You had no backers or capital! What on earth were you thinking?
“Well, mainly about where the money for the next bill was coming from!” says Frank, jokingly.
Always smiling, the man from Sørreisa in the north of Norway suddenly becomes pensive.
“I have always regarded our temporary associates as the agency’s most important resource. By looking after them I knew I could
create something better, even in periods of economic gloom and doom. But I can tell you, grit and determination certainly
outweighed commonsense at times.”
Frank started with nothing more than a strong resolve, a symbolic sum in his pocket, two desks from IKEA and a private telephone.
The ace up his sleeve was a handful of faithful temps. Always a star salesman, Frank would ask prospective clients what they
needed and then get it for them. If it was impossible, he’d do the job himself!
Frank drove all over Oslo with huge boxes of discount coupons that HydroTexaco wanted punching. He visited the homes of ten
“temps”, all of whom were on maternity leave. But it was worth it.
”The women from Linjegods could punch three times faster than the others,” he proudly recalls.
From the word go, Frank insisted on providing his clients with quality services, and ahead of the competition. Apart from
Top Temp bemanning there is only one other Norwegian-owned agency remaining since the start-up in the 1990s.
What’s the secret of your success?
”As a former competitive sportsman I learnt never to give up. That, and a fair portion of stubborn willpower from my mother’s
side, has prevented me from going bankrupt on several occasions.”
Frank Bersvendsen is a typical entrepreneur – full of enthusiasm and good ideas. To Frank there are no problems, only solutions.
Life consists of a series of opportunities that have to be grasped. As a self-taught computer buff, he has developed a passion
for new technology.
Says Frank enthusiastically: “Our electronic support system is one of the best in the market. We are constantly working to
integrate good IT solutions that benefit both client and candidate alike, and we will continue along these lines.”
What keeps you going?
”It’s a great feeling when everything falls into place. I believe in management by objectives, and get a kick every time a
goal is reached, no pun intended.”
”At the same time, I have never had a better job than this. It’s very important to enjoy what you do, and it’s for this reason
that I’ve tried to create the most attractive recruitment and temping agency in Oslo.”
Agency in change
Frank is not afraid to invest and his agency is constantly undergoing transformation. He is happiest when the organisational
chart is taking on a new shape. In 2002 he spun off Top Temp’s specialist IT department into a separate company called Top
Temp IT bemanning, a move that has since proved very successful. Two years later the same happened when Top Temp Recruitment
& Selection was transformed into a key specialist area. The most recent organisational change was the formation of Top Temp
engineering, which saw the light of day in 2006.
So what’s next?
Frank says without any hesitation that the company will now concentrate on getting the branch offices up and running before
hatching any new plans.
This seems a natural decision since Top Temp branch offices have been springing up everywhere in the last year - from Stavanger
in the south to Sørreisa in the north and even over the border in Sweden.
Frank says: “It’s nice to know we are now one of the largest agencies in Norway, but that does not detract from the fact that Top Temp’s ambition is primarily to deliver quality.”
