The Cycling plumber: pioneer a new model to shake up the industry and reach 1.8 million in just a year

Cyklande Rörmokaren (translates to The Cycling Plumber) are local plumbers in the heart of Stockholm. They are a local legend. They travel around in the 1940’s bicycles — no cars, no vans – only bikes. 

These guys stay true to their word and travel through rain, snow, and storms to their clients on these peculiar bicycles.

All over Stockholm, these guys are loved. People prefer cycling plumbers over regular plumbers. It’s all about the experience.

And they are making bank. Over 1.8 million for the first year with a five-guy team

Working Monday through Friday

Amazing business!

How was the idea born?

Hugo Wolgers, a plumber and one of the founders of Cyklande Rörmokaren, was one of the thousands of car drivers in Stockholm who droved to and from work. 

One day he started cycling to avoid traffic jams and proved that it is always faster than driving. With a bit more planning, gradually, he was able to begin cycling every day.

A seed began to grow in his brain – if he were ever to start a plumbing company, he would begin with a cycling plumbing company. It was better for the environment and the physical and mental health. 

He had the concept ready.

And so it all began.

Hugo Wolgers started Cyklande Rörmokaren together with his childhood friend Alexander Ulvgården. At first, they did not dare to leave their permanent jobs, knowing how hard it is to start a business and go through the first year or two before they get enough customers to keep the company afloat.

Luckily, the day they launched the company, they got their first job. Two weeks later, they ended up on the cover of the magazine VVS-Forum, and they never looked back.

Already in the first year, they won the Craftsman of the Year award with a company that everyone in the plumber industry thought would never work and was completely stupid.

But they managed to shake things up and forever changed the traditionally conservative industry.

The biggest challenge – finding the right people

As with any business endeavor, the road is not always easy. The biggest challenge Hugo faced was recruitment. They looked for plumbers who have worked in the industry before, but unfortunately, no one with long experience has yet wanted to abandon the old way of working to work with them.

So, their company joined people who had trained as plumbers but didn’t have a driver’s license or weren’t that fond of the industry, so they hadn’t previously worked for that long.

Many of the employees at Cyklande Rörmokaren have been taught by Hugo from the ground up. 

There is no shortcut to quality services.

Cyclande Rörmokaren’s vision is to deliver excellent plumbing and handyman service with environmentally friendly thinking. This is because they cycle and focus on repair and reuse instead of wear and tear.

It is fantastic to deliver a service that customers are extremely grateful for. Isn’t it awesome every time you’ve finished a job, and the customer says, “it’s so cool that you do this; we haven’t seen any other company do it this way.”

That is the reward that the guys from Cyklande Rörmokaren get.

Digital teams: an innovative way of achieving high-quality service 

Being a plumber is constant detective work that requires curiosity and tireless skill development.

Something in a small or large system is causing problems.

If you’re lucky, it’s quite obvious what the problem is and what’s causing it. Other times it affects several parts of a system individually or in combination under certain conditions, which cannot always be replicated when you come to troubleshooting.

Electronics and heating systems can take many and long visits to fix if the problems are intermittent. 

But what is the solution?

Digital teams

Seeking the right knowledge is smarter than guessing. A quick video call with a colleague is completely natural in Cyklande Rörmokaren’s working day, which is becoming increasingly digital.

Every fitter gets the digital support of their colleagues all the time while he is in the field. The entire team helps each other until everyone is done with their assignments. This is an amazing company culture that strengthens both the individual and the whole company.

The lesson

Cyklande Rörmokaren is doing everything right. They focus on the service and what is good for the health of their fitters and the environment. They have a great company culture and keep up with the rapid developments in their industry.

• Branding – huge differentiation – the only plumber company that uses bicycles instead of cars and vans, which is good for the environment and the health of the fitters

• Service – they provide a high-quality service by committing to invest in their employees’ education and constant skill development

• Company culture – everyone feels safe and confident because they have the whole team behind their backs – a digital team that helps each other.

• Keep up with technology – they use technology to their advantage to provide better services to their customers.

With the right mindset, everything is possible.