Founder of a Family Business: Good Deeds Bring Fulfillment

Fifteen years ago, a small private research laboratory "Rezus.lt" opened in Šiauliai and has since grown into a well-known company with branches in other cities, having also expanded to the capital a few years ago. The founder and director of the company, Daiva Kazlauskienė, is not a doctor, but she handles medical terms as well as any physician. Her long-standing experience in the health services business not only allowed her to realize herself but also to unite her family for a common goal - a family business.

Had to Choose: Medicine or Trade

Talking about the years when she was still studying at J. Janonis Secondary School, Daiva says she was a good student, with only one ‘four’ among the fives in her school-leaving certificate. After finishing school, she enrolled in Vilnius University’s Faculty of Commerce and Economics to study material technical supply, organization, and economics.

"I always take care and organize, it suits my profession," the businesswoman laughs.

After her studies, she worked in trade and at the Municipality until the time came when businesses started to form. How did she turn to the health services business?

"I have a brother who is ten years older. He and his wife are doctors. I envied them all the time, I also wanted to be a doctor. My brother used to say, 'What kind of doctor would you be if you're afraid of blood? You cut your finger and faint.' At that time, all well-performing graduates chose medicine or trade. I chose trade. However, I always felt empathy, love for others, and at home, I always heard talks about medicine, as my brother's friends were mostly medics, and I had to grow up among them," Daiva explained why she didn’t become a doctor.

The Path to Health Businesses

Twenty-six years ago, when health businesses began, she had the idea to open a pharmacy – that’s how the Gegužių Pharmacy came into existence.

"My character is such that I really want to realize myself, and being an employee doesn’t quite work for that, as you are dependent on managers. My ambition was to create a pharmacy the way I wanted, the way I saw it. We grew to a network of 7 pharmacies because otherwise, you couldn’t offer good prices. We operated until the situation in Lithuania changed, major pharmaceutical chains took over the market, and other solutions were needed. Today, we do not have a single pharmacy," D. Kazlauskienė talks about the start of her business.

When the pharmacies closed, doctors from the Kaunas University Clinics would come to consult patients on weekends because people greatly lacked such services.

Later, family clinics began to form, which needed to ensure timely and quality laboratory testing, so laboratories where tests could be performed quickly were needed. There were few such services on the market. Medical institutions themselves would transport tests to hospital laboratories. This prompted the establishment of a private medical research laboratory in Šiauliai, capable of competing with a state institution and offering more attractive cooperation conditions to family clinics. This was the first lesson in such activities.

The next step was the company "Rezus.lt", founded by Daiva Kazlauskienė 15 years ago. The medical research laboratory opened on Tilžės Street, next to the Tilžės Family Doctor Center. The range of tests included the entire family doctor's test package. Doctors at that time prescribed fewer tests because that was the extent of the family doctor's norm. Over time, the ministry trusted family doctors and empowered them to prescribe more tests. Daiva appreciates that society has become curious, creating a need for a broader range of tests. As the range of tests expanded, the laboratory started performing molecular, microbiological, and histological tests, requiring more and more employees. Initially, the company employed 15–20 people, and today it employs ten times more.

"Rezus" did not limit its activities to the city of Šiauliai, expanding its services to Mažeikiai, Panevėžys, where company branches were opened.

The Business Born in Šiauliai Entered the Capital

"Rezus" entered Vilnius eight years ago. Daiva says that her business in Vilnius emerged naturally. Competition must come from a metropolis, there you receive more information, see more broadly and widely. Her public activities led her to the capital. She established and has been leading the Association of Diagnostic and Treatment Institutions for many years, and is also a board member of the Lithuanian Private Healthcare Institutions Association.

"It's not hard in Vilnius. Vilnius residents think I’m a Vilnius native, Šiauliai residents – a Šiauliai native, but I live in both these cities," Daiva laughs.

She says that she looks at her patients in the capital sensitively because she is from the provinces.

"We are not a global company with foreign capital. Our business is a family business. Our relationship is human and open. Coming to a big city, you see that there are exactly the same people who want to have feedback, a prompt response. The same criteria apply when working anywhere. With clear values, any business will be successful," the businesswoman speaks about her experiences in Vilnius.

She agrees that competition in Vilnius is greater, but the most important thing is the reliability of test responses, the team. Daiva considers her company’s team reliable because it is stable, and staff turnover is minimal. Daiva cares about her employees, so she strives to create good working conditions for them. The reliability of the "Rezus" laboratory is shown by the many patients and doctors with whom it collaborates, being their regular clients for many years.

In Šiauliai, the clinic operating on Gumbinės Street is the only one with a contract with the State Health Insurance Fund. In Vilnius, only paid doctor consultations are provided.

Today, "Rezus" has branches in Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, and Mažeikiai. It does not plan to expand to other cities, aiming to strengthen the services it already has.

"Lithuania is so small that traveling from Šiauliai to Vilnius takes only a few hours. Getting around Vilnius and picking up tests – the same few hours. We have a gift – we live at such short distances. Many people from Šiauliai have businesses in Vilnius. Šiauliai is a unique city that has raised many smart people, schools prepare many talented young people well, so we are confident and unafraid of challenges," Daiva says resolutely.

Covid Not Only Frightened but Also Strengthened

Covid frightened, but the small company had the advantage of not being a large state organization where many decisions need to be made, and their implementation would take a long time.

"Our main goal was to help people get test responses as quickly as possible and take care of their health. With this in mind, we put on suits, put on other protective measures. The girls encouraged each other, we opened the doors and started working. People with fevers came. Even though the state didn’t know how to act, whether to let them inside or not, crying mothers with children were our priority. We would create separate flows so that employees wouldn’t meet, but those critical weeks we carried out activities. We prepared, and when more clarity appeared, everything started quickly.

Initially, clinics didn’t take tests at all, patients came to us. Naturally, the idea arose of how to help the state at those points, we sent our people to them. We won the tender to perform Covid checks at airports, opened mobile points. We worked in shifts, the laboratory worked very long hours," the businesswoman talks about overcoming challenges.

She claims that Covid strengthened the team, hardened it. They became more united, a sense of community emerged among the employees. The company paid all the money owed to the employees – for overtime and long working hours, thereby strengthening their trust in the employer.

Read more on the news portal Skrastas.lt.