An Ostrava alternative to ambulance vehicles named Takeoff of 2012

• Romana Tvarůžková wins CZK 100,000 in cash for the smoother takeoff of her business and another CZK 50,000 for online advertising
• In its second edition, the Takeoffs project distributed CZK 5.5 million; the winners continue to benefit from expert advice on starting a business

Prague, 24 October 2012 – The winner of the second edition of the Takeoffs of the Year competition is Romana Tvarůžková with her Modern Ambulance (Novodobá sanitka) project, which consists in transporting patients to healthcare facilities. Thanks to the preference of those who voted on the website at www.rozjezdyroku.cz, she will receive, in addition to previous prizes, another CZK 100,000 from T-Mobile to help her start her business and CZK 50,000 in the form of a package for online promotion from Seznam, one of the partners of the project.  

The Ostrava Ambulance of Romana Tvarůžková is an unprecedented service in the Czech Republic. It takes elderly and disabled citizens and patients who order the service to hospitals and doctors faster than a standard ambulance service and much cheaper than a taxi. In less than one year since the business was established, the owner has already made contacts with doctors and hospitals and has regular clients. “We are trying to make people’s lives at least a little easier; we wait for the clients, accompany them, deal with formalities on their behalf and collect medications for them free of charge,” explains Romana Tvarůžková. She can invest the CZK 100,000 prize at her own discretion, whether to purchase a vehicle or spend it on office equipment, payments for services, etc.

“It is no wonder that it was this project that attracted the interest of the public; the jury also found it interesting and appealing at first sight. It caught my attention as early as in the regional round. In our country it is an original and unparalleled project which not only has business potential, but is also of great benefit to the community, i.e. to the inhabitants of Ostrava. We wish Romana much success and we hope that she can continue realising her dream,” says Petra Pavičová, CSR Manager at T-Mobile.

Filip Dřímalka, a member of the North Moravian jury and Executive Director of EF1 marketing & management, one of the expert partners of the project, adds: “What I liked very much was Ms. Tvarůžková’s enthusiasm, the clear direction she would like to follow in the future and constant experimentation with new services and advertising methods. Moreover, she started her business from scratch and she has already managed to build a functioning business.”

“It makes us happy to be at the start of similar projects. Seeing someone who combines a good and useful idea with his or her own business activities is always inspiring, all the more so when we ourselves try to help launch the activities of smaller and medium-sized businesses and make them visible through effective advertising – as they are the ones to whom on-line advertising can bring the greatest benefit in proportion to the invested costs,” adds Michal Vodák, Marketing Director at Seznam.cz.

A special prize in the form of a one-year start-up membership was awarded by the Business Tuesday Network to David Dudáš, the winner of the Central Bohemian round of Takeoffs. As a Czech Technical University student, he decided to use his knowledge in practice and assist people who are building or renovating a house or flat. His company, Construction Consulting, offers an opportunity to verify, free of charge, the price of the project and the time schedule at project-planning stage.

The Magnificent Fourteen
In the finals, 14 winning projects selected by regional expert juries during summer workshops in individual regional cities vied for public favour. The juries comprised not only representatives of T-Mobile and expert partners of the project – Seznam.cz, EF1 marketing & management and Zalozfirmu.cz, but also inhabitants of the respective regions – representatives of municipal authorities, regional journalists and successful local entrepreneurs (including, for example, Dalibor Dědek, Managing Director of Jablotron, and Zdeněk Černý, Executive Director of BIOMAC). It was not just profitability or a perfect business plan they were interested in. When deciding the winners, the jurors took into account the business quality of the project as well as its benefits for the local community, the reasons for starting the business and the personal approach of the originator of the project.  

The voting took place between 17 September and 14 October on the project website at www.rozjezdyroku.cz, with nearly 8,000 people expressing their preference. Other promising projects narrowly missed being selected by the voting public: Blanka Zemanová from Švihov, who produces made-to-order stamps, and an aerial adventure park in České Budějovice founded by Vojtěch Prokeš.  

About the Takeoffs project
A total of 360 applications were submitted within Takeoffs 2012, the second edition of the competition for start-up businesses. In spite of the fact that the organisers restricted participation of non-profit organisations and the number of projects per person, the number of applications surpassed last year’s figure by several dozen. As in the first edition, the contestants from Prague and Central Bohemia were the most active this year and Moravia was also strongly represented.  

As part of the project, participants can benefit from support by experienced experts from the mobile operator and specialist partners: Seznam.cz, Nokia, EF1, Neocont and Zalozfirmu.cz. Two winners in each region have received prizes worth CZK 70,000, whereas the overall regional winners received prizes worth CZK 250,000; a total of CZK 5.5 million has been distributed. Together with consultations in the field of marketing, setting up companies and online marketing, this is significant help in starting a business. Also this year, T-Mobile and its partners helped in this way 42 businesspeople to stand on their own feet.  

Detailed information on Takeoffs is available here.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.