Two interim managers take Skogluft out into the world

When the Norwegian start-up company Skogluft needed a new CEO, they chose management for hire over permanent employment. – I honestly didn't believe such capacities existed for a small company like us, says founder and board member Jørn Viumdal.

A dream, a book and an idea

One day, Jørn Viumdal received a phone call from a bold publishing manager. It was a conversation that would turn out to plant the seed which grew to become the company Skogluft:

– He went straight to the point and said: "Jørn, last night I dreamed that you were going to write a book". "I can't write", I said. "It doesn't matter", he replied. And that's how the book Skoglufteffekten (Forest Air) came to be, says Viumdal.

The forest air effect is about how nature affects our well-being and health, and how you can bring the forest into your house or office – based on research from NASA and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences NMBU. The rights were sold to a hundred countries, and the book became an international success.

Viumdal, who had worked with nature's effect on people since the 80s, realized that he had hit a nerve in the market. Biooffice, which he founded in 2004, already supplied customized plant walls that adorn the offices of both Google Norway and Oslo Airport, but the concept was not scalable.

Now he wanted to develop expertise from there and start a company that could bring the forest into thousands of homes – Skogluft AS was founded in 2018.

Wanted a CEO who was quick to laugh

To take Skogluft out into the world, Jørn needed a CEO for his new company. He skipped advertising in the big newspapers, on LinkedIn or Monster.com and similar job marketplaces. Instead he called Narve Karlsen at Interimleder AS. A few days later he met three highly qualified candidates in Frognerparken in Oslo.

– I do all my job interviews while walking. One of my criteria is that you should be quick to laugh. After a four-hour walk with all the candidates, the choice fell on Morten Kvam. It has been a year and a half, and in that time he has made a huge difference. I honestly didn't believe such capacities existed for a company as small as ours. We couldn't have been luckier than we were with Morten, says the enthusiastic entrepreneur.

– You must understand the soul of the company

Before the last interview with Skogluft, Morten Kvam had plowed through the 285 pages of The Forest Air Effect book and almost felt the call from the wild. While nature was being reborn in the month of May 2021, he was at work at Skogluft AS at Pier X at Aker brygge in central Oslo:

– When I enter a company as interim manager, it is important for me to understand the soul of the business. Then I identify what is in place and what is missing. As in most startups in this phase, a lot is about structure. I wrote a strategy, which I got the board to agree on, and then we were off and running, says Kvam.

A change in strategy created a need for a second interim manager

After the 2022 summer holidays, Morten proposed a change in strategy.

From focusing on the consumer market, which was now becoming more concerned with paying rising electricity bills and interest costs, he wanted to harvest the low-hanging fruit in the corporate market and meet the increasing demand from companies that wanted plant walls.

He got the board on board with that.

– We needed someone quickly, who could take ownership of the sales function, and since I had sparred with Narve at Interimleder on a regular basis, I called him up. Shortly afterwards we got Thomas on board, says Kvam.

Thomas Elton joined as the company's interim sales manager on 6 November 2022, and had only been at work for a couple of days when the interview for this article was done. Like most interim managers, he had hit the ground running and had already streamlined the entire sales process from A to Z.

– I never imagined I would be working with plants, but when I saw the assignment in my inbox, it hit me right in the heart. The research and philosophy on which Skogluft is built appeals to me, and what they have achieved so far on the journey was something I wanted to be part, says Elton.

Building a winning team with management for hire

Both Morten and Thomas are hired as interim managers from Interimleder AS. It is a model that suits a startup well, Kvam believes:

– I am a big fan of hiring resources on an as-needed basis. We have a strong CFO we use in that way and several others. As a start-up company, we do not want to take on many fixed costs, so hiring resources on a contract is ideal for us. This gives us access to big-level expertise without being a large company.

Expanding abroad via strategic partnerships

Since Kvam took over the helm of Skogluft, they have now reached a monthly turnover of around NOK 200,000. The majority is project sales, but there is a potential for an increasing share of recurring revenue through service agreements and leasing.

The company has managed to maintain a low cost level, is now focusing on larger corporate projects, and is on the way to break even, which he sees as having something to do with the dynamism and interest around the company, especially on the investor side.

Kvam has also gained valuable experience from the international expansion:

– We have entered into a strategic partnership with a supplier of green plants in Germany, where we will launch in January. They became interested in us because of the storytelling and our vision, "reconnecting people with nature". We have only invested NOK 10,000 in getting the German marketing material translated. We did something similar in the Netherlands, but then chose to do everything ourselves, which was far more expensive. Strategic partnerships are much more cost-effective and time-saving.

– Top executives and boards must open their eyes to interim management 

Kvam observes that interim management as an industry has become much more mature in recent years, and he is clear that it is a tool that more people should be aware of:

– If you have a business with a big challenge or opportunity, where you need different resources than you have today, getting a hold of those resources quickly is vital. Top executives and boards needs to become familiar with the opportunities that interim management creates.

– Interimleder gives me a lot of value

As interim manager, Kvam is excited about the value he gets from Interimleder AS:

– Interimleder AS does not only contribute by carrying out a transaction, but they build a relationship, both with the client and the interim manager. They give me relevant blog articles that I take the time to read, events that I sacrifice my free time to attend, and then I have a close dialogue with Narve, who has been a good sparring partner from the very start.

–  I am incredibly proud and happy to be allowed to contribute a little to the success of Skogluft. I love both the idea, the people and the products, so this is definitely a win-win, says partner and senior advisor in Interimleder, Narve Karlsen.

About Skogluft AS:

• Established in 2018 and headquartered in Oslo
• Delivers living plant walls to the private and business market
• 7 employees in Norway

Situation and challenge:

• The company needed a CEO in the spring of 2021 to take the company out into the world, gain a foothold in the private market and scale the business model
• The company eventually needed a sales manager to meet the demand from the corporate market

Solution and results:

• Hired an experienced interim manager as CEO and one as sales manager for the corporate market
• Structured processes, projects and deliveries and turned ideas into products
• Streamlined the sales process
• Changed strategy to ensure faster, more profitable growth
• Has gone from 0 to over 200,000 in monthly revenue