The attraction to self employment

1. Lars-Erik Bengtsson
The attraction to self-employment (autobiography)
My firstmemories in life werethat it was very dark.
The armadas of English flying fortresses thatwere on their way to bomb raids
in Germany thundered high into the air only to be overpowered by the thump-
thump-thump-thump of the Swedish anti-aircraftguns, followed by shattering
metal fragments fromthe crevices of the air defense projectiles at high
altitude.
Flying Fortress
The only light seen in the evenings and nights was the military's giant
headlights searching for planes in the sky to shoot down. We wereneutral and
regardless of which nationality illegally flew over Sweden, so the lead was shot
down.

2. Military's giant headlights searching
The English preferred to fly over northwestern Skåne than over German-
occupied Denmark. The blackoutcurtains made that no houses appeared
during the dark part of the day.
The street lighting must not be switched on. The cars that wereallowed to ride
at night had a special hood for the headlights which, with a centimeter-sized
downward-facing channel, illuminated the roadway in frontof the car.
The only lights to be seen was the big defense lights searching for planes in the
sky to shootdown.
If you were born in the country near Helsingborg and had the opportunity to
see Denmark in daylight, this was also justa black line on the other side of the
strait during the evenings and nights.
Immediately beforethe outbreak of war, my father had boughta truck haul
company but at the same time he had to call up for military serviceand my
mother and I lived alone in the house wemoved to in the country because we
had to live in the area to which the haulage permit applied.
The house was lonely and becausemy mother was afraid of loneliness, got an
older driver who my father had hired and who did not haveto be in military
servicestay in the house with us. Shortly afterwards, a flying fortress on its way
back to England landed 2 kilometers from our house.
Luckily, it did not fly a little further becausewith that landing direction our
househad been badly damaged. The crew had jumped further south, and the
plane slipped and landed by itself. A friend and I immediately cycled to where
the plane landed and, unawareof the danger of petrol and ammunition, we got

3. into the plane. I remember seeing new materials that I had never seen before.
As a memory, I broughta piece of bakelite.
When we got out fromthe plane the military came and blocked off the plane
and a large area around it.
A similar aircraft However, not so broken.
There was not much to pass the time with, so it was a pleasure when my father
during some of his leave fromthe army took place benches on the flatbed of
one of the gas-powered trucks and severalneighbors would go swimming in
Öres next to the Domsten.
In 1944 I started school.
The school period would be six years with two years in primary schooland four
years in secondary school. Then the training would be complete. There was a
woman teacher for firstand second gradewho weretaught together and there
was a male teacher who taught the other four classes in a common classroom
at the same time. What I remember from the education was that he taught
third and fourth gradetogether and fifth and sixth together. He commuted
between chair teaching for one group and self-study for the other group.
Personally, I often had to stand in frontof the blackboard and count the math
numbers as teaching for other students in third and fourth grade.
When I was in fourth grade, my teacher thought I should apply to enter the

4. ”Högre allmänna läroverket”for boys in Helsingborg
and my parents thoughtthe same. Higher general education for boys in
Helsingborg.
Fortunately, the entrance test consisted of general questions and not only of
knowledgequestions fromwhat one would have learned in primary school,
which made me accept. Term fees and fees for food meals were reasonable,
but crisis vouchers mustbe submitted to get somefood.
In comparison with the students who came from the city's schools, wherethere
was a teacher for each class and who weretherefore able to get a good
education, it was a great effortfor me to catch up. I remember the English
lessons, which weresomething new for me but not for the other students. I
had difficulty pronouncing the correctword "the".
The English teacher's method was to take a hold of the hair behind the ear and
twist. It hurta lot and tears came to my eyes, which of coursewas not what
you wanted to show the other students. On the other hand, the quiet
classroomand the concentration of the thirty students was nothing to be
mistaken for.
My mother, who in the manner of a mother, is saddened when she sees her
son's fighting spiritthat I should stop at the school.
Itwas more pleasant when our class teacher, who had set my trip, gave a
speech to me on the day of the final exam in frontof the class and told me
about his skepticismwhen he saw me from the beginning until now when I
received high graduations.

5. What shouldI do now?
If I look at my summer jobs, it would havebeen strawberry picking, running out
of milk for two years in a row and office work with the simpler office tasks
mentioned in the order.
At the same time, I had as much help as I could at my father's haulage
company, which has now expanded. This had made me obtain a good physique
and was unusually strong for my age. Baking with heavy wheat sacks of 120 kg
requires both tricks and strength. In addition, I ran shortdistances very fastand
got in a DMin Malmö the time 10.9 sec. at 100 meters. Since we lived right
next to a sports field, it was easy to train.
During the spring term of the final high schoolyear, my parents had a visit
froma female cousin who married an engineer. He would later become head of
Asea- atom's construction of Forsmark. For threehours on a sunny summer
afternoon, he took the time to talk about his views on working life and
technology. When I graduated from high school, my decision was to continue
training as an engineer.
However, I wanted to practice for a year in a couple of technical industries
before continuing my studies. My father had hoped that I would eventually
take over the haulage business and expand this but understood me when I told
him about the tickling theoretical challenges I hoped to wrestlewith as an
engineer.

6. Thus, I firststarted practicing at Öresundsvarvet in Landskrona and after six
months at Asea's electric motor production in Helsingborg.
At the Öresund shipyard I camefor the first time in contact with the sometimes
quite tough conditions when it comes to building a large ship. For example,
working with ice-cold steel or as when I was standing at the bottom of an
empty engine room and a craneswung with a large auxiliary machine and tore
down a 20x20 cmwooden beam that lay at the top of the edge of the skylight.
The man standing in frontof me was peeled off from the forehead and the
beam continued down and crushed his legs.
At Asea, I had to try the oppositefor a while and feel how monotonous it can
be to sit and punch a rotor and stator plate for electric motors. Everything like
that is of courseautomated today. After the internship year, I started at
Tekniska Gymnasietin Helsingborg, whereI three years later took an
engineering degree in mechanical engineering, followed by a year of technically
interesting and physically strengthening military servicewith group officer
training in air defense.
Central instrument
Central instrument for coordination of anti-aircraftguns, radar, powder
condition, wind etc. As a reward, I received bus pass training there.
During the summer holidays at the technical high school, I practiced with
construction work at Aseas Electromekano in Helsingborg at the same time as I
helped at home with the haulage and the truck mostly at night.
I also managed to get a flight certificate at the then Bulltofta airportin Malmö.

7. After military service, I wanted to continue studying but for the sakeof
economics I took three shortjobs at Kockum Turbine department in Malmö as
a designer, Svenska Fläktfabriken as a technical salesman in Växjö and
Luftkonditionering in Stockholm as a projectmanager.
Then I applied to the Swedish RoyalInstituteof Technology.
There was a crying shortageof engineers and when I practiced with summer
assignments for defense, they offered me employment when I reported my
work assignments. I was notinterested in a job, but the hourly chargefor a
technical consultantwas very satisfactory.
In 1962, I therefore startedmy business withtechnical consulting business25
years old. The journey I amnow embarking on and which still lasts today is
filled with hardship and joy, but aboveall with thoughts and technical
development. The documentation of this is difficult to describe vividly but
should for the people who are covered by similar thoughts as I am a stimulus to
perhaps be able to follow the methods and strategies that I have used.
Itis also difficult to write in I-form when severalpeople contribute with
thoughts and enthusiasmfor what is happening. However, I am ultimately
responsiblefor what happens and the control of this. However, I havechosen
to write below in us form.
More about leadership training. In short, it is about deciding what you wantto
achieve in the shortand long term. To convinceyourself that you haveenough
knowledge, energy and will to investin whatyou wantto do. To ensure that
you have sufficient personalfinances to cope with a start-up and that your
surroundings acceptwhatyou are getting into.

8. In addition, you must also have the social ability to present whatyou can do for
your customers in a nice and credible way.
To anticipate the events, you must also have the mental stability over the years
that guarantees that you will be able to take both successes and setbacks
without deviating fromthe legal way of conducting business. If you arein
doubt about your physicalconditions for being able to work with whatyou
want to do or take sick leave at the slightest defect, then you should probably
refrain fromstarting your own business.
At the start, I contacted major companies that I had found out had large
investments to makeand asked to havea meeting to presentwhat I could be
helpful with.
I was often given slightly smaller assignments to begin with. Itcould, for
example, be a refrigerator or heating system that did not work. I solved the
currentproblem in terms of construction, butthen examined the building on
my own initiative to see if it was possibleto make economic energy savings or
improvethe climate in it.
At home, I then made a PM free of charge for this, which I left to the client and
offered to do a redesign for a certain fee. I often received orders for this.
After a while, I started getting orders for new construction designs as well. The
workload with this increased as and soon I also had to work somenights.
After two years, I therefore started hiring engineers who could help. Now I
began to be able to distribute work tasks to differentpeople and as I hired
more and morepeople, the sales work of our services took up more and more
of my time.
If you are to be able to charge well for your services, you mustbe unique to
your customers. Itis not enough to do like all other competitors. My success
has therefore been based on developing rational products and system solutions
that are appreciated by customers. I thereforebuilt an early development local
wherewe could develop prototypes of various products and system solutions,
severalof which also led to patents.
These were sold to the manufacturing industry which then offered the
solutions to the market. Development examples I present here four different
examples. Partly why I developed them and partly the solutions.

9. Example 1
Air conditioning principal
If a building was to be equipped with an air conditioning system, i.e. cooled and
heated, the normalmethod at the time of starting my company was for the
building to be heated with radiators and cooled by blowing in cold air. In some
way, the temperature of the radiator water and the cold air supply would be
controlled so that the roomtemperature was the right one and that no draft
phenomena occurred. To cool an officeroom on the south sidein a building
that was made moreand more energy-efficientrequires quite large air
volumes. The ventilation ducts therefore became large bumps that were
difficult to fit in the corridors and shafts wherethey would go.
My company's solution to this was then to distribute the cold with cold water
instead of with air as 1 liters of water have four thousand times as much heat
capacity as 1 liters of air.
The challenge was therefore to develop a productthat could rationally supply
the roomwith the required amount of ventilation air and heat the room with
the heating water systemand be able to cool the roomwith a brine system
that was waterborne. We called the product wedeveloped Miniluft, and it was
designed so that it blew in air at high speed, which then entrained room air as
we controlled to pass through batteries for cooling or heating with a
thermostat control.
In addition, the productbecame possibleto place along the inner facades of
the buildings and werealso possibleto connect in series on both the air and
the water side.
Itand further development of this is used today in thousands of buildings in
Sweden and abroad.
Headlights searching
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=DE&NR=2541878A1&KC=A1&FT
=D&ND=3&date=19760429&DB=EPODOC&locale=se_SE

10. MINILUFT
Example 2
Heat storage system
In 1975, theNational Planning Agency came up with a new building standard.
Itwas designed so that buildings would be properly energy efficient. The
requirement for hygienic ventilation air volumes was reduced and heat
recovery was to be increased. The insulation requirement on the building was
increased and window sizes weremainly reduced.
Since roomcomputers had also started to be used, there was excess heat
during the day in an office room, even on the coldest winter day.
Nights and weekends there was still a heat deficit.
The need to develop a heat storagedevice that could transfer the excess heat
fromthe day to be used at night or on weekends was then self-evident.
To try to heat and store water during the day, for example the temperature
that could be obtained fromthe condenser on a cooling machine to then heat
the building with this stored hot water at night would be a too bulky solution
with the smalltemperature differences that were possibleto achieve. The
solution was instead, since the ice formation heat corresponds to about: 80
degrees temperature change, to use a heat pump at night to freeze ice, in
accumulator tanks of a reasonable size, and usethe condenser heat for

11. heating. This ice then melted during the day and cooled off the excess heat in
the building.
The same energy could therefore be used repeatedly. The system was
marketed under the name ISAC.
Patent:
http://was.prv.se/spd/patent?p1=oR8kTuGIxSp7eM42P9NdVA&p2=ySzDV5Bb4Q4&hits=tr
ue&tab=1&content=lars-erik+bengtsson&lang=sv&hitsstart=0&start=2
The combination of both (The InternationalReal Estate Federation) for the
Serenitas building which we designed in Brussels giveus a Real-Estatworlds
OSCAR.
https://www.fiabciprix.com/
THE FIABCI PRIX D`EXELLENCE1994

12. Example 3
Visible gas emissions
The third example is based on the operating staff's problems with leaking
anesthetic gas.
Task of surgicalventilation is, of course, to ensurethat no airborne infections
reach the open wound. At the sametime, of course, the working environment
for the operating staff mustbe satisfactory. Leaking anesthetic worms can
release gas into the environment, which in turn affects the surgicalteam.
The anesthetic gas is not visible to the naked eye and it is therefore difficult to
see if it reaches the people.
By placing the gas outflow between an IRradiation sourceand an IRcamera,
you can see the gas propagation by the IRradiation being absorbed by the gas.
As an IRradiation source, we used an electrically heated cloth with the same
temperature over the entire surface. When we used an IRcamera with color,
we could see the concentration of the gas and how it spread towards thestaff.
Patent application
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?FT=D&date=19800515&DB=EPODOC&
locale=se_SE&CC=SE&NR=7811766L&KC=L&ND=4
Example 4
Development of marine treatment plants.
When the international marine organization IMO in 1973 banned the discharge
of slag water and wastewater into inland and coastal waters, wewere given the
task by the Salén shipping companies to develop a treatment plant that could
be used on board ships. Of course, onecould not use the normal land-based
technology for biological treatment with air supply to wastewater in large
ponds.
Our solution was thereforeto develop a solution in 4 compressed steps that
would meet the IMO's requirements.

13. Step one consisted of a compact sedimentation unit which separated the
coarsewaste.
Step two was designed so that the partially purified water from step one under
relatively high pressure, through ejectors with air intake, was injected into a
bio-purification tank where the pressurized air bubbles forcerate oxidized and
purified residualbiological contaminants.
After the biological treatment, step three was designed by floating an injected
flocculant on the remaining physicalcontaminants up to the surfacein a
subsequentflotation tank and then scraping it away from the surfaceand
transporting it to a landfill.
The fourth step was to inject somebactericidal substanceinto the drain from
the treatment plant so that this clear water became completely bacteria-free.
The whole of the productbecame a compact and well-functioning stable unit
which became excellently suitable for useon board ships.
A separate company, Sale´n Vattenvård, was formed, in which we became a
partner and where weassisted with technical expertise in the international
sales of the treatment plant.

14. My 1974 purchasing boat "LA MER" which has been appreciated by many
foreign customers in the Stockholm archipelago over the years.
The above related examples are someof severalinteresting developments for
me that have taken up a large partof my time over the years.
The company was developed every year and through the customers'ability to
innovate in this way, the problem was more to choosebetween the different
assignments.
During the 1970s, computerizationof various calculationroutines began.
Fromthe beginning, we were connected to Asea's mainframe computer
through a terminal with punched strips that we punched.
We developed routines for pressuredrop ducts and pipe systems, sound
calculations, heat balance calculations, etc.
This made competitors come to us and offered to be acquired and included in
our business.
Our major customers werethe Armed Forces, Volvo, Ericsson, Skanska, NCC
and Asea Atom.
We worked with secretrock chambers of a "James Bond character" for the
defense, hospitals, parts of the nuclear power plant, industrial buildings,
Globen city center buildings, laboratories, etc. Abroad, weparticipated in
planning and controlwork with the Children's Hospitals in Vietnam, Oil
Laboratories in Algeria, Hospitals in Libya and more.

15. The morning swim for most of my life
We also established a design office in Brussels in 1985.
Our main business, through the L.E.B Consult companies, is the construction of
energy technology solutions in real estate and facilities, but we also had a
business with designing administrative documents for how management and
operation should go through the L.E.B Teknik companies. In addition, we also
undertook the physical operation of complex facilities, such as the Globe. In
Stockholm, we also had a design department for the electrical installations that
are required for complete functionality to emerge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHjhF7F0TlY
Personally, I also became a senior lecturer involved in the education of
architects at KTH.

17. At the turn of the year 1989-90, I had300 engineers employed and the
company was organized as a group under the name L.E.B Gruppen AB.
Through our strong connection to the defense had the company became a K-
company.
On the other hand, the company name is not as well-known as a very large part
of whatwe worked with was of a secret nature and could not be disclosed.
Personally, I had become a Lieutenant in the Fortification Corps.
The crisis of the 1990s in the early 1990s, whatwas notallowed to happen
happened.
Virtually all activities in the construction sector stopped. Both in the state,
municipality, and privatesector.

19. L.E.B Gruppen1990
The projects that had begun construction had to be completed, but the project,
which was only at the design stage, was interrupted.

20. For example, we had 20 people who were planning a new districtin
Flemingsberg that was only interrupted overnight. After this next project,
which was closed and then the next and the next…
With the legislation that existed for employment security, there were long
periods when employees could sit at desks withouthaving any chargeablework
to perform. The salary level for these engineers was not low either, but of
coursehad to be paid monthly.
For me, there weremany sleepless nights and many bony wet sheets to take
care of in the mornings.
SSSP - Saudi Strategic Storage Program
http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/sverige-gav-saudierna-
hemlig-hjalp-i-25-ar_7084131.svd
Luckily for us, Olof Palme had kept the mission of the UN to mediate between
the parties in the firstIran-Iraq war. In connection with this, Saudi Arabia's
strategic position in the region was touched upon when he discussed the issue
with them. The Saudis wereasked at night to build huge underground oil
reserves for their safety, combined with defense capabilities, which Sweden
could be helpful with. Itwas formed in the organization Saudi and Sverige ABV
Rock Group. The leader of the project from the SaudiArabian sidebecame
Mohammed al-Amouditoday owner of Preem and Midroc in Sweden. From the
Swedish side, both governmentrepresentatives and companies from the
Swedish construction industry participated.
Since L.E.B had justthe right knowledgeand experience for this type of facility,
we were commissioned to design installation and process facilities for this for
severalyears for many people with locations in both Stockholm and Riyadh.
SKF Nilai Malaysia
During the 1990s, wealso received the trustworthy assignmentfrom the
Swedish Ball Bearing Factory, which in consultation established a new ball
bearing factory in Malaysia. We arranged a site, hired an architect, designed
process installations, procured contractors, inspected the construction, and
handed over a functional ball bearing factory to SKF.

21. The factory remains one of the best performing units in the SKFGroup.
L.E.B System®
www.lebsystem.se
Our early startwith computerization of calculation routines resulted in
thoughts being born aboutthe possibility of re-computerizing the design
business so that it could be used in the management phase.
The hitherto normally used drawing board grains were replaced and more by
CAD stations on each designer's desk. In addition, CAD softwarenumbers
became intelligent with each passing year.
Already in the early 1980s, wehad programmed routines that showed when
and how preventive maintenance should be performed during a building
management phase.
In 1985, webegan with an internal multi-year development of a database that
would make project design surfaces, products and systems digitally describe
the property.
Development continues today and is the background to the L.E.B- System
success.
This digital model then lies behind the routines we create for managing the
property and organizationally the entire property portfolio.
In the current situation, it has become possibleto "talk" with the drawing.
through the databaseWe can creates communication with the drawing and
receives information about surfaceinformation, building parts, etc. We can
also light up different colored surfaces from thedatabase that show several
tasks that are easier to see graphically, such as rental areas, energy
consumption per squaremeter, installation system distribution, etc. At the
same time, billing rents, energy costs, maintenance costs etc. are calculated.
To date, we have spent morethan 1,000,000man-hourson the software. Most
of all state properties are today updated in this plus severalother property
owners'properties.
This business was initially affected by the real estate crisis without
development continuing with continuity.

22. And going on with increasing intensity.
Societal changes
During my very long period as a self-employed person, I havebeen involved in
societal changes and legislation for entrepreneurship that has greatly affected
the efficiency of the business conducted.
LAS 1974
The Employment Protection Act was introduced in 1974. I had thus conducted
12 years of business withoutLAS existing.
In general, you can say that daring to hire a person then was much easier.
Should the duties fail, it was possibleto dismiss a person at relatively short
notice. If a certain person's knowledgewas not sufficientfor the company or if
the person behaved in such a way that he did not fit in with company
management, customers, or other staff, it was also possible to ask the person
to stop at shortnotice.
On the other hand, it was sensitivefor the company to be too harsh in its
assessmentin the event of dismissalwithoutjustifying the reasons for the
employee not to be considered a company where no one wanted to take a job
in. Because LAS did not exist, the company therefore dared to take orders and
hire people even if the continuity of business income is clearly overviewed.
Strangely enough, an employee still used to be allowed to continue with the
employment when he showed ambition for his assignment. The company
management usually made an extra effortto take on new tasks for him.
When the LAS was announced, a thorough screening of each employee was
introduced, and some people were judged to not contain the measurefor
continued employment without fail. Almost all weregiven new tasks at new
companies where their skills and behaviors fit in better.
The communalisationof the school in 1991
The communalisation of the school that was carried out in 1991 had a very
large impact on the type of activity I conduct. I and my employed managers
have employed very many engineers for many years. Suddenly, after the
communalization, I discovered two people with the samegrade did not have
the opportunity to performthe same things. For several years, wetherefore

23. only employed civil engineers who continued to have a solid education for
what wewere to work with.
Gradually, we havehad a better selection process wherewe can more easily
assess thejobseeker's qualifications to manage a job with us. Itis temporary
for a person to firstobtain a job which he after a shorttime is forced to leave
perhaps under forms of humiliation.
Parental insurance1995 Starting in 1995, maleleave for childcare has
increased sharply. Especially among the type of white-collar workers who are
employed by us. From not having been a noticeable type of leave to almost all
allowed and contractual leave out of both women and men. Of course, it is very
disruptivefor the business when a person who is in the middle of a multi-year
projectand has a lot of agreements and conversations with customers and
suppliers in his head says thathe wishes to be away for a couple of months.
The cost of doubling male serviceor even replacing him with someone else is
not quite simple. The projectmust go on. In any case, it cannotbe likened to
the person who disappears buthas a task that can be taken over by someone
else after a shorttraining period.
In the year 2000, I was 64 years old. My father had recently died, and my
mother was hospitalized. I wanted to spend more time than I could havedone
over the years with her during her last time in life. The eldest son Staffan
wanted together with a friend from the management team to take over the
engineering operations in Stockholm and Eskilstuna under the name L.E.B
ConsultAB and so it happened. Other offices were sold at the same time to
other companies and individuals. Over the years, I had built up my insurance

24. coverageand the large repayments of annual large payments to SPP for 300
employees could be made available.
I therefore combined the possibility of moving to Helsingör wherethe tax
would be paid as the so-called Zinc tax in Sweden and that I then had the
opportunity to meet my grandmother moreoften in the Helsingborg area.
My wifein 2000 and I agreed to sharethe ownership of L.E.BSystem AB and
still do.
In 2007 I returned to Sweden and the ITbusiness in Stockholm but also with a
holiday home in Helsingborg. From whathas been written above, it may seem
as if everything has flowed on easily and without any problems. Of coursenot.
The workload has often been heavy - but stimulating. My youngestson
Christian is the person who has suffered the most from my own and corporate
success. I havenever had time to hang out with him. Neither during the school
year nor afterwards.
On Christmas Eve 2009, I thereforeasked if he would think it would be fun to
learn to fly. He did so and the conversation ended with us jointly training in
flight theory and buying an airplane. After we received an aero-medical
certificate, wetherefore trained together in the winter of 2009 in flight theory
at the StockholmFlight Theory Schooland approved exams for the Swedish
Civil Aviation Administration in the early summer of 2010. Themid-flight theory
test from previous flightcertificates was too old. Christian continued at
Bromma Flight Schoolthat I had completed my education with the aircraft we
bought, and which was now hung at Ljungbyhed Airportbecauseprivate
aircraftowners are not welcome in the Stockholm area. All airports that have
previously used the privately operated flight have been added. Since the
aircrafthad the type of modern navigation equipment that commercial aircraft
have so-called glass cockpit, the normal flight instructors atLjungbyhed could
not train me on the plane because their training permit did not allow this. The
flight instructor who could train me and who was connected to Ljungbyhed
flying club lived in Visby. Training therefore took time since he would show up
fromGotland and I fromStockholm and it would also be reasonably good flight
weather.
My leadershipchange over time.

25. The concept of leadership is difficult to define becauseit is so different and
dependent on the managerial role you have in the context.
The self-employed person has the privilege, from the start-up of the company
until he leaves this, to make the decisions he considers relevant to the
company. This about what it may be if he follows the laws and rules that are
stipulated. For many and even for me, this has been the only way to work, and I
cannot think of anything else for myself.
Employee leadership requires a psychologicalsenseof how a task can be
designed so that it is done with the bestefficiency by the employee. It also
requires a knowledgeof the abilities of the employee for him to be able to
master the task at all. As a manager, I mustbe accepted by my subordinates.
Especially as a self-employed person and especially when I lead a business with
staff with a high level of education who will work with creative creation.
Starting a company alone in the servicesector from the beginning only means
that I will be able to execute my orders with approved results from the
customer within the costand time frame specified. My personalprofessional
knowledgeand my ambition mustbe sufficient.
If I can also deliver the order in a shorter time than the calculated one, I can
also earn extra money that can be good to have when the time estimate in the
quote for my work in another caseturns out to be too short.
If I can also present the work with a quality that exceeds my competitors', my
future as a self-employed person is secured if my customers havea continued
existence.
Being self-employed means freedom. I decide for myself. I can myself. But I
must haveambition and if I am to succeed, there mustbe order and order
around me.
When the company'sordervolume increases,I musthiresomeonewho can help
me produce this increased order volume. This step, hiring staff, is a sensitive
issue. How big is the possibility that the increased size of tasks will last and if it
does, what skills should the new employee have? Should the person only be my
extended armin handling orders by making them simpler work steps or should I
invest in doubling my production capacity by hiring a person with skills that are
closer to my own? This is an issue that should be carefully considered. My
knowledgeof my customers'futureand the possibility of increasing the number
of customers is also important here. At the same time, I should follow the

26. discussion in the press about how the future economy is assessed and whether
any rule changes fromauthorities arebeing madewithin my line of business and
which can increase or decrease my work tasks.
I must familiarize myself with the legislation that applies to an employment and
the protection the employee will have in the event of a dismissalthat I have to
pay.
If my customers continue to order the work from me and I also manage to
increase my customer base, my actions will be the same for the next employee
and the next and the next…
For my own part, the contact with my customers is more and more to highlight
the advantage of having a good team that can handle larger and larger orders.
However, I ampersonally stillresponsibleto the customer for the orders placed.
When the number of employees is 7-8, I mustsortoutor hire someonewho can
also gain the trustof customers and thus get a relief in my responsibility. This is
so that I will have the capacity to further expand the company. My income from
the businessshouldnowbe of suchan extent that I can havesucha slightly more
expensive person employed in terms of salary.
In principle, work teams with up to 10 people are suitable to collaborate with in
various projects. Thecohesion between the people gets better when the feeling
for each other is strong and you know each other's strengths and weaknesses.
At the same time, this presupposes that the personal chemistry between the
people works and that no person takes liberties that are not accepted by the
others in the team.
When the number of ten-person teams becomes three or more, my role will be
to be a full-time manager of thecompany,the onewhocoordinates theentrance
to work tasks and the one who has the overall contact with the company's
customers.
With 100 employees, organizational issues will, to a greater extent than before,
become one of my tasks.
For example, I makesureto rationalize and improvethe work performed so that
similar sub-tasks and good solutions can be disseminated in the company and
become part of the company's know-how.
I make sure that people with a special interest in a certain technology are given
responsibility within the company to be an engine for this and to inform other

27. employees. This can, for example, apply to steam, medical gases, refrigeration,
control and regulation technology, process pipes etc. In some cases, it may be
appropriate to design a separate technical unit for this if the workload with
continuity is sufficient.
There is a motto that says, "all business is local".
With the capacity I now have at my disposal, I can focus on processing larger
customers in locations other than my place of start-up. A local representation is
often needed, which can be supportivewhen quick work needs to be done. The
normal method for me has then been to procure something as small and as
similar a company as possible, which has become our branch office and been
able to appeal to the head office's expertise when needed.
As the company expands further, your role will be to be the leader of the
company. This can mean that you may be part of government committees or
special investigations, in short, you become the company's PR person. The
contact surface with the lines for industry and various societal functions
becomes more obvious.
At the same time, I also must supervise and control the company. A well-
functioning financedepartment isa matter of course.Financialreportsof various
kinds are becoming more and more important here. In addition, customer
contacts at as high a level as possibleare important to maintain to get feedback
on how my company is valued. This should be done on an ongoing basis.
Of course, hiring senior executives is also a continuing important part of not
losing control.
When the company receives assignments abroad, it is essential to distribute
these to employees and not fall into any type of own desire to travel that has
now become so common. Good management requires a present manager.
Wheredoes my own dreamand my own interests comefrom? If my dream from
the beginning was to construct new things that, for example, would be based on
yourgood knowledgein thermodynamicsor hydraulics,then there is no time for
that now. You are forced into administrative and financial tasks that have not
really been your tune from the beginning.
You may also have to walk around and be nice to people all the time - wow.
You simply must find yourself in life as it becomes. And what fun it is.

28. Private
Life has at timesbeen tremendouslylaboriousbut also constantly
stimulatingoutwardly.
Below you will find some picturesfrom my life that to some extent shed
light on this.
My sons Christianand Staffan

29. As a self-employed person, I am completelyalone in the crucialdecisions
that must be madeagainst customers, suppliersinmajor personnel
issues or in any conflicts, etc. I am both CEO and owner. But aboveall, I
must represent the companyin different contexts. I run a technical
development myself or in a small team, but therepresentativetasksalso
requirea well-read and representativewife. For my own part, I am
suitablefor giving a lecture on a matter, but I am completely unsuitable
to stand up completely spontaneouslyand give a speech to someone or
something about which I do not have completeknowledge. Nor canI
claim to be a socialperson in the truesense of theword. Technicians
often have the limitationofsaying what is required but no more and this
canof course be perceived asa boring attitudebytheaudience.
Especially by a tablelady who usually does not have the same attitudeto
technology as I do. But most of the timeit works out - wow.
The opportunities for representation have been innumerable.
In my longtimewife Anita, I found a person who complemented my
weaknesses. She was niceto everyone, socially and culturallyinterested.
She could at any timestand up and give an amusing speech to a person
or talk about an interesting event. Sheexpresses it herself so that she has
a largeportionof "useless knowledge".

30. And manycelebrations. Here Christianand I.

31. Here 10 years later my ex-wife Anita and Christian

32. My speech to the guestsat Operakällaren1987 with Anita and the sons
Christianand Staffan

33. And PARTY
And PARTY

34. Boating hasbeen a much-needed relaxationfor manyyears. For several
years I wasa board member of the Royal Motorboat Club.
THE GOOD LIFE AS IT IS NOW

38. Monika

39. The hobby
Despitemy current age, the alarm clock ringsat 07.00 every weekday
morning and the gymnasticssessionis waiting.
At work, in a stimulating way, every day's challenge awaits, and it is a
privilegeto be able to staydaily with well-educated and nice people, both
middle-aged and younger.
And get to participate in the IT developmentthat rationalizes
and refines property ownership.
I am not really afraid todie - but it is just that I do not have time. But
there is probablysomething todevelop on the other side as well.