We are not an IT company

It’s time you knew. Even though there’s a huge buzz around IT companies right now—just like in the late ’90s—I don’t believe IT companies are actually that big in Sweden. The majority of what various officials in municipalities and government call “IT companies” aren’t really IT companies at all.

I’m often invited to various events—many of them in my supposed role as the owner of an IT company.
The truth is, I don’t own an IT company. In fact, I’ve never even worked at one.

Brath doesn’t deal with IT. We work with online marketing, with a specialization in search.
We help companies sell their products and services, and in our toolbox, we have a number of tools. Here are a few examples:

• Content – We produce a lot of written content.
• Technology – We use modern technology to solve technical issues on our clients’ websites.
• User behavior – We analyze how people search for a product or service. What terms are used when they’re close to making a purchase, versus when they’re just starting to look?

This happens on the internet

All of this does happen on the internet, that’s true. But it also happens in an office—either in Örnsköldsvik or Stockholm. In fact, we’re probably more of an office company than an IT company, since we spend more time at the office than we do working with actual information technology.

Right now, there’s a lot of chatter on social media (as if it’s ever quiet there) about how there’s no IT Minister in Sweden. Some seem to think this means we’ll fall behind in the global IT race. Strangely, no one is calling out for an Office Minister. Or a Conference Call Minister, even though we’re constantly using conference phones!

I get that it can be hard to keep track of what different businesses do online, especially if you’re not working in a related industry. I’m not trying to criticize anyone for lumping us all into one group. But calling all of us who primarily work online IT companies is a bit like calling Volvo Trucks and BAE Systems iron companies.