First stop: PE Accounting!

Aaaand I’m off!

First leg: Sveavägen 65 to Torsgatan 2 – 1.2 km. Nailed it!

Olle Rydqvist, CEO at PE Accounting, greets me at the door and helps me carry the already now heavy bike up the stairs to the office. But it’s going to be even heavier…

– We’d like to help you out a little. You need somewhere to sleep, right?

He’s right, and he gives me a tent, sleeping bag and a mat. I thank him, and we start walking around the office, where 25 people currently sit in four different rooms. The rooms are very different from each other: In one room, there is party mood – loud music and people are almost dancing behind their screens. In another, it is absolutely silent and people do not even look at us as we are entering the room.

– We transformed the office into an activity-based workplace before the summer. People sit in different rooms every day, depending on what they have to do that particular day. The first room we went into, we call Copacabana, and this is Mariana Trench – the probably most silent place on earth.

PE has connected all their different systems to a screen with Settlers characters. A little pet project for the company's developers, but also a great way of getting an overview of the current status of the company.

PE was founded 2010 by Andreas Granstedt. He was frustrated by the different accounting solutions that existed for entrepreneurs and he felt like something was missing. Being a serial entrepreneur himself, of course he seized the opportunity. The business plan was written in the base camp during a Himalaya expedition, and the first critical text message was sent at the first contact with the telephone network.

– Andreas knew nothing about accounting, so he needed my help. I was working as a consultant at one of the bit accounting firms. Back then I wasn’t really the same risk-taking person as Andreas, so he really had to convince me to quit my job and step out of my comfort zone. But boy, it was worth it!

The idea behind PE came up during an expedition in Himalaya

If you ever have studied accounting, you might remember some rule about saving verifications in numerous binders for a couple of years? Forget that! PE’s idea is to offer paper free accounting to its customers.

– We have built our own system, and it makes it possible to upload everything digitally into the system. Because of this, our customers can have instantly updated figures on the company’s financials, which is perfect for entrepreneurs that want to have control over their businesses.

In addition to the system, PE also employs a number of accounting consultants, making them a complete solution for outsourced economy. Most of the company’s customers have between 10 and 100 employees.

– We love entrepreneurs – both because we are entrepreneurs ourselves, but also because we know almost all our customer’s founders. Therefore, your trip is extra exciting to us. And also because of our recent partnership…

Last week, it was announced that PE steps in as a sponsor to SSE Business Lab. Business Lab is also one of the reasons to why the fundraiser Rally for SSE was initiated.

I realize that it is almost lunchtime and decide to grab some food before starting the journey for real. Thank you PE and Olle for all the help, and auf Wiedersehen!

Countdown

Soon. Very soon. At 10 am my journey starts, and I am incredibly excited.

The last couple of days, people have asked me whether I am nervous. This weekend I have speed packed my apartment (can't believe how much junk I have), written and performed a song at a baptism ceremony, and said goodbye to friends and family. Therefore, my answer has been that I haven't really had the time to be nervous. Until now.

I know that there will be rough times during this trip, and I am not really prepared for it. But with your help, I believe I can get through it. So please wish me luck and keep up with your pepping words.

One way of doing this is to contribute to my Spotify playlist. This will help me when the weather sucks, the legs hurt, and the mind misses home.

If you want to wish me luck in person, please do so just before 10 am at Stockholm School of Economics.

As I sang with my friends yesterday, and I believe it works now as well: Goodnight, sweetheart, well it's time to go.

/E

Jarla and the Yotta

It is 7:29 in the morning when I reach Rådmansgatan 25, just in time for my meeting. But the door is locked.

7:30, 7:31, 7:32. Still no signs of movement.

At 7:33, I suddenly think I hear someone running. And I am right: up from the stairs a man runs, and he opens the door.

– Sorry, I lost track of time. You have to see this vintage racer that came in yesterday. It’s down here in the workshop – amazing!

Kenneth Davidsson, workshop manager of Jarla Cykel & Sport, really loves his job. I follow him into the workshop where there are really all types of bikes – from family bikes to professional racing bikes. Brainwashed as I am after four years of business studies, I instantly ask Kenneth what their strategy is.

– Our aim is to have a really wide product range that fits all type of bikers. But width alone is not enough; we also try to meet the demands of niche customers and have a specialized and deep product line.

And it seems like they pull it off – still going strong since 1944, and Michael Porter seems to be wrong about being “stuck in the middle”. But the product line is not the only thing that is deep at Jarla Cykel, Kenneth shows me into another room with bikes and gadgets. And then another one. And another. What seems to be a small boutique from the outside is fascinatingly large inside.

I ask him about a friend of mine that used to work in the store a couple of years back, and of course Kenneth knows him.

– I’ve been around here basically since Lennart started the place in 1944. People come and go, but Kenneth is forever.

It is obviously a joke, but what is also obvious is that Kenneth knows his Jarla history. As we move from room to room in the store, he talks about the company’s early days when bicycles were accompanied with mopeds, sports equipment, and even sewing machine.

– Since the 90s, we are more niched. Now it is only bikes, besides some skates in the wintertime, and triathlon equipment. It seems like everyone does that nowadays – it starts with a small triathlon competition, and soon it is iron man. That is of course fun, but biking is our thing. Speaking of bikes – here is yours.

Kenneth points at a pile of boxes printed with Cycleurope. He opens one of them, and as with a pupa, out comes beauty – my very own Crescent Yotta! After a couple of seconds I find myself staring at it, mouth open. Maybe that’s weird, but after all, this is the first time I see what will be my best friend the coming month. Kenneth picks it up and we’re heading back to the workshop.

– How much have you trained before the trip? You know that it will probably be close to 3,000 km of biking, right?

I tell him about my three sessions on the spinning bike and almost two kilometers on the “Styr och ställ”-bike in Gothenburg (pun, of course, intended) two weekends ago. He is moderately impressed and asks me if I ever have changed a bicycle tube. I shake my head and Kenneth starts looking in his toolbox. The following hour and a half, Kenneth teaches me everything worth knowing about my new friend, such as how to fix a jammed disc brake and how most people actually do it wrong when they try to adjust the handlebars sideways. Hopefully, I will not need most of this knowledge, but it feels safe that I at least have seen everything once.

– I think I have taught you everything now, why don’t we go upstairs and look at some clothes?

Jarla’s assortment when it comes to clothes and equipment is also impressive, and Kenneth has a story to tell about every type of product. Soon, I am equipped from top to toe. I will now even wear a pair of “fast goggles” – something I think never would happen. It’s so amazing! I tell Kenneth that I will probably have the world’s lowest ratio when it comes to actual, related to perceived, speed. He doesn’t disagree.

It is 10:23 when I say goodbye to Kenneth, happy as a child. A couple of weeks back when I told Jarla about my journey, store manager Joakim suggested me to shadow Kenneth for a day. Now I realize why.

Jarla Cykel’s motto is quality, knowledge and service – and it really shows! I thought it was impossible, but after three hours in the store, I am even more excited about my trip.

A trip that starts on Monday. Stay tuned!

Article in SvD

Today, Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet writes about my journey. It doesn't happen too often, I must admit!

Read the full article here.

Biking for SSE!