2009-04-01
Our "Chronicle of the week" is not the forum for dealing with a comment in the public debate. But to be a small business owner in Sweden right now, I will take the opportunity to express what is going on in a business owner´s mind, and I am probably not alone.
Sure, we have a sharp and painful downturn in the economy, but couldn´t this eventually lead to a positive effect?
Never before have I experienced that the news programs turn into the program "The man who speaks with Dogs". Say what you want, but all those poodles have become an extra spice in this situation.
I have heard since childhood that the "Swedish model" is worth fighting for; it was in Farsta, south of Stockholm in the 70's. The model creates fair and secure employment, equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex (this is good) and foremost the model will create soft values, valuable values that do not appear or is contained within either the contract or the set of rules.
Basic values such as credibility, ethics and moral as we all understand (well, almost all) should be the basis of our behaviors and decisions. And it is important, because these values cannot be put down on paper, so they must be seen in What We Do, that is what creates Confidence.
As a business owner, I probably have over 600 different rules that relate to me, lucky that I am not a farmer then it would have been 900 rules under the LRF. At the same time, I must deal with in a confidential manner credibility, ethics and moral. A challenge, certainly, but it is possible even for a business owner.
Companies, regardless of size are rated by the market, therefore by its clients and not as by the Swedish model, where outgoing ethics and morality preachers rate themselves. I am proud over this, because I have understood these soft values and very many with me.
The Swedish model welcomes nor Directors - Sad, I think.
They should be involved since they can pay for themselves. Sorry - Wrong by me, they pay for themselves but the door is closed. Unfortunately this also includes the country's entrepreneurs. A small group of a little over 900,000 people let us call them Workers just for fun. But that is exactly what we are regardless of the elite club's view. We also meet a closed door in spite of a significant financing, talk about discrimination.
Imagine that, more than 900,000 businesses with hard-working owners, representing 99.9 percent of the Swedish business community living in alienation. Was it not alienation the Swedish model should prevent?
Possible, I don´t understand the Swedish model and not the elite who designed it, it's probably better that way. But I would like to finish this with an advice to the Swedish Export Credit – Do not finance an export of the Swedish model with our tax money, the customer will be displeased and will never pay, and then we taxpayers are again losers.