Lars Eriksson: Leveraging Innovative Solutions for Automotive Industry

Some people have interest in programming but are unable to recognize until they choose the wrong course and then roll-back to follow their passion. Lars Eriksson, CEO of CarCare was fascinated by the computer programming since a very young age. A University dropout, he commenced his journey in the programming world after leaving his economics course in Stockholm. He learnt about digital marketing and automation there.

He further adds, “The car industry was really just a coincidence, sure I had been interested in cars growing up but hadn’t worked against the automotive industry before. In 2008, I started my journey towards the automotive industry together with my partner Andreas Rödin. A decade later, Carcare was formed which suits well with its goal to automate an industry that has been lagging from a technological standpoint for quite some time.”

He may have entered the industry with an unconventional route based on passion, his aim is to stay on top and make a mark in the field.

Hopping onto the Entrepreneurial Path

Lars has always wanted to create a simple and straightforward system. He burnt the midnight oil to achieve this key point. However, he enjoyed his work and desired to make a great contribution so that people in the world remain free from unnecessary work. He shares, “When you try to implement a system in an organization, even if the system consists of one big green button, it is still a threshold. We had to rethink that into our automation process a merge Carcare seamless with the tools staff already were using.”

He has 3 prime characteristics that keep him going on this amazing path. Firstly, he takes ample help from different people who have more expertise in the field. Secondly, he is more fast-paced in taking decisions and handling all the operations in a proper manner. This habit of quick decision-making helps him achieve his goals rapidly. Thirdly, he walks the mile to make the team understand that he also gets his hands dirty and can create inspiration in the best way.

CarCare Services and Future Vision 

The chief aim of Carcare is to help in automating the business decisions so as to protect as well as make the process highly efficient for easy car sales, excellent remarketing and trading. Further, this system is primarily beneficial to evaluate what needs to be done with a car when it arrives on their lot. The best part is that the system is able to handle all the operations be it wholesale, export or higher adspend, etc. Every vehicle will opt for the perfect path that will augment the prospects of earning more profit in the best way.

The main target group includes all automotive dealers who can easily use Carcare that is linked to its DMS and testing software so that it can identify all the bottlenecks as well as inefficient cars at a very beginning stage.

In case this process holds a high automation rate and goes more faster, the environment will become happier and the business with the end customer will improve as well. The best part is that all the cars will become highly-efficient rather than being parked for 96% of their entire lifetime. Also, all dealers will also feel that a more transparent purchase is taking place between the customer and client with accurate pricing. It will also lead to high profitability among the parties.

As far as CarCare’s expansion and growth trajectory is concerned, Lars already has everything planed in advance. He adds, “In 2021, we are heading into Norway which I really look forward too. After that, we are heading into more countries in Europe. For growth, we estimate to double our revenue this year and got a great start to the year.”

Maintaining a Smooth Balance in the roles of CEO and Home

Being the CEO, Lars works very closely with the entire Carcare team. He is passionate about innovating something new so that all the employees can feel that they create something marvelous for all the customers. Currently, they are a small company however, great ambition as well as goals can make them attain all the heights they plan to achieve.

Further, he says, “Customer success is key for us and to be an agile company. As we grow it’s a challenge to keep this agility and flexibility within the company but that is something I work very hard to ensure. If you have too big of a truck on the road, it’s harder to steer and the road keeps throwing turns at us as we drive.”

As there are many goals to be achieved till now, the whole team is yet to get the most of the exciting journey. Still at the beginning of the journey, Carcare has a bright future ahead. Right now, the company is enjoying its fun phase of the voyage.

He is a firm believer of enjoying the journey side by side. He shares, “I haven’t looked that far ahead to be honest. It’s important to me to enjoy work so you don’t wake up one day and realize that you missed all those years. If I feel that I can’t have fun in a workday and work with inspiring things, I need to switch job.”

Managing a startup is hard yet, maintaining a work-life balance is essential to stay happy. While many tips can be found on internet, he got a tip to book spare time in the calendar. However, unexpected events are difficult to handle as they arrive at wrong times and it gets worse when nothing can be rescheduled. He adds, “Work also is more and more merged with your family life now and perhaps that’s where they key is – to be able to find peace with the two by micro tasking and spending more hours with the family. Still a work in progress and I have not found an optimal solution but you said the keyword in the question – balance.”