A strong partner that provided capital, expert employees and an ambitious goal. These were three of the factors that laid the foundation for HydX's road to success.
"We set an ambitious goal, created a company that would allow us to grow and that had the potential to succeed," says Patrik Broman, one of the co-founders of HydX, which was established in 2009. In this second part of an interview series about the first 15 years of HydX, he tells us how the company grew to be one of the most competitive and innovative hydraulics companies in the Nordics.
Today, Patrik Broman is sales manager for Power Unit systems at HydX, but 15 years ago, when he co-founded the company, he was in a completely different role. Back then, he and his four colleagues, Mikael Andersson, Henrik Pålsson, Håkan Erlandsson and Stefan Holmberg, knew what they wanted.
Their reality, however, was far from the dream of an international company.
"As we started from scratch, everything depended on our decisions. Starting from scratch was, I think, the most enjoyable part of it," he says.
"We had to buy everything, from toilet paper to pads and pens. We set goals like a big company, but we didn't have a single customer. We have been pursuing the same aggressive development we started back then."
Patrik Broman and his colleagues left the same company, founded HydX and assumed similar roles to their previous ones. Thanks to their acquired experience, expertise, good relations and well-structured business and development plans, they were soon able to start their journey to success.
All this they did with Volito as a strong partner and a safe financier.
"We strongly agreed that we wanted to invest very aggressively. We conducted everything as if we were a large corporation. We invested time in devising a business plan, obtaining ISO certifications, and establishing the organisation and its ERP systems. We felt that if anyone would succeed, it would be the five of us, but we also realised that we needed patience to reach our ambitious goals."
•Which role did you take on?
"I focused on the mining sector, as I had worked with them before and had good contacts, but it took time, of course. We needed to be patient. One of the first sales we made came from that field, and after that win, we soon became strong in the mining segment. When our turnover reached 30 million SEK, 20 million of it came from the mining industry. Then we realised that we needed to expand into other sectors and increase our revenue to balance our turnover.
•When did you get your first huge order?
"In 2012. We had received smaller orders before, but then a big project worth 23 million SEK appeared."
•What did that feel like?
"I was giddy with excitement. We had worked extremely hard to get that order. I had visited the customer in Finland, but hadn't got a definite response before leaving for home. It was nerve-racking; the confirmation came when I was in the car on my way back. It was a huge deal for us."
•What laid the foundation for you getting that order?
"We customise solutions, we have expertise and also strong financial backers. But we also had the advantage of being experienced, and we realised that with standardised solutions, we would have a template to build from, something we can customise to customer needs, as well as a price list for it. Once we had the design, we could build it to the size the customer needed. We had built that template years before, and the groundwork we had done in the beginning was a huge part of our success."
•What do you mean?
"All the projects we have won in the mining sector are based on that same design from the first big order. We have made some changes to it since then, of course, but it is based on the work we did 15 years ago. We had developed a standardised solution one year before we received our first major order, when the company was significantly smaller but had bigger ambitions. It was a timesaver; we were ready and could focus on the next step."
•Which step was that?
"It all became suddenly real. We had completed all the necessary prep work, but when the order arrived, we realised we needed more people to fulfil the quantity ordered. We managed to recruit people we knew were up to the challenge, but it also meant a huge responsibility for us, as they had left more secure employment to come to work for us."
•In other words, it took three years to get that order. Would you have made it without it?
"We needed to increase our business volume there and then, so from a financial perspective, that was a key order."
•Can you explain how you managed to combine standardisation with customisation?
"We knew exactly what our customers wanted and felt that building the Power Unit in just one size was not the right move, so when we realised what we needed, we made a plan that enabled us to use the same components in Power Units of all sizes. Simply put, we have tried to minimise the number of choices to be able to customise the end product to fit our customers' needs. A smart and sustainable strategy that has proved to be successful for us."
•You talk about working smartly and preparing the company to take one step forward. Would you give this same advice to another start-up company when they are pondering their own growth journey?
"We had great expertise when we started, and we have always set high goals while selling very aggressively. When we get big orders, we take in more people afterwards. We challenge the organisation internally to work even more effectively, and modularisation and standardisation align with this approach. Our way of thinking has been right from the start."
•You are in Ystad in southern Sweden, and your customers are all over the world. You have worked on mining projects in Australia and Africa as well as with telescopes in South America. What is the significance of these types of projects?
"They are fun to work on and also a way for us to market our company, but they also take a lot of time and patience. Several of them have also opened up new opportunities for us."
•You set up the strategy when you started the company, you got your first big order three years after that, and since then, HydX has just kept on growing. Can you still follow the same strategy you set up 15 years ago?
"We have made small adjustments to it, and we think in five-year cycles. We have grown through the years and have more than doubled our size. We transitioned from chasing other companies' customers to other companies chasing ours, which we must now consider in our relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees. But basically, we have not changed our strategy or our values."
•You were five people when you founded HydX 15 years ago, and since then, the number of employees has multiplied many times over. How do you uphold HydX's values in the company?
"We share our expertise generously and work as a team. With us, you are never alone, and there is always someone happy to help. We are cautious in our recruitment. We work together, and it is important always to remember that, no matter how much we grow."
