Dalibor Novák designed his first glass urn back in 1999. A few years later, he came up with the idea of embedding the ashes of the deceased directly into glass and created “Memorial Glass,” which he had patented. Today, his company, Memory Crystal, produces crystal urns and memorial items for clients around the world, operates an animal crematorium, and is building a network of self-service memorial sites called Memory Pet Point.

Among the company’s most ambitious current projects is the interactive EIWA Crystal Tree of Memories, which elegantly and technologically addresses the shortage of space in cemeteries. With rapid growth came the need to better organize internal processes and planning. This was the challenge that the company from Česká Lípa brought to the Regional Development Agency and its business incubator, Lipo.ink.

Glass, Design, and Reverence

When Dalibor Novák was looking for a new direction in the late 1990s, he combined two topics that almost no one had linked before—glass and the funeral industry. A graduate of the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Kamenický Šenov, he came up with the idea of making crystal urns.

“At the time, I was looking for something new. And glass urns struck me as an original product—a gap in the market,” he recalls today. But the early days weren’t easy. Although people liked the design, he lacked experience in business and sales. “My first business actually went under very quickly,” he adds.

Dalibor Novák, however, returned to his original idea after a few years. He learned how to do business, improved his English, and gradually began building his own glassworks and a team of people around him. The original crystal urns gave rise to Memory Crystal, a company focused on the production and sale of memorial items.

But the real breakthrough came with Memorial Glass. A symbolic amount of the deceased’s ashes is sealed into crystal sculptures, jewelry, or pendants. This creates unique objects that the bereaved can keep at home as a personal memento.

“The funeral homes that were supposed to offer these artifacts were horrified by what I was proposing,” says Dalibor Novák, describing the early days of the product, which the company had patented. He himself was surprised by the final result. “The ashes in the glass glow a brilliant white and look truly beautiful.”

Gradually, Memorial Glass became one of the company’s flagship products and is now part of the offerings at many funeral homes. The company has won several international awards for it and has gradually expanded its product line to include designer urns and memorial jewelry from renowned European manufacturers, as well as memorial diamonds made from cremation ashes or hair.

Specialists in Preserving Memories

Memory Crystal currently employs approximately twenty-five people and brings together several different approaches to preserving memories in a tasteful manner. According to Dalibor Novák, this is exactly how funeral service partners view the company today.

In addition to memories of deceased family members, ten years ago they also began to focus intensively on the memory of beloved pets. The impetus was a visit to what was then the only animal crematorium in the Czech Republic. “It seemed like such a shame to me that the only animal crematorium was in Brno. So I decided to build another one here in the north.” Today, the Memory Pet Crematorium is one of the key pillars of the Česká Lípa-based company.

It was around this time that Lukáš Illek, the current operations director, met Dalibor Novák. He joined the company shortly before the crematorium opened as its first employee. “I was in charge of everything from communicating with clients to picking up the pets and performing the cremations themselves,” recalls Lukáš Illek.

According to him, the service gradually became more and more popular among pet owners, and today cremation is the first choice for many of them when they lose a pet.

EIWA: A Modern Memorial for Cities

One of the company’s most ambitious projects today is the EIWA Crystal Tree of Remembrance. This interactive tree with illuminated crystal leaves offers an innovative solution for the interment of urns. Beneath the tree itself is an underground columbarium that can hold up to six hundred urns in an area of fifteen square meters. Each deceased person is assigned their own illuminated leaf. The bereaved can activate it using a mobile app whenever they remember their loved one.

The project also addresses the shortage of space in cemeteries. “We found that there are countless cemeteries running out of space. And this isn’t just a problem in the Czech Republic, but across all of Europe,” says Dalibor Novák.

They have patented the tree at the European level. The first EIWA was created in Mariánské Lázně, another is in the works in Bystřice nad Pernštejnem, and additional projects are being developed in the Czech Republic and abroad. “We hope that an EIWA will soon be added here in the region so that Crystal Valley can also gain an interesting glass project that both locals and tourists will be able to admire,” says Dalibor Novák.

Saying Goodbye to Your Pet in Privacy

The company expects to further expand its services through the newly established network of self-service memorial sites for pets, called Memory Pet Point. These sites are gradually being set up in county seats to make the service more accessible to pet owners who live far from animal crematoriums.

The entire process is handled online. Clients select the nearest Pet Point on the website, enter their pet’s information, make a payment, and then receive a PIN code that allows them to visit the site at any time.

Initially, it seemed that the main advantage would be easier access to the service. Over time, however, it became clear that clients value privacy the most. “In the hardest moment, when they lose a lifelong companion, they don’t have to make complicated arrangements or deal with the handover. They can focus entirely on the farewell itself,” explains Lukáš Illek.

An External Perspective on the Company’s Operations

As the number of projects grew, it became clear that the company’s internal processes would not keep pace with its growth. That is precisely why Dalibor Novák and Lukáš Illek joined the PlatInn consulting program organized by Lipo.ink.

“They helped us simplify our procedures, which saved us both time and money. We have clearer financial planning, we’ve clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and as a result, we respond more quickly to market changes. Together, we also laid the foundation for a new software component that will significantly streamline our production. It wasn’t just theory or charts gathering dust in a drawer, but concrete steps that we immediately put into practice and that had an immediate impact,” explains Lukáš Illek.

“In your own business, you often get too caught up in the details and lose sight of the bigger picture,” he adds.

Sharing experiences with young glassmakers

Today, Dalibor Novák also shares his story with aspiring entrepreneurs and students in glassmaking programs. For example, at a discussion organized by the Regional Development Agency for young glassmakers under the banner of the “Liberec Region for Itself” initiative. “I’ve seen for myself that young people also want to start businesses in the glass industry and are looking for inspiration to chart their own course. I found mine, and I believe that thanks to these discussions, they will succeed as well.”

He adds: “The path is never easy. What’s important is that after a setback, they’re able to pick themselves up, get back on their feet, and keep going.” Even a failure at the start of his business didn’t deter Dalibor Novák.