How it all began (a journey through a quarter century)
The company Riss Company s.r.o. was founded in 1999 by twenty-seven-year-old Radek Straka from the Czech Republic and fifty-year-old Irena S. from Germany. At that time, the company specialized in marketing and printing promotional flyers for businesses in the Czech Republic as well as various companies in Germany. After about a year, differences in business opinions between these two age-differentiated partners led to Radek Straka becoming the sole owner of the company after purchasing the 50% share. This has remained the case ever since, even though the company has been run 99% by his son, Radek Straka Jr., who was only 6 years old when the company was founded.
During this time, Radek met his friend and IT expert Pavel K. They began developing and creating internet projects focused on, for example, the purchase of receivables or buying and selling real estate. With incredibly advanced ideas and visions for that time and without any financial support. That's why they failed, and their ideas and visions were later adopted and utilized by companies with significant financial backing.
However, failure did not deter them, and it actually strengthened their friendship. They partnered with publishers of various advertising magazines and newspapers and began converting the printed ads of dozens of these publications into online formats, creating the first online advertising portals in the Czech Republic with SMS-based ad payments. Once again, ahead of its time and without the support of any financial backing. Dozens of competitors later adopted this idea and, of course, succeeded. Thanks to investor capital, advertising servers eventually started offering all ads for free, and newspapers and magazines began to fade into oblivion, while poor visionaries like the company Riss Company were sidelined. They were left only with experience and enthusiasm for something new.
It was the year 2004 when Riss Company decided to move to new premises and hired a moving company from Plzeň. One thing led to another, and they agreed that the move would be free in exchange for advertising on online advertising portals. And that's where everything seemed to begin. Thanks to the advertising, there was a significant increase in moving orders, and so Riss Company and a small moving company from Plzeň agreed to collaborate and founded the moving company Extra Stěhování s.r.o.
Through joint efforts in advertising, marketing, and human labor, a situation arose that probably surprised everyone. A huge increase in moving and clearing orders and very high income that no one expected. Additional branches for moving and clearing were established across the Czech Republic, but unfortunately, these branches did not achieve the same results. On the contrary, they barely survived or operated at minimal profits. This lasted for two years, and none of the new entrepreneurs understood why.
It was in 2006 when Radek Straka, along with his friends and associates, was in Vietnam at the Vietnam Expo. After getting quite drunk in a disreputable venue, he fell down the stairs while leaving. After the fall, he sat on the last step, stopped himself, and said, “I will turn this into a franchise.” And he did. After returning to the Czech Republic, he had lawyers draft a franchise contract for moving services, wrote the know-how for providing moving services, set up all the terms and conditions for these services, registered the trademark, and then approached the employees at his branches across the Czech Republic to see if they would be interested in this collaboration. The branches that weren’t profitable or were at break-even. They were offered the chance to earn for themselves but under one brand and according to the terms specified in the franchise agreement. And surprise, they all agreed.
How so? After all, these were the branches that weren’t profitable? Well, probably not for the founder. But for independent providers, they had much more value. If I work for myself, it sure pays off. I will work harder, even on weekends, I will take better care of my clients, I will communicate more with them, and I will get more out of it. And so, within one week, the first 5 franchise companies of Extra Stěhování were formed. And suddenly, the founder of this system was making income too.
Everything started wonderfully, with no force, naturally growing. Franchisees, orders, incomes, and every year, there was almost a 100% increase in the entire system. Thanks to research and evaluating statistics, the system expanded not only to moving and clearing services but also to cleaning services and later to services of so-called hourly handymen. Services that every household and company in the world actually needs. The companies and franchise systems Extra Uklízení and Extra Manžel were established. Trademarks were registered, and the franchise system unified under the name Extra Services. The concept overall expanded to include cleaning and craftsmanship services. One activity started supporting another, and successes and incomes kept growing. The dream of every entrepreneur began to come true.
But when money is not your goal in life, what do you want? Do you want success? Do you want the happiness of everyone around you? What then? What’s next? Radek Straka wanted everyone working with him to have no worries, to be well, to have food, a place to live, to go on vacation, and buy cars. To easily achieve the standards of the time. But what are standards? For everyone, they are probably different. In 2014, despite the continuous increase in orders and franchisees, the incomes significantly dropped. That surprises everyone. What’s happening? One suddenly becomes alert and starts to find out why this is happening. Doesn’t it make sense? More work, less money?
Well, it was very simple. Radek Straka’s young partner didn’t want to invest the company’s earnings into further growth but decided that he wanted everything right away. Money, experiences, and luxurious things. And so, he started gradually saving some earnings just for himself. In a small scale, no one would probably notice, but as they say, "appetite grows with eating." It was the same in this case, and the amount of disappearing earnings kept growing. And that naturally led to only one possible decision: to end the partnership. Straka let his partner take over the entire company Extra Stěhování s.r.o. to manage it as he saw fit, and decided to rebuild the franchise system from scratch under his company Riss Company s.r.o., with the visionary idea to expand into international markets.
In 2016, a new system for the entire franchise concept Extra Services was developed and redesigned, with the possibility of so-called Partner Licenses. Everyone could first test the systems of all services under their own name, brand, or company, and then decide whether they wanted to become a franchisee. In 2017, this model was extended to Slovakia, with all trademarks and a central phone line. The decision to offer partnerships was mainly made because the central database of orders was becoming fuller with new orders, and the franchisees could not handle them all. But what about the clients who are interested in these services? Why lose them unnecessarily? It was concluded that this step would be beneficial not only for the clients but also for the Partners. Partners could first check and try the system, earn from orders that franchisees didn’t take, and still satisfy the customers.
And it turned out that this was indeed a breakthrough for the entire system. More and more Partners registered, and they gradually realized that reserving an order in this system was about 80% cheaper than running their own advertising campaigns. Every day, new orders came in, complete information about these orders, but most importantly: each order was completely unique, and the customer and provider were instantly connected in seconds. No middlemen to profit from the price or work. Just one client and one provider, directly and forever negotiating between themselves. No commissions, no third-party complications. A unique system that no one else in the world had used before.
By the beginning of 2022, there were more than 170 Franchisees and Partners in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Business was flourishing, growing every month, and so Radek Straka decided he could take a break and went on vacation to Spain with his daughter. And during a trip, while looking at luxury yachts, she said, “Dad, I’d like to be rich someday.” That’s when everything began to change in his perspective and visionary direction. In the evening, on the terrace with a drink, based on his daughter’s words, Radek Straka had an idea. The idea that what works in the Czech Republic and Slovakia could theoretically work across all of Europe, even with much smaller success. But with the multiplied population of Europe, his daughter could really become rich. That evening, from a mere idea, reality started to take shape.
Extra Stěhování, Extra Uklízení, Extra Manžel – EXTRA SLUŽBY. Merging everything under one international brand EXTRA SERVICES. Creating a new international logo. Registering a trademark for the entire European Union. Registering all international domains. Translating thousands and thousands of pages into all world languages. Translating administration, invoicing, ensuring payments across all countries via transfers and cards. Developing a perfect, international, multilingual system for all of Europe and all European residents. A system where anyone can request or offer various services without limits across the whole of Europe. Yes. All of this was accomplished. In an unbelievable two years. And all thanks to the true friends, colleagues, and family of Radek Straka. They achieved something that most global companies take years to do, with dozens of employees and collaborating companies. They created something that no one else in the world had ever done.
In November 2022, this improved version of the international system EXTRA SERVICES was first launched as a pilot in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. After months of testing and fine-tuning all the details, the project was gradually launched in other European countries. By September 2024, the system was launched in 15 countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, the UK, Ireland, and Hungary. Thousands of new partners began registering across Europe, generating thousands of new unique orders in the areas of moving, clearing, cleaning, and handyman services.
A unique and revolutionary aspect of this system became evident in that everyone who worked and continues to work on it is putting their heart into it. They don't just want to make money, but want to help everyone else who joins this project make money as well. After that, it’s up to each individual to prove themselves in the business environment and apply their skills.
The breakthrough in this international project was also the fact that anyone who registers in the EXTRA SERVICES system receives an entry financial bonus, allowing them to try everything without any obligation. And anyone can register. The service customer and the registered service provider are connected directly within seconds. Then, they negotiate directly on all terms, without any interference or influence from any middlemen. The business is conducted solely between the two parties.
If any Partner is satisfied with the system and realizes its advantages, they can apply to move up to the Franchisant level. If their application is approved, they will be fully equipped, trained, and become a full-fledged Franchisant of the international EXTRA SERVICES network. They can immediately start using all the advantages offered by the system and launch their business without any limitations.
Since around 2020, Riss Company has been regularly contacted by various investors and financial groups interested in entering or acquiring the project. However, no agreements were ever reached. Straka’s goal is clearly to bring everything to the maximum conclusion. To have the entire EXTRA SERVICES project launched not only in Europe but also in the USA and Canada. With an investor backing, he would no longer have the same freedom in making decisions aimed at the final goal.
Similarly, various competitors started copying and imitating the EXTRA SERVICES system around the same time. Partners were creating websites with the idea that they would get dozens of orders for free. They had no idea how expensive and demanding that process would be. And so, they ended up quitting after a few months. Entrepreneurs launched their grand marketplace projects for orders, copying prices, conditions, and strategies, but they too mostly failed within a few months. What they lacked was the most important element that cannot be copied or bought: true years of experience, from which a sense for every detail is derived. For thousands of details, from which the entire EXTRA SERVICES system is created.
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