What the Company Does?
Fantastic Services is an environmentally-friendly brand and easily the #1 domestic services franchise in the UK. The company has nearly 2,000 experts who deliver 100+ services to 50,000+ clients globally each month, and it currently operates on 3 continents — Europe (United Kingdom), Australia, and North America (USA).
The Current Landscape
The latest research shows that the demand for cleaning and laundry services is increasing. The British Cleaning Council claims that the British people are getting busier and would rather hire professional help than perform these tasks themselves. The latest data also indicates that the demand for environmentally-friendly cleaners using green cleaning products is growing as well, with Fantastic Services being at the forefront of providing sustainable domestic services.
Everyone felt the effects of the pandemic and Brexit, both of which forced the company to think outside the box. This led to the creation of new, more lucrative sub-services, which turned out to be a great success and more than made up for the economic setback during the pandemic.
Company Birth Story
The company story started when co-founders Rune Sovhndal and Anton Skarlatov met at a party. Rune needed a cleaner, and Anton was running a cleaning business at the time. They started having a conversation and soon found they share a common vision about how to revolutionize the way people booked domestic services. Shortly after, they found Fantastic Services. The aim was to deliver the best possible service for all clients and cleaning crews involved. They now call that philosophy the 360 degrees of happiness.
The Solution
Fantastic Services aims to create services people love, using technology where possible and heart where it matters. The company's vision is to be the easiest place where clients can book a service, while its current goal is to have 100 000 members enjoying the benefits of its Fantastic Club and to provide more than a million services per year. Another big goal is reaching 1000 franchisees and getting many of them to a £1million turnover.
During the early years, the competition was brutal (anything from slashed tires to stolen vans). However, this hostility helped the company to turn from a cleaning company to a tech firm. Rune and Anton recognized early on common industry problems that led to low morale and poor customer service, and decided to come up with a strategy to counter that.
That’s how the “360 degrees of happiness philosophy” was born. Its aim was to treat everyone in the business–from staff to customers–as a partner. This successfully boosted morale and customer satisfaction and became the differentiation point that earned the company lots of repeat business.
Other key factors that differentiate the company are its award-winning GoFantastic app, where people can book any service in under a minute, and the Fantastic Club (a subscription-based service where members get preferential rates (up to 20% off online) and £300 in credits to their Fantastic Account.
Unlike many of its competitors, the company operates as a franchise model. Both the franchise and master franchise programmes also provide great opportunities, along with dedicated support and coaching. The most recent master franchises expanded into Ireland and Hungary, while this year’s goal is to expand in the USA.
A Customer Story
A few years back, Fantastic Services was offering a pet sitting service. While the service lasted, the company received an unusual kind of request – to babysit a pet snail for a little girl on the autism spectrum.
The young lady believed that the small creature contained the soul of her recently passed pet rabbit, so she cared very well for the little one and tended to its every need. The whole story was so sweet and impossible to refuse. The problem was the family had planned a trip but the pet wasn’t allowed on the plane. Being a responsible young person, the girl refused to leave its side, unless she was certain it was getting the best care possible.
So, that is how the small creature spent a full week tended by the entire office until it was happily reunited with the little girl.
The Team Culture
Fantastic Services believes that having a diverse and inclusive team is better than a similar one. Inclusivity is important because when employees feel included, they are more engaged, motivated, and ready to take on new tasks. That’s the difference between having a successful and a flourishing company.
A great example of that is the business partnership between Rune and Anton. Both are very different individuals but recognize they possess different skills with which they complement each other and enhance each other’s productivity. Rune is a hands-on type of leader and the tech-savvy part of the duo, while Anton is focused on delivering the best possible customer service and is a keen advocate for a people-first approach to business.
One of the most challenging periods for the company was during the first lockdown. Nobody really knew what was allowed under the new set of guidelines, and the company was unsure whether people would employ cleaners, gardeners, and handymen. On top of that Rune and Anton had invested £150,000 in retraining over 200 franchisees, who suddenly had no work. They had to step up where governments didn’t and worked 20 hours a day, seven days of the week, to keep the business running and everyone busy.
A Founder Quote
“Don’t be too proud to get your hands dirty. Get involved with the teams! It’s fundamental to participate in the operations of your business. Don’t be just the boss – be the leader. Connect with your teams and have them trust in your leadership.
Your business will flourish when your employees feel engaged. With the right tools in place, your workforce will have the support necessary to get things done without being bogged down by bureaucracy or time wasted relaying requests back to management.
Many people think that differences are a bad thing, but they are actually a blessing – by working with different individuals in a team, you can see all the different viewpoints and make your product and service ultimately better for more target groups.”
(Rune Sovhndal, co-founder of Fantastic Services)
Check It Out: https://www.fantasticservices.com/
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