£1M Year One to £30M Today: How Fantastic Services Scaled With Franchising

Welcome to Market Movers: Building Brands & Links with Linkifi! Your go-to podcast for transforming your business into an unforgettable brand where branding meets SEO and link-building. I’m Chris Panteli, Co-Founder and CEO of Linkifi, and I’m joined by my co-host and Co-Founder, Nick Biggs.

In this episode we welcome Rune Sovndahl, co-founder of Fantastic Services, the UK’s one-stop platform for home and office services. Rune breaks down how the company scaled from a laptop-on-a-sofa startup to a multi-country operation doing 400–500 jobs per day, with thousands of cleaners and teams in the field and a presence in the UK, US, Australia, and parts of Europe.

 

Key Talking Points

✅ Scale Snapshot. Fantastic Services is ~16–17 years in, doing about £30M annual revenue, operating across the UK, US, Australia, and parts of Europe, and completing 400–500 jobs/day. In London alone, they’re in ~500 homes every day.
✅ The Origin Story: A Carpet-Cleaning Problem. Rune couldn’t find transparent pricing or reliable providers. Missed appointments and “call for a quote” chaos created the gap.
✅ The Trust Shift (17 Years Ago). Rune spotted the early internet transition where people began trusting online booking, similar timing to the rise of Airbnb/Uber-style behaviour.
✅ “Be Where Customers Are Looking”. Early growth was driven by obsessing over discovery channels. Back then it was Google and directories (even Yellow Pages logic).
✅ Answer the Phone. A surprisingly massive differentiator: competitors often didn’t respond. Reliability became a growth lever.
✅ Transparent Pricing as a Conversion Weapon. They built systems to quote accurately upfront, avoiding end-of-job arguments and surprise upsells.
✅ Marketplaces Failed Because Quality Failed. Rune explains why “random amateurs” don’t work for services. Real pros show up with tools, training, and standards.
✅ Operations Wins (Not Vibes). They built hands-on processes. Even devs spent days with cleaners to design workflows that match reality.
✅ Franchising Improved Quality. Local ownership made standards stick. Franchisees know the team, the area, and the real-world friction points.
✅ The UK Franchise Problem (And How They Approached It Differently). Rune was skeptical too. They made it pragmatic: unit economics first, realistic timelines, and systems that reduce guesswork.
✅ It’s a 2–3 Year Journey. Rune is blunt: this isn’t “buy a franchise and print money.” It’s work before it becomes leverage.
✅ Bootstrapped and Scrappy Growth. Classic early hacks, including using promotional ad credits at scale and building thousands/millions of pages (then learning what actually matters long-term).
✅ ServiceOS + Field Management Systems. Their operational engine evolved into ServiceOS, built for onboarding, scheduling, field tracking, and reducing customer disappointment through smart workflow logic.
✅ Hiring Reality: Pre vs Post Brexit. Labour supply changed dramatically. Retention and people management became a key differentiator for franchise success.
✅ Modern Focus: AI + Efficiency. Rune’s current interest is less “publish endless content” and more AI applied to customer service, cost reduction, and workflow improvements.

 

Quotes from Rune Sovndahl

📢 “Be where your customers are looking for you.”
📢 “If you haven’t been banned in SEO, you’re not doing SEO.”
📢 “It’s an operational business that’s extremely hands-on.”
📢 “It’s not a one-year thing. It’s a two or three-year journey.”

 

Actionable Insights

🔎 Win the Discovery Game First

• Show up where intent already exists (Google, directories, local platforms).
• Don’t overcomplicate it. Visibility beats perfection early.

📞 Reliability Is a Growth Strategy

• Answer the calls. Confirm bookings. Reduce uncertainty.
• Most service businesses lose before they even compete, because they don’t respond.

💷 Make Pricing Transparent (And Stick to It)

• Accurate quoting builds trust.
• Avoid the “argue at the door” experience that kills repeat business.

🧰 Quality Needs Systems, Not Hope

• Skilled operators + proper tools + training beats “marketplace randomness.”
• Build feedback loops and on-the-job coaching, not just reviews.

🤝 Franchising Works When Unit Economics Work

• If the franchisor makes money mainly on franchise sales, it’s a red flag.
• The long-term win is in royalties, operational support, and franchisee success.

🧠 Don’t Overspend on “Tech Advantage”

• Most founders think they’re building a tech company when they’re really building an acquisition + operations machine.
• Use proven platforms where possible and put budget into acquisition and retention.

About Rune Sovndahl

Rune Sovndahl is the co-founder of Fantastic Services, a leading home and office services platform operating internationally. With a marketing background (including experience at lastminute.com), Rune helped build Fantastic into a multi-market, franchise-driven operation with a strong operational backbone and field management systems.

🌍 Fantastic Services: fantasticservices.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/runelondon/

 

🚀 Build Your Brand with Real Links

At Linkifi, we help ambitious brands scale organic visibility through digital PR, brand storytelling, and SEO strategy. Book your FREE strategy session today:
🔗 https://book.linkifi.io/widget/bookings/pr-discovery-call

 

👋 Connect with your hosts:
👉 Chris Panteli on LinkedIn
👉 Nick Biggs on LinkedIn

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