Technology is the key to unfair competitive advantage

In the digital age, there is no denying the importance of technology for a company's competitiveness. When I started as an entrepreneur in the automotive service business, our tools were quite traditional, namely grid notebooks and pocket calculators. Over time, we switched to digital tools like Word, Excel, e-invoices and Slack for internal communication.

Although these changes were important and made us more effective, they were hardly revolutionary. Indeed, they were just small steps towards a bigger change. Biila's real turning point and key insight came as we realised that simply adopting digital tools was not enough. We had to move from being just a service company to a technology player, investing in our own, custom technology. This insight guided us to change our entire business model and mindset.

In 2016, we took our first major step by ordering our first custom software, Omakuski, for car transfers. This was not just an investment in a new tool but an investment in rethinking our entire business. Omakuski allowed drivers to make independent bookings and clients to have direct access to transfer bookings – a first-ever in our industry. Although the initial investment presented us with numerous challenges –we had to maintain our custom software and seek additional funding and expertise for its development– it forced us to look for new growth opportunities and clients. This courage to experiment and invest in our own technology started the transformation that ultimately made us the leading platform-based, vehicle logistics company in the Nordic countries.

Technology investments continued, with major milestones achieved by bringing international experience and technology expertise to the company's board and the acquisition of software company Ninjami Oy, which multiplied our product development resources. These steps not only strengthened us technologically but also strategically, helping us build a compelling growth story and attract more talent and clients.

We are now firmly on the path we set for ourselves. The introduction of digital tools was a step forward but the real breakthrough came when we dared to invest in our own, unique technology. This courage to seek, invest and innovate has given us a springboard from which to pursue event loftier goals.

As our journey so far has shown, real competitive advantage comes from not settling for anything less than revolutionary change. It has demanded a lot from us but we are ready to face new challenges –because we know that each one will bring us closer to our goal of delivering exceptional value to our clients and ensuring our company's unique position in intelligent autologistics.