Already during the training at AD Marketing, they knew they wanted to be masters of their own house. For Kuutak Olsen, entrepreneurial life came as a natural next step, while Malu Falck just had to gain extra experience first.
– Kuutak and I worked together at RD Marketing Bureau when we did our training and we had a fantastic collaboration. Even then, we both dreamed of becoming independent. Kuutak Olsen took the leap immediately when we finished the training, while I stayed at RD Marketing Bureau, says Malu Falck.
The decision had been under way, but when Malu Falck finally took the plunge and quit her job, there was no doubt about the next step. The very next day, Kuutak Olsen received a call with a clear question: Can I become part of Takusakka?
– When I finally decided to start my own business, Kuutak was the first thing I thought of. The day after I quit my job, I contacted him and asked if I could be a part of Takusakka. If I remember correctly, he had actually asked me once before if I wanted to join, says Malu Falck and continues.
– Back then, Kuutak was the sole owner, and the company was called Takusakka Productions. It turned out that the timing was absolutely brilliant: the day before I called and asked if we should join forces, Kuutak Olsen had had a job interview at an orphanage. He actually only needed to sign the contract, but instead chose to bet on our joint future.
Kuutak Olsen was really on his way to putting his sweetheart on hiatus, and the employment contract for a new job was already ready on the desk. But instead of a closure, it became a rebirth. With Malu Falck as a new partner, the course was changed – and so was the name.
– He had actually intended to put his business on hold, and that is why he had an employment contract. But instead we became partners. Since I wasn’t too fond of the ‘Productions’ part of the name, we chose to remove it, and today the company is simply called Takusakka, explains Malu Falck.
The sole proprietorship was closed down, and in the ashes they founded Takusakka I/S with a completely equal distribution of the ownership. Today, it is exclusively Kuutak Olsen and Malu Falck who pull on the work clothes and drive the company forward.
Huge risk
Some entrepreneurs plan for years. For Malu Falck, it took less than a month. At the beginning of April, she quit her job without a red shrimp in her pocket – and on May 1, Takusakka I/S was a reality.
– It was at the beginning of April that I resigned from AD Marketing overnight. I took a huge risk the day I quit and I actually had no idea how I was going to pay my rent that month. I just thought, ‘Now I’ll do it and then we’ll see what happens.’ But already on 1 May 2024, Takusakka I/S became a reality, says Malu Falck.
Today, Malu Falck and Kuutak Olsen almost have to pinch themselves over the reality in Takusakka I/S. The absolute biggest surprise has been a massive demand, which has made everything called marketing redundant.
– The biggest surprise has been the huge demand for what we do. It is actually so high that we are constantly contacted by new customers. The big plus is that we already know the industry inside out and have a strong network. We have largely not advertised ourselves – it has simply been unnecessary, because the tasks come completely by themselves, says Malu Falck.
Biggest challenge
Although the customers pour in and the tasks take care of themselves, life as a self-employed person has not only been a cakewalk. For Malu Falck and Kuutak Olsen, the wall met in a completely different place than with the customers – namely in the bookkeeping department. In fact, the administrative rules were such a big mouthful that it slowed down the entrepreneurial dream for years.
– What has been the biggest challenge for Kuutak and me is definitely the bookkeeping – especially everything that has to do with taxes. In fact, it was the fear of the paperwork that held us back from starting out on our own earlier.
– That’s why we also hired a bookkeeper at the same moment we established Takusakka. But even with professional help, it has been difficult precisely because the rules are so complicated. The financial part of the company has undoubtedly been our steepest learning curve, says Malu Falck.
Where many start-ups struggle to survive the first year, Takusakka hit the wall in the most luxurious way possible. After just 90 days in the field, their capacity peaked – and the curve has only continued upwards since then.
– We haven’t had any challenges finding customers at all. In fact, it only took three months from the establishment before we could no longer keep up because there were so many tasks. Even now, two years later, we are still in the exact same situation: We simply cannot keep up with the high demand.
– One of the biggest challenges so far – which we have fortunately gotten better at – has been that we have not been very good at saying no to a project, says Malu Falck.
The roles
While partner Kuutak Olsen geeks out on angles and camera settings, it is Malu Falck who ensures that the customers feel heard. With a natural ability for dialogue and relationship building, she has become Takusakka’s external face.
– I am the one who handles the inquiries and has the primary contact with our customers – probably because I have my strength in building relationships and creating good dialogue. For example, when we go to meetings, it is also me who primarily drives the communication and takes care of the customer relationship.
– Kuutak’s great strength is his ability to visualize everything in advance. When he gets an idea, he has already planned the visual setup and knows exactly where to place the cameras. He envisions it all long before we get started. He is much more technical, explains Falck and continues:
– Our strengths meet where I manage to combine the customer’s wishes with Kuutak’s creative ideas. At the same time, I am the one who has an eye for the smallest details – such as making sure that hair and clothes fit perfectly.
In a digital world where the amount of information has exploded, plain text is rarely enough to cut through the noise. According to Malu Falck, stronger means are needed if a message is to really stick with the recipient. The secret lies in linking words and graphics inseparably together.
– After all, we experience the world with our eyes, and we just remember visual impressions far better than pure text. My experience is that the message is received and understood significantly better when it is supported by good visual storytelling and strong graphics.
– The message and the visual expression must be inextricably linked – and this of course varies depending on which client we work for, says Malu Falck.
The tasks dictate the calendar
For some, starting a creative process requires deep breaths and white boards. For the partnership behind Takusakka, it starts the second the customer opens his mouth. With many years of solid industry experience behind them, they translate words into finished visual concepts, long before the first official draft is even drawn.
– When we sit down to a customer meeting and the customer tells us about his wishes and goals, the creative process starts immediately. We know the industry so thoroughly that we immediately get the first ideas for how the task should be approached. Already there, we consider whether the expression should be completely natural or more graphic, and we visually see it all for ourselves. Our creativity is so deep within us that we don’t need to adjust – we just do it, says Malu Falck.
Since Takusakka was founded, one heart child has filled everything on Kuutak Olsen’s computer screen. Now the monumental project is finally ready for the big screen. During June, the cultural center Katuaq forms the setting for the premiere of a documentary that travels along the coast to capture the unique discipline within the kayak championships: the rope exercises, allunaariarneq.
– Kuutak’s primary focus is on the film and image side, and our absolute biggest project at the moment is an entire film about the kayak association. It is a story that delves into a very special discipline within the Greenland kayak championships, namely the rope exercises, allunaariarneq. The project will soon be ready and will be shown in Katuaq during June. It’s a film we’ve been working on since the company’s infancy, so it’s been almost two years in the making. During the project, Kuutak has been in both Ilulissat and Sisimiut to film. I have a strong suspicion that this particular project is what Kuutak is most proud of, says Malu Falck.
One of the biggest advantages of being the master of your own house is the freedom to organize your working life according to your own rules. At Takusakka, the traditional piston clock has been replaced by a completely fluid and flexible everyday life, where there is only one parameter that counts when the accounts are settled.
– We have no fixed meeting times, but instead adapt our working days completely to the tasks. For us, a day is a success when the customer is fully satisfied, says Malu Falck.
