The idea behind Hemsol is to develop the website hemsol.se into a portal with a comparison service to make it easier for people to install solar cells.

- I liked the idea of working with something that is useful for people while at the same time being good for the environment. I’m convinced that if by being onboard at an early stage, we can become a successful player in this industry, says Elias.

Genomlysningen gives a clear picture of company assets

For just over a year, the hemsol.se webpage looked the same as it did when first registered. All the work was going on behind the scenes: it was about business development and identifying the business concept that felt most rewarding to work with. Now the company is ready to take the next step, namely, to commercialise its idea and start making money from it. In order to get an overview of what assets their company has, they did PRV's test for entrepreneurs called Genomlysningen.

Genomlysningen is a test where the entrepreneur answers twelve quick questions which takes maximum three minutes to do. The result shows what intangible assets your company has and how you can best manage them.

Elias’ first reflection after he and William had done the test was that this was exactly the right time for them to do Genomlysningen.

- The best time to do the test is when you have started up your company and know what you’re going to work with. Then it's really good to have an understanding of what assets you have, he says.

Valuable insights

Elias reflects on the questions that were about trademark.

- One of the questions in the test was whether there might be a problem if someone used our trademark. As is stands today, we wouldn’t suffer much if someone pretended to be us. The tricky thing about trademark protection is that it’s perfectly possible to do without it, until something actually happens. Then it can be both too late to do anything and it can cost you a lot of money. So the matter of trademark protection is something we need to deal with, says Elias.

Hemsol was well aware of some of their assets even before doing the test and they had even had time to set up a routine for how to take care of them. One example is their working methods.

- We have realised that it can be a problem to disclose our working methods to freelancers who can then take those methods to other companies, which is why we have started to use confidentiality agreements, says Elias.

Competence is another asset that Elias and co-founder William have given a lot of thought to.

- At a previous workplace I had, I remember many people left at the same time and took a lot of knowledge and know-how straight to another company. If we employ people in the future, we will make sure we include a non-compete clause in the agreement, Elias explains.

By doing the Genomlysningen test, the two founders of Hemsol began to think about other assets the company has, and which they had not thought much about before.

- After doing Genomlysningen, we've started thinking about the question of investors. So far, we have not had any plans to bring in capital via someone else but if that were the case, we would need to be clearer about what we are doing, Elias muses.

Useful and worthwhile test

Elias explains that the test has made them more aware of the importance of intangible assets and how they should be handled, whether it’s design, an agreement or something completely different.

- It's an excellent test. I had no idea what to expect but it certainly surpassed our expectations. It was really good to get a result where you can read more about the different parts. It was definitely a useful and worthwhile test, says Elias as he sums up his impression of Genomlysningen.

The interview was made in 2021.

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