Vladimír Myslík: “Life’s Path Leads to What Is Natural to You”

Vladimír, I was amused by something you posted on social media recently. "It's 2002, and we are both alone in our minuscule 16m2 shop Kytary. Two customers come in that day. One of them needs a guitar pick, but he decides to buy two, because getting just one pick would be awkward. He greets us as he leaves, saying we have his support. The other customer buys a guitar strap."

Those were the wild early days when we were still completely insignificant in the business. But even then, we felt that we could be successful in selling over the Internet, because as a team, me and Honza [Jan] Pils had the right skill set for that. We watched other online stores and thought we could do things better.

The two of you started out individually, what made you decide to join forces?

It wasn't until we got together that we became Superman (laughs). Honza was good at business and had a vision, I knew my way around internet sales and computers, which I was very passionate about. We had almost no money, but we were young predators with no commitments. We sacrificed pretty much all our time to work. We enjoyed being in an extreme rush that I can't even imagine anymore today.

We're all pulling the same rope

Instead of planning the 20th anniversary celebrations last spring, you had to adapt to completely new conditions, introduce a number of quick measures, strengthen customer service. Did it make you stronger as a team?

It brought us closer together. Everyone sensed that we were in danger and that big changes were coming, so they immediately adapted to the situation and started pulling together even more. For example, the employees themselves came up with ideas on how to better use the capacity of the salespeople. In addition, everything happened in a situation where we didn't know what was going to happen and how long it would take. We came up with a strategy, reacted quickly, and therefore managed the first wave of the coronavirus perfectly.

Which moments in Kytary's 20-year journey do you consider the most significant?

The first time was the move from the space that used to house a baby carriage store to the former car dealership nearby, our previous store Děkanka in Prague. That was a big risk because we hadn't yet generated enough money to pay the rent and the people. It worked, we saw more and more customers come in. Well, then we opened a shop in the Chodov shopping centre, where we had a sales kiosk for four years.

Did that work?

It didn't work very well, but it was a valuable experience for us. Since then, we have always made sure to test the waters before trying something like that again on a large scale. And we gradually moved forward to having one big store in Prague with"full service" for musicians and a large stock. In the meantime we built a store in Brno and later we moved from Děkanka to the current premises in Modřany. We started out renting there, but eventually we took out a mortgage and bought it so we could remodel the store according to our own design.

Which year do you consider to be a turning point?

In the beginning, basically every year was a turning point for us, but for the last four years—with the exception of the opening of the new Modřany store in 2018—I no longer have that feeling. What I find essential now, and what has been somewhat lacking with us all this time, was a focus on more expensive instruments as well, to be truly for everyone. Now we can finally afford to do that too. I'm glad we've gotten this far.

You now sell in thirteen European countries and over the last year you made good numbers even in the very competitive environment of the UK market, how do you explain that?

A lot of people switched to online shopping during quarantine. And retail, e-shops and related services here in the Czech Republic are of a very high standard in terms of quality. We're trained and we invest a lot in reclamations and customer service. And the English customers were very pleasantly surprised by our approach, such a high standard of service is not common in their own country.

Did you find that out in some kind of research report?

We go about it differently: we collect feedback meticulously. For example, we use FeedTRACK and work with responses provided to us by hundreds of musicians. I think it's the best way to improve. If there's a problem, we find out about it and are able to react on it immediately.

How has the musical instrument market changed over the years?

There is a much greater choice of goods and a better quality of service. When I used to go to a competitor's store to pick something up when I was younger, I would usually hear things like, "What do you want, are you going to buy something or what?" Nowadays, no salesman would behave like that anymore, people would never set foot in their store again.

Does that mean that if young musicians want to try out even the most expensive instruments in your shop, that's no problem?

That's what they're there for, although of course they have to be careful not to scratch them.

We develop informal relationships

Do you really target all musicians?

We try to. We already have plenty of specialists in each section, and at the same time we are interested in developing mutual relationships. We are constantly expanding our network of contacts, which allows us to connect with many of our customers on a friendly basis. We take a professional approach to everyone, celebrities and young musicians alike.

Famous musicians can often be seen in the store. But have you also managed to establish friendly relationships with the management of renowned international brands or even competitors?

I have nothing but praise for our competitors, we always treat each other with fairness. We don't play dirty tricks on each other, our headhunters don't actively snatch people away from the competition, and we solve problems cooperatively. But we are even closer with the manufacturers themselves, like Furch, Fender, Martin, or Taylor. For example, we had the opportunity to meet Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug of the Taylor company, to talk with them and hear their story. It was lovely to hear them say that the way me and Honza started out reminded them of how they themselves began. Another unforgettable experience was a visit to the Martin Guitar Factory and Museum: the place where the history of dreadnought guitars began. We like companies that value their employees and from what we saw in the factory, Martin Guitar is one of them.

Family and playing guitar as a recipe for a happy life

At first you were in business to support yourself, now you are married with children. How much time do you devote to the business and your family, about half and half?

Kytary might still take up a bit more, but family means a lot to me and the older I get, the more important it becomes. You can't compare it to the time we started, to the drive and ambition that Honza and I had back then. We've reached a stage where we're no longer hustling as much and there is more room for our families. That's the way I've always felt inside, I just needed to get to the next stage of my life to mature into it.

It must be intense to work in a senior management position for over twenty years. How do you keep fit?

I play guitar and play sports. I'm also lucky enough to have a great wife and, thanks to her, a great family. My wife also indirectly contributes to the business side of the company.

Did she come up with any specific ideas?

Not really, but the fact that my family is important to me and my wife takes such good care of it affects my overall satisfaction. You could say she supports the company by supporting me. Having a good home base definitely helps me at work too.

We buy and sell, but we also manufacture our own products

But I suppose it also must be very motivating for you to manufacture your own products, first the DEKANKA coffee tables, then the Razzor Custom Cases...

Absolutely, we really enjoy it and I'm glad we started doing that. When you go on different Factory Tours where they show you the wood at the start and a finished beautiful guitar at the end, it just makes you want to create something as well. It's a beautiful craft and our ambition is to at least get a little whiff of it.

An active musician yourself, you play guitar. Do you follow what's happening on the local music scene, is it important for you to support it?

There are a number of very good musicians in our company who are very close to the local music scene. This creates a lot of incentives to support the musician community. For us, it just goes beyond sales. We try to follow and support the music scene, we organize a festival, we support musicians, and we support concerts. We've been running an online music marketplace for a number of years, a music forum, and so on. And you may have heard of the great Frontman.cz e-zine and now also Insounder.org... (laughs)

Living only through work and career is a mistake and an illusion

On social media I saw a comment, "And you are the best, Vladimír, because I know what you have been through!!! Hats off!" Does that mean that everything wasn't so rosy for you in the past?

You got that right. There was a time, before the kids came along, when I was fed up with life, burnt out.

The result of years of being a corporate shark?

I entered a period of crisis during which I felt that although I was successful in my career, it was all I had. I come from a big family myself—and it was this part that I suddenly started to miss terribly.

Burnout can shut you down for months...

It really knocked me out for a while. I got depressed and panicky. It was very unpleasant and I was in treatment for a few years. All of it forced me to stop and re-evaluate my life. I found a woman with whom I now have three daughters and a son. I became aware of how much I wanted a family.