Rune Sovndahl
Rune Sovndahl (born 1975) is a Danish-born businessperson, franchiser, IT expert, and author based in the UK. He has been named among 'London's 30 Most Impressive & Successful Chairmans' [1] and has founded several companies. He is recognised as the CEO of Fantastic Services, a home services agency that has expanded through franchising to achieve a multi-million-pound turnover.[2]
Sovndahl is a spokesperson on franchising and his work with Fantastic Services has been featured in media outlets such as the BBC series, ‘The Boss’ [3] Financial Times,[4] The Guardian [5] and Money Week.[6] His entrepreneurial experiences have been profiled in podcasts including Property Investor Today [7] and The Zeitgeist.[8]
He is the author of 'Fantastic Business: Start, scale and succeed, learning from masters in franchising' published by Rethink Press.[9] Authority Magazine used him as a case study in their article, ‘How to grow your business or brand by writing a book’.[10]
Early Life & Business Career[edit]
Rune Sovndahl was born in Denmark in 1975 and grew up in Copenhagen, attending Ingrid Jespersens Gymnasieskole and Oestre Borgerdyd. He served as a trained chef in the Royal Danish Navy from 1995 to 1998 and was an apprentice chief at Restaurant L’Alsace, Copenhagen but had to leave due to a shellfish allergy.[11] His father was a programmer for IBM and this inspired an interest in IT. He enrolled at Copenhagen Business School in 1997 and received a qualification in innovation and entrepreneurship.[12] Sovndahl moved to the UK in 1999 to attend London South Bank University and received a bachelor's degree in business information systems design and development. His IT career began as a systems engineer BT Mobile. This led to him starting an SEO and affiliate web design company, Victor Connect Ltd.[13] He later became Head of Search at Lastminute.com and has worked for Travelocity Global and advertising.com.[14] Since 2009, he has been managing director of 1st Online Solutions Ltd and CEO of Fantastic Services.[15]
Career at Fantastic Services[edit]
Through his experience in IT, Sovndahl has helped Fantastic Services grow from a small cleaning start-up to an international, multi-service corporation with some 530 franchisees across three continents and about 50,000 clients monthly.[16]
The company offers services such as cleaning, gardening, handyman, removal and pest control that can be booked online. Franchising has been instrumental in expanding the business.[17]
Awards[edit]
Sovndahl has been recognized[by whom?] for his contributions to the business community. He was named as one of ‘London’s 30 most impressive and successful chairmans.’ [18] and one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the European Digital Industry by Wired Magazine. In 2019 Fantastic Services was included in the Top 100 Franchise Ranking from Franchises Direct [19]
Family & Hobbies[edit]
Sovndahl is married to Olga and has a son, Alexander. His hobbies include cave diving [20] and he has an Open Water Advanced Certificate. Forbes featured him in their post, ‘From swimming with sharks to cave diving: The CEOS who take risks outside work.[21]
References[edit]
- ↑ "London's 30 Most Impressive & Successful Chairmans in the Consulting Space". beststartup.co.uk.
This list showcases the top London-based Chairman operating in the Consulting space because of exceptional performance in innovation, growth, management or societal impact.
- ↑ LLB, Reporter (31 January 2019). "Fantastic Services predicts turnover of more than £40m for 2019". London Loves Business.
Fantastic Services, in 2017 delivered over 425,000 services, turning over £32m and recording profits with a growth of 20 per cent on 2017. According to CEO and co-founder Rune Sovndahl, the company plans to reinvest all profits to improve their domestic and commercial services.
- ↑ Bearne, Suzanne (6 August 2018). "'If you go big, someone will be jealous'". BBC News.
The BBC's weekly The Boss series profiles a different business leader from around the world. This week we speak to Rune Sovndahl who co-founded home services firm Fantastic Services.
- ↑ Graham, Natalie (19 October 2021). "My First Million: Rune Sovndahl, founder of Fantastic Services". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021.
Domestic services business offers grants to overcome labour shortages.
- ↑ Featherstone, Heather (17 January 2015). "In the spotlight... Fantastic Services". The Guardian.
When Rune Sovndahl met Anton Skarlatov, a conversation about cleaning sparked the idea for Fantastic Services, a website and app where you can book help with anything from pet care to pest control
- ↑ Partridge, Dr Matthew (22 January 2016). "Rune Sovndahl: How I made a million with happy cleaners". Money Week.
Rune Sovndahl's '360 degree happiness philosophy' boosted morale and customer satisfaction at his fledgling cleaning company, and turned it into firm turning over nearly £30m a year.
- ↑ "Q&A with Rune Sovndahl – talking podcasts, Nordic influence and trends". Property Investor Today (Podcast). Retrieved 14 May 2021.
Rune Sovndahl, the co-founder of Fantastic Services - an international brand with more than 10 years of experience to call on – believes that combining technological innovations with bespoke customer care can help to deliver the best possible services for the home, office and garden.
- ↑ Hall, Ryan (27 February 2020). "Fantastic Services – Rune Sovndahl". The Zeitgeist Growth Agenda Podcast (Podcast).
- ↑ Fantastic Business – Start, scale and succeed, learning from masters in franchising. Rethink Press. 1 June 2022. ISBN 9781781336960. Search this book on
- ↑ "Rune Sovndahl of FantasticServices On How To Grow Your Business or Brand By Writing A Book". Authority Magazine. 24 August 2022.
As a part of our series about “How You Can Grow Your Business or Brand By Writing A Book”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rune Sovndahl.
- ↑ "London's 30 Most Impressive & Successful Chairmans – Rune Sovndahl". beststartup.co.uk.
Rune Sovndahl (Born 13 February 1975) is a Danish-born entrepreneur with over fifteen years’ experience in the IT, dot-com and telecommunications industries.
- ↑ Graham, Natalie (19 October 2021). "My First Million: Rune Sovndahl, founder of Fantastic Services - CV Sidepanel". [Financial_Times].
- ↑ "Entrepreneur Success Story". Global Banking & Finance Review. 19 October 2021.
- ↑ "Rune Sovndahl". The Good Web Guide.
Rune Sovndahl, founder of Fantastic Services, the one-stop shop for all home services, gives us an insight into his life online.
- ↑ "Rune Sovndahl". BusinessMatters, UK.
- ↑ "Fantastic Services: The One-stop Franchise for all Home Services". The Mirror Review – Unveiling the Business Stories.
Fantastic Services has grown into a multi-service franchisor—providing more than 100 services on three continents over the past decade. Its network of over 530 franchisees covers services from cleaning and gardening to handyman, pest control, and removals in the UK, Australia, and the US.
- ↑ "Meet the man who wants to create 1,000 millionaires". What Franchise. 19 July 2021.
Rune Sovndahl, co-founder of Fantastic Services, gives us the lowdown on the company’s progression, how it navigated the pandemic and his aim of having more franchisees join the business’ seven-figure club.
- ↑ "London's 30 Most Impressive & Successful Chairmans in the Consulting Space". beststartup.co.uk.
This list showcases the top London based Chairman operating in the Consulting space because of exceptional performance in innovation, growth, management or societal impact.
- ↑ Richards, Marco (18 July 2019). "Fantastic Services Celebrates New 'Top 100' Franchise Ranking". Bdaily News.
Home cleaning and maintenance firm Fantastic Services is celebrating after being named one of the UK’s best franchises. And the company has just been ranked 14th in a new UK ‘Top 100’ list compiled by industry experts Franchise Direct.
- ↑ Terrelonge, Zen (22 April 2016). "Meet the UK leaders who lead double lives as adrenaline junkies". RealBusiness.
Rune Sovndahl, CEO of domestic services platform, Fantastic Services, loves nothing more than travelling to Mexico for a spot of cave diving.
- ↑ Cave, Andrew (31 January 2017). "From Swimming With Sharks to Cave Diving" The CEOs Who Take Risks Outside Work". Forbes.
External links[edit]
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