It was easy - you simply have to sell everything you can! (laughs) The reality was of course much more complicated. It’s important to know that one bus costs almost half a million euros without tax. And within two years, we needed 35 of them. At the time, Czech banks and leasing companies didn’t know us, and FlixBus was a relatively new name too. Nobody wanted to lend us money, the banks refused to work with us because we did not have sufficient results to back us up. We all touched bottom at the company then. My father, who was seventy-five at the time, lent me all the money he had. He mortgaged his own house to help me. That’s how much he believed in me. And I have to say the responsibility was immense. I knew I couldn’t make a single mistake. There was no trial and error. In the end, football came to the rescue once again. My German partners helped us open the doors to German financial institutions, which ended up financing the buses for us. Today, it’s the other way round. Czech banks come of their own accord to offer their services. But we currently work with only two financial institutions in the Czech Republic, which we are loyal to because they’ve stood by us almost from the start. Those who want to join only now are out of luck for the moment.

UMBRELLA MOBILITY NOW OWNS DOZENS OF PREMIUM BUSES

Were you still operating Limousine Car Service concurrently?

Yes, until 2015. But the scope was becoming too broad, so I sold the company in 2016. I needed money to develop the bus business and I also wanted to concentrate on one thing only. 

But cooperation between Umbrella and FlixBus didn’t end with international connections. 

In 2016, it was decided that FlixBus would start operating on domestic routes in the Czech Republic, and they chose us as their partner. However, because the FlixBus management was still based in Germany, I started building up facilities and points of sale for them over the course of 2015, first in Prague at Florenc station and later in Brno. We also sold tickets for them online, took care of marketing, and handled all the licenses. For me personally, this was the most demanding period, because in addition to concerns about developing Umbrella, the team and I were simultaneously preparing FlixBus’s entry into the Czech Republic. In spring 2017, a FlixBus office was finally opened in Czechia, taking over a substantial part of the work I had been doing for them, and in summer 2017 we launched domestic transportation in cooperation with FlixBus. We deployed 33 buses, meaning that together with our international routes, we were operating about 85 buses for FlixBus.

Umbrella gradually withdrew from domestic transportation. Why?

Even while developing and subsequently operating the network of domestic lines for FlixBus, we knew we would hand it over to Czech carriers at some point. Simply because we couldn’t manage it all together. So Umbrella withdrew from domestic lines entirely, and we shifted the buses we were operated on them to international connections, primarily to Scandinavia. Today, we organise transport all across Europe with FlixBus, and we have branches in Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin and Munich. We are also planning to open offices in Paris and Amsterdam in 2020 and 2021.

So city and commuter transportation, which you started operating in Hamburg, was the next logical step?

Yes, it is roughly the same natural evolution as progressing from personal transportation to buses. Within FlixBus, Umbrella is among the top three carriers worldwide in terms of size. Every year, we travel about 25 million kilometres. Hence, it is logical for the people responsible for the given cities to contact us to ask about possible cooperation. The opportunity is always there, the possibilities are endless. It just depends on how you grab them and whether you are willing to work hard. Whenever somebody asks me how it’s possible that I have so much work while others have less, I answer that I’ve never waited around for somebody to give it to me. I’ve always taken an active approach to everything. We’ve had a branch in Hamburg for years, including facilities. Eventually, the representative of the city of Hamburg contacted us, followed by those from Berlin, Munich and other cities, to ask whether we could and would participate in urban mobility. The funny thing is that the only ones who haven’t contacted us yet are the representatives of Prague... After due consideration, we said yes. Today, we organise city and commuter transportation for Hamburg, and in the next two years we will also start operating in Munich and Berlin. Incidentally, we already provide substitute bus transport in Berlin. 

You even drive your own means of transport. You have a driver’s licenses for buses, a captain’s license for boats, and expired “papers” for diesel locomotives and airplanes. Is this required of a transportation company boss?

When I have to deal with problems, for instance with a given driver, it is definitely easier for me, because I’ve experienced the company from the outset and have done all the corporate activities myself at some point or other. And the drivers are more willing to accept my reproaches, because they know I can show them. There is a story circulating the company, dating back to when we were opening the FlixBus branch at Florenc in Prague. A bus arrived, and the driver was unable to pass through a tight spot. It wasn’t a dangerous manoeuvre, there was simply very little space. The operator called me and I tried to advise him on how to make the approach. He answered that it was impossible. Now this is a word that doesn’t exist for me. I had him get out, took the wheel myself and squeezed through. The chauffeur was fired immediately, because a driver who can’t manage something I can - me being an amateur compared to a professional driver - has no value for the company.

DOZENS OF BUSES WITH THE UMBRELLA LOGO OPERATE ON FLIXBUS ROUTES

Do you occasionally drive a bus even now?

About three or four times a year. I am a member of Amfora, so when we go on a trip, I drive. But I always bring along my very first driver, Pavel Procházka, who has been with me and the company since the very beginning, and he is truly a MASTER chauffeur. When my yachting friends and I go to Croatia for the regatta, we both drive. And then, should anything happen during standard operation at the company (god forbid), should a driver become unavailable for a certain route, then I would rather get on the bus and drive myself then cancel the trip.

What is Umbrella’s position within FlixBus now?

Umbrella is among the TOP 20 carriers within the entire FlixBus network in terms of quality,  and there are more than 300 carriers. If you consider how big Umbrella is and how many kilometres we travel for FlixBus every year, this is a fabulous result. We are also one of the three largest FlixBus carriers globally, and the largest Central European operator. We brought FlixBus to the Czech Republic and our relationship is truly excellent. What makes us exceptional within the network of FlixBus partner is our defect rate of less than 1 percent. This is an incredible number, and the figure for 2019 is currently around 0.6%. This while running 5400 connections every month and employing more than 400 people in the Czech Republic and Germany. These figures naturally appeal to Germans, who are known for their precision. Hence, Umbrella is now a fixed and integral part of FlixBus, and we have a number of joint plans for the future.

Can you tell us something about the company’s economic indicators?

If we consider 2007, when I basically started building the company up from scratch, then the turnover we earned that year we now generate in a week. If we consider the turnover for 2013, meaning before we started cooperating with FlixBus, then what we earned in a year then, we now generate in a month. The annual turnover of Umbrella Mobility currently exceeds CZK 1 billion.

The first part of the interview with Pavel Steiner is available HERE.

Photo: Umbrella Mobility/Greta Blumajerová and Pavel Steiner’s archive