Daniel and Jalle had worked together at various workplaces for many years when, one day after a client visit, they decided to grab a coffee. That coffee break — a discussion about a new business idea and a sketch on a napkin — became the start of an incredible journey. Today, on April 15, exactly twenty years later, that sketch has grown into one of Sweden’s largest 3PL and staffing companies, a billion SEK business employing more than 1,000 people.
Jarl Ternander, also known as Jalle, and Daniel Johansson have been inseparable work partners for many years. They founded Speed together twenty years ago, and it’s that journey we want to know more about when we meet them at Speed’s office in Borås. They know each other inside and out, and the feeling you get when you meet them is that they are very different — yet very much alike. They are driven by the same things and guided by the same values. At the center is the conviction that a company is nothing without its employees.
- We don’t always agree, but that has been a strength. We’ve always been able to discuss our way to a solution we both felt good about. We’ve always respected each other's differences. But at the core, we share the same fundamental values and we believe that’s been the key to our collaboration, says Daniel.
- What has made the company grow and evolve the way it has is all our employees — wonderful people who have put just as much soul and heart into this as we have. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. When people thrive, they perform, and that’s when the results follow, says Jalle.
It all began on that sunny April day in 2004 at Rammefors Konditori in Borås. Jalle and Daniel went there for a coffee after work. It turned into a productive break — the beginning of something big. Thoughts were sparked, ideas discussed and challenged, and eventually, they cracked it. Since they had neither paper nor pen, the idea was scribbled out with a borrowed pen on a napkin. Today, that napkin is framed at Speed’s headquarters on Prognosgatan in Viared.
- All the business areas were already on that napkin, but we wanted to think outside the box and do it in a new way, Jalle explains. We wanted to combine logistics services with staffing and recruitment, but also production and training. The plan was to be long-term, to keep and develop our staff, so we could offer customers the possibility of getting the same people back when they needed temporary resources.
In addition to rethinking the service mix, they truly wanted to make things better — to create a workplace where employees would thrive. The idea was that Speed would be a company for people who can and want a little more.
- I had been thinking about starting my own company for quite some time, and since Daniel and I always worked so well together, I asked him if he wanted to join. And he definitely did. Said and done — from an idea sketched on a napkin, the company became reality on December 1 that same year.
The vision was to create a service company with several business areas that could generate synergies. That way, they could work cost-effectively and also be less vulnerable. “The road is made as we walk it” was a clear philosophy — listening to what customers needed and adapting services accordingly, instead of trying to sell a fixed palette. The budget was simple, but they always kept a close eye on income and expenses, just like in a regular household. Growing while maintaining profitability was a clear financial goal.
The company needed a name, and both Jalle and Daniel wanted something that conveyed action and speed. Coming from larger, slower-moving companies, they wanted the name to reflect flexibility and agility. Daniel was the one who finally came up with “Speed.”
- We both liked the name immediately, says Daniel. So with that, we were ready to get started. I went to the print shop to order business cards, and they asked for our logo. We hadn’t made one yet, so I asked the girl there if she could make one for us — and she could. It cost 250 kronor, Daniel says — but Jalle quickly corrects him: It actually cost 350 — “it was expensive.”
Like all newly started companies, the early financial situation was tough, but the team worked incredibly cost-efficiently and found creative solutions. When they needed a sofa for the reception, they simply drove their truck to a client meeting and stopped by IKEA on the way back. When it came to marketing, they also used new — and somewhat unconventional — methods.
- If you’re not seen, you don’t exist — and we needed visibility with a small budget, says Jalle. We realized that graduation day was a perfect opportunity to be seen and reach our target group. We had just gotten a shared company car that we had wrapped with the Speed logo. We thought it could follow the student trucks around town. But we wanted to be even more visible. We rented a covered trailer, decorated it with “Congratulations to all graduates,” the Speed logo, birch branches, and balloons. We hitched it to the car and handed the keys to one of our employees. After quite a few laps around town, he was stopped by the police, who told him he wasn’t allowed to drive students in the trailer. He even had to open it to prove no students were inside. The police then asked why he was driving around with it — to which he replied that he wondered the same thing.
- Yes, that definitely got attention, Daniel says with satisfaction. Just like the time at Air Show Day in Viared when we bought ad space on a banner towed behind a sport airplane. There were JAS jets and other planes — and finally it was time for the Speed plane to take off. We had paid 500 kronor per letter. Unfortunately, the pilot misspelled it and wrote that Speed was hiring “prsonal."The audience had a good laugh — and in hindsight, it was probably even better advertising, and we saved 500 kronor.
Today, the two longtime partners no longer work together on a daily basis, but they still talk every week. They’re like brothers — they genuinely like each other and share similar thoughts and ways of doing things. They can talk about anything, which has been a real strength. It’s not hard to understand why their idea became a success story. Together, they created a strong, value-driven company where laughter was never far away.
- Jalle and I share the same core values, but the company’s values were created through how we worked and behaved, says Daniel.
- When we started the company, we didn’t want to spend money on a cleaning service for the office. So we divided the spaces among everyone and helped each other out, says Jalle. Daniel’s fine motor skills aren’t the best, so of course he knocked over the bucket and we ended up with water all over the floor.
There are countless stories, and the laughter is constant. Like the time Speed bought an SMT production line that was going to be inaugurated with clients. The date had been booked long in advance and the entire Speed team was expected to attend — it was an important meeting. Unfortunately, Daniel accidentally booked a family activity at the exact same time. But instead of making a problem out of it, they did what Speed always does — they turned the situation into something fun and made a life-size cardboard cutout of Daniel to attend the meeting in his place.
— I actually think it only made things better, says Jalle with a laugh.
Now, twenty years after the start, Speed is one of Sweden’s largest 3PL companies, with logistics areas totaling an astonishing 220,000 m². Turnover is at one billion kronor, and with more than 1,000 employees, Speed is one of Borås’ biggest private employers. Today, Speed is not only in Borås but also in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Mölndal, and Stenungsund.
- We could never have dreamed of this back on that April day when we sat there with our coffee and plans. And it was never the plan to become big, they say in unison. We wanted to do things our way and have fun along the journey — that was the plan. And we truly did.
Every year, thousands of great ideas are born during conversations in cafés, restaurants, and bars. And every year, just as many never become reality. At best, they’re typed into a phone as a messy note, never to be opened again. Or, as in this case, scribbled on a napkin. This one became real — the beginning of a journey. A fantastic journey that, twenty years later, continues without losing speed.