Growing and at the same time managing to maintain a work culture that is liked by both employees and customers - that was the challenge when the Sundsvall company Bilfix opened in Timrå.
- "The Business Scaleup program has helped us to want to find new customers and become a better employer," says owner and CEO Fredrik Harlestedt.
After running the workshop company Bilfix together since 2006, brothers Fredrik Harlestedt and Christer Andersson began three years ago to explore the possibilities of expanding, initially to Timrå and in the longer term to other locations. At that time, Fredrik heard about Business Scaleup, a growth program from BizMaker where entrepreneurs receive support from selected coaches and BizMaker's business advisors.
- We have slowly but surely grown organically over the years. We had started thinking about more purposeful expansion, but BizMaker helped us over the thresholds we had, says Fredrik Harlestedt.
Bilfix is an independent workshop that services all makes of cars, and customer loyalty cannot be taken for granted.
- We put a lot of emphasis on relationships, both with customers and within the staff team. As far as the staff are concerned, we wanted to bring what is "in the walls" to our new workshop. There we got help to put it on paper in manuals and staff handbook. This is how we behave at Bilfix, towards customers and towards each other.
Process leaders Ewa Sandeheim and Pelle Berglund at BizMaker, together with coaches Johan Pahlén, Gun Blom Lundgren and Angelica Adamski, have formed the team around Bilfix. Based on their own expertise, the coaches focus on finance, customer, process and development. For Bilfix, it is the work of formalizing and successfully moving the positive corporate culture that has been most important.
- This is something that is needed for everyone to be seen and to be part of a forward-looking organization, in the long run to succeed in recruiting and bringing in new staff. We have received good help in conceptualizing and bringing what is good from the existing business to the new workshop.
On the customer side, Bilfix, together with the coach, has looked a lot at how to secure the customer base going forward. Partly through better system solutions, but above all by building relationships and earning repeat customers.
- "The desire to find new ways to reach customers has grown incredibly, both private and corporate customers," says Fredrik Harlestedt.
Bilfix has also worked very concretely on sustainability. Many car parts are replaced according to a fixed schedule, rather than after actual wear and tear. There are big gains to be made here, while challenging the established thinking in the industry.
- Bilfix has really embraced the process of the Scaleup program. They have opened a new workshop, they are reviewing their customer offering, and I really like their approach to staff," says Ewa Sandeheim at BizMaker.
In 2023, Bilfix opened the doors to its new workshop in Timrå and the plans for further expansion are still alive. After the Business Scaleup program, Bilfix has a clearer picture of the future and better tools to meet it.
- If you only look at your goals - to quintuple turnover, to have this or that number of workshops, or whatever - then you can almost end up backing away from your own words. We have been helped to divide our five-year plan into smaller parts and structure what is required to get there. It will be much more doable.
Something that Fredrik Harlestedt takes with him is the power of surrounding himself with several people who can contribute strategically. The plan is to start a shadow board and thus get the opportunity to brainstorm ideas and decisions into the future.
- We have to be completely confident in what we're going to do before we start, and it's been so nice to have this team. We want to take that with us going forward.
Contact
Fredrik Harlestedt, CEO and owner
fredrik@bilfix.nu, 060 66 61 23
Are you ready to be challenged to develop your business?
Business Scaleup is a business development program for small and medium-sized enterprises in Västernorrland that want to grow. Through the program, you and your company are supported in creating space for sustainable, strategic work to meet tomorrow's needs and become more profitable. The approach is based on an award-winning method provided by the Navigator Foundation.
Want to participate or find out more? Contact:
Ewa Sandeheim, ewa.sandeheim@bizmaker.se
