It’s been almost six months since we started the long journey of The Kling Group. A journey that has been incredibly exciting and transformative. We have worked very hard and focused to build our company and brand into what it is today (and what it will be) and would like to write about my feelings and impressions after this first important stage!
Everything started when my wife Sekina and I had an idea and a dream to build a sales company that would start in the simple fact that its main resource is people, both employees, customers, suppliers and partners. It was also what prompted the ambition that The Kling Group would involve and activate itself in charity. We are proud that our first partner in this area is the organization Plan Sweden, which has as main objectives to help disadvantaged children. We will work with Plan Sweden in both the short and long term, with the starting point of our upcoming summer conference.
The actual selling towards customers started in early March with an intimate kickoff with all new sales representatives and other personnel. In the first period, I myself had the role of buyer, customer service manager, logistics manager, warehouse worker, CFO and also, of course, sales. We sold on daytime and shipped the products in the evenings, which meant that we longed for both our real office and our warehouse manager. The products were stacked as best we could in our garage, which soon became very crowded.
Invoicing was from our kitchen table and every morning on my way to school me and my children did a routine of kissing the bills before we put them in the mailbox. We chose from the start to involve our 2 children in the company as we quickly understood that this will not be a regular job, this is a lifestyle. The children thus have been invaluable in helping to pack products, making mind maps, to come up with proposed name of the company and put the stamps on all outgoing mail. Our daughter Linnea says that she will become the CEO of the company when she grows up (Our son Lukas will still become a professional football player).
After more than two months we could finally move into our real space which became an absolute necessity when sales took off! Having our warehouse in connection with the office is a huge benefit when we work so closely with our products. We are very pleased with our new facilities with just that positive energy that is so necessary for the well-being of a company. Nothing is for free of course and there are a number of people who deserve our appreciation. We are incredibly grateful to Henrik and Niclas who work in the office and all they do for the company and us. Many thanks also to all of the fantastic sales staff who is working hard to build upTthe Kling Group brand. We also want to thank all the vendors who have believed in us and supported us and all others who in various ways have been there for us.
When analyzing the figures from our first six months, the result is far above the budget we put up at the start. We are entering summer with great success and can now enter August to begin enforcing Phase 2 of the construction of the Kling Group. Have a great summer! Fredrik Kling
