Henrik Falk started his own handicraft company when he was 18 years old. He began studying to be a tailor but continued to take odd jobs as a carpenter and builder – and soon this side-business did so well that he abandoned his tailoring plans.
But, as the business grew, his knowledge of pattern construction has come to good use, along with his general ingenuity.
“I often do construction work indoors, and the dust that comes when you drill into a cement or brick wall always annoys me. It ruins wallpapers, it ruins walls. So I started folding a piece of paper into a funnel and taping it onto the wall where I was about to drill. That small, folded piece of paper is now a patented dust collecting product that I call Dustzero and which Clas Ohlson sells,” explains Henrik Falk.
Just like Clas Ohlson himself used to do, Henrik keeps a notebook where he can draw and sketch every new idea. As a teenager Henrik visited the Patent Office in Stockholm with a new design for a shovel. Since then, he has applied for and been granted over 30 patents. When the patent for Dustzero came through he realised that it had the potential to become a bestseller:
“It is smart and it will be liked by both professionals and regular consumers,” he says.
I folded a piece of paper into a funnel and taped it onto the wall.
In its current and final design, Dustzero looks like a small envelope where the dust drops into its opening. On the back side is an adhesive tape that is suitable for use on both painted walls and wallpaper. An X on the envelope marks the spot to drill. That feature also helps when you’re planning to hang several paintings, for instance, and gives you an idea of where things will end up and what they will look like together.
For an experienced entrepreneur like Henrik, the demands that Clas Ohlson puts on him as a supplier was a fun challenge.
“The manufacturer is in China and had to meet all the requirements about production, environmental and social responsibility. I wanted to make a very tight package and managed to put the instructions directly on the front of the product. That way, I didn’t have to include a separate instruction sheet, saving both cost and materials. Logistics is also exciting and I wanted to follow the Clas Ohlson Supplier Manual optimally, which I believe I have succeeded in doing. The result is that we now have a package that produces minimal garbage, is easy for store staff to stock, and above all is easy for the end-consumer to use. Dustzero has every chance of becoming a real best seller,” says Henrik Falk.