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WORKING IN SWEDEN

Five ways Sweden should help foreign small business owners

Many businesses across Sweden, as is the case across the world, have been severely affected by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. It's often small businesses, without cash reserves or large buffers, that bear the brunt of crises, so what do they need to survive?

Published: 31 July 2020 14:21 CEST
Updated: 8 August 2020 10:13 CEST
Five ways Sweden should help foreign small business owners
What do small businesses run by international residents need from Sweden? Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

Business owners in Sweden have had access to a range of packages, including temporarily reduced or deferred taxes, rent reductions for certain businesses, and loan guarantees.

But with an unclear outlook and many business owners having to rethink their whole business model, what do they need to be able to survive long-term?

These five ideas come from The Local readers who own small businesses. When we asked how they had been affected by the pandemic, some said they had lost the majority of their income while others had been less affected and some won’t know the true extent of the impact for some time to come.

1. Advertise help available clearly

Several business owners have told The Local they have struggled to work out what support they are eligible for, and how to apply, without strong Swedish language skills.

“I believe that the information out there needs to be advertised better. The financial help at the beginning was woolly, but now once you find it it is clearer. I applied for a loan from the bank and Almi, but I have received no answer from them, and this was over a month ago,” said one business owner in Jämtland.

A business owner in Västra Götaland described English language support as “terrible”, and said that due to the pandemic they had stopped using an accountant and begun doing this themselves, “which again is not easy in English”.  

You can find English-language information for businesses on Verksamt and from the Swedish government.

2. Think long-term

Many businesses work several months in advance, meaning they won’t see the real effects of the pandemic until later in 2020 or even next year.

For others, the long-term consequences of the situation, such as global travel restrictions or changes to how large events are run, may change how businesses can run in the future.

A lot of the support available in Sweden has been time-limited, out of necessity, for example support packages based on income levels between March and May of 2020. But this won’t cover all the companies who feel the effects of the pandemic. 

“The support in place is helpful but uncertain if it will carry me through in a worse case or even a bad scenario. I’m not there currently but the future doesn’t look encouraging, and in my business the effects won’t be realised until later,” American business owner Jim Osmundsen in Trelleborg told The Local.

One business owner in northern Sweden had been forced to let employees go after losing 70 percent of their business income, but the only benefit they had been eligible for was tax referral.


An empty square in the tourist town of Visby this June. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

3. Stimulate spending

The crisis has changed people’s behaviour deeply and dramatically. The uncertainty of the economic situation has curbed spending in retail even despite the lack of lockdown, for example, while people may be more cautious in their spending for years to come.

One way Sweden could help encourage spending, suggested by a reader running a small business in the Stockholm area, is through tax deductions, similar to the existing ROT & RUT deductions which subsidise work carried out by tradespeople such as mechanics, electricians and cleaners. Reducing the cost for the end consumer encourages them to go ahead with spending and gives a boost to these professions, and an expansion of these deductions could give small businesses a boost, the reader argued.

4. More support for sole traders

Self-employed people or sole proprietors (enskilda firmor in Swedish) are not eligible for some of the support measures offered, including state subsidised reduced working hours, or the state covering the cost of sick pay. 

“If I want unemployment benefits from my union, I have to close my business completely, which means losing all remaining income I do have. It’s senseless,” said an American business owner who had lost 70 percent of her business during the pandemic.

5. Ensure support is applied equally to those affected

It’s necessary that the government has limits on who is eligible for the support. But in some cases, business owners said more flexibility was warranted.

For example, rent reductions were made available for businesses in especially vulnerable industries like restaurants and tourism companies, but this had to be applied for by landlords.

Because many of the eligibility criteria were based on a percentage of income lost year-on-year, newly started companies which began operations after spring 2019, or had a low income in spring 2019 due to starting up, are not eligible for the adjustment support. Businesses with significant seasonal variation in income would also be affected.

Member comments

  1. The system here is extremely bureaucratic, and as an English speaker who has limited knowledge in Swedish (I’m just lacking general language skills) it becomes traumatically difficult to seek government help. After four months I’ve given up waiting for any reply and found myself an angel investor from Greece instead.

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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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