Philip Makes it Easier

Hi Philip! And welcome to Swede-Wheel. Who are you?

Hello and thank you! I'm an ambitious guy sprung from the area outside Värnamo. My biggest interests are probably in the stock exchange/business community and IFK Värnamo. My job title is CFO, but my main mission is as a father and husband to my children and my wife.
 

What have you come up with before you joined Swede-Wheel Team?

The last five years I have spent at Thule in various roles within the finance function. My last position was as Global supply chain controller.

 

What experiences do you bring to Swede-Wheel?

Many parallels can be drawn between Thule and Swede-Wheel. Both companies work with self-made products, have a large part of their production in Sweden (read Hillerstorp), and to some extent a similar production process (in addition, the companies were founded the same year, in the same small town). The difference is the scale. In many ways, Thule is where Swede-Wheel aims to be and where my experiences will be valuable.

 

Why did you choose to come to Swede-Wheel?

Swede-Wheel gave the impression of being a forward-leaning company with people who are passionate about entrepreneurship and corporate development. It is a smaller, family-owned business that I can be part of, and contribute to, a journey that has only just begun.

 

 

 

 

How did you get into economics?

Hard to point to anything specific, in many ways it was a coincidence. Basically, I have always thought it was fun to count and economics felt like a broad direction with good future insights - we economists will always be needed (?). 

 

What do you think will be your biggest challenges?

Swede-Wheel has made a fantastic growth journey in recent years and as we grow larger, the suit needs to be adapted. Much of my focus will therefore be on improving our internal processes and building a strong foundation from which Swede-Wheel can grow further.

Another important part is, of course, what happens on a cyclical level. Most people agree that the world is entering a time of lesser economic growth, but there is great uncertainty about how bad it will be and how long it will last. The slowdown will affect companies to different extents and regardless of how Swede-Wheel is affected, the challenge lies in being responsive and flexible in how we adapt our business.

 

What do you think your profession will look like in 15 years?

My opinion is that an economic organization should act as an enabler for the company to run and develop its business – a well-functioning finance function should never be an obstacle to entrepreneurship. The trend among companies has therefore been to automate and digitize their processes, and I think this trend will only accelerate in the future. Therefore, CFOs will increasingly act as "process owners".

I also believe that the role of the CFO will become increasingly strategic and operational over time. The CFOs are sitting on a lot of valuable information – partly the internal data that cuts through all the company's departments, and partly because they keep track and adapt to changing external factors.  An economist who "counts money" is quite far from my image of a financial manager in the future.

 

 

 

Five quick ones:

Who is your idol/role model?

Hard not to be inspired by individuals like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.

Do you have any hidden talent?

Hidden I don't know, but most people don't know that I'm sharp at baking bread.

What was your dream profession as a child?

Football pro and/or rock star

What do you think is most important in a colleague?

Straight forwardness and that you're action oriented.

Football pro or rock star?

Am I forced to choose? Think life as a football pro suit me better, think that most rock stars get pretty worn out over the years.

 

 

 

 

Philip Hesselbäck

 

CFO

+46 (0) 370 373710

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